There was a time when smartphone makers rushed to quad-camera claims, most of which did so by throwing in a mediocre fourth camera — usually for macro shots, if not a monochrome filter or just a depth sensor. Nowadays, though, we are blessed with legit quad "main" cameras on some flagship phones, so brands need to be more creative to further differentiate themselves. In Oppo's case, it decided to feature not just one, but two periscope telephoto cameras on its new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered Find X7 Ultra, as a leap from the triple camera system on the previous model.

The Find X7 Ultra's "HyperTone Camera System" features the same 50-megapixel resolution across all four rear Hasselblad cameras, thanks to their relatively large sensors compared to the competition, according to Oppo. The main imager packs Sony's second-gen 1-inch sensor, the LYT-900, which is more efficient in terms of power consumption and thermal performance. This is complemented by an f/1.8 aperture, OIS (optical image stabilization), a 23mm focal length and a 50-percent reduction in lens reflection. The ultra-wide camera features a 1/1.95-inch Sony LYT-600 sensor with an f/2.0 aperture, making this one of the fastest shooters in its class. This comes with a 14mm equivalent focal length and a focus distance down to 4cm. 

Then we're left with the two periscope telephoto cameras. The first one, a 3x optical zoom, has a 1/1.56-inch Sony IMX980 sensor — "roughly three times larger than" the competition, apparently. You also get an f/2.6 aperture, along with "Prism OIS," a 65mm focal length and a 25cm focus distance — handy for portraits and product shots. Then we have a 6x optical zoom periscope, which is powered by a 1/2.51-inch Sony IMX858 sensor and has an f/4.3 aperture, 135mm focal length, a 35cm focus distance plus Prism OIS. With AI-enhanced zoom at 12x, Oppo says its Find X7 Ultra handles a versatile equivalent focal length range of 14mm to 270mm."

Oppo

Oppo also claims to have made some major breakthroughs in mobile photography here. Most notably, it's finally rolling out its "HyperTone Image Engine," which supposedly improves computational photography results for HDR, as well as avoiding over-exposure and over-sharpening. This was apparently in development for two years, with input from professional photographers and color experts. It's all about "merging objective quality together with subjective emotional," as a spokesperson stated. Better yet, HyperTone Image Engine will eventually be rolled out to some existing Oppo devices, namely the Find N and Reno series, depending on compatibility.

Other areas of improvement include the quality consistency across the zoom range (especially in low-light environment), as well as more realistic portrait shots thanks to the new "Hasselblad Portrait Mode." For the latter, rather than getting fake-looking bokeh and poor edge detection, Oppo boldly promises to deliver "cinematic bokeh with foreground and background depth," with a stunning accuracy down to a single strand of hair, plus minimal shutter lag as a bonus.

Oppo is also offering a new "Hasselblad Master Mode" which is based on the characteristics of the Hasselblad X2D 100C medium format mirrorless camera. You get to fiddle with saturation, contrast, sharpness and vignette control to create your preferred style, as well as other shooting features like manual ISO, shutter speed, EV, focus, and white balance. This Master Mode also offers "RAW MAX" capture — pending an OTA update — which supports 13 stops of dynamic range, along with 16-bit color depth in BT2020 color space for each 50-megapixel still.

Oppo

The Find X7 Ultra comes in three color options: "Ocean Blue," "Sepia Brown" and "Tailored Black", all of which feature a vegan leather cover (and the black version comes with decorative stitches). Despite the extra periscope camera, generous 5,000mah battery (100W SuperVOOC wired charging) and wireless charging (50W) support, this device actually shares a similar weight and thickness as the Find X6 Pro. This is thanks to a slimmer wireless charging coil, thinner vegan leather and an improved logic board stack design. Oppo was also able to keep the entire rear camera module tightly packed by using "single-sided magnets," in order to avoid interference between the three OIS parts.

This new phone also features Oppo's brightest-ever QHD (3,168 x 1,440) panel, with outdoor brightness maxing out at 1,600 nits, and local peak brightness at 4,500 nits for HDR purposes. The usual 120Hz refresh rate and ultra-low latency are here to stay, along with "rain water touch" support for wet hands (it has IP68 dust- and water-resistance rating). You get up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 1TB of UFS 4.0 storage.

To our surprise, Oppo doesn't currently have plans to launch the Find X7 Ultra outside of China, so you'll have to source one from an importer. For your reference, this model ranges from 5,999 yuan (about $845) with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, to 6,999 yuan (about $990) with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. These three options are available for pre-order now, ahead of their January 12th retail launch. There will also be a special edition with satellite call support arriving in late March, but no price was mentioned.

Oppo

For those on a budget but still want the same fancy look, there's the Find X7 base model powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9300 processor. It only packs triple cameras on the back: a 50-megapixel main shooter (likely with Sony's 1/1.4-inch LYT-T808 sensor; f/2.0; OIS), a 64-megapixel 3x periscope zoom camera (f/2.6; Prism OIS; 1/2-inch sensor), and a 50-megapixel ultra-wide camera (f/2.0; 119 degrees). This flavor starts from 3,999 yuan (about $560) and offers 12GB RAM with 256GB storage, and maxes out at 4,999 yuan (about $700) for its 16GB RAM plus 1TB storage offering. In addition to the "Ocean Blue" and "Sepia Brown" designs, you may also consider the purple and black options, both of which come in a glass back.

Xreal, formerly Nreal, hosted one of the busiest booths at CES in recent years, so it's no surprise that the company is back with new AR glasses for this year's show — especially given the much anticipated launch of Apple's Vision Pro. Following the Nreal Light from 2019, the brand new Xreal Air 2 Ultra finally brings back 6DoF (six degrees of freedom) spatial tracking and hand tracking, along with a wider 52-degree FOV (field of view) and a 42-pixel-per-degree sharpness within an 80-gram titanium package. The firm goes as far as claiming that these specs make the $699 Air 2 Ultra a compelling alternative to the $3,499 Vision Pro. 

Unlike the standalone mixed reality headsets, the Air 2 series of glasses need to be powered by an external computing unit, such as a smartphone, a computer or Xreal's Beam module, via USB-C. While the earlier Air 2 Pro and Air 2 were positioned more as personal display wearables, the Air 2 Ultra emphasizes on its 6DoF spatial computing capabilities, meaning virtual objects can be mapped to the real world while you walk around. This is powered by the front-facing dual 3D environment sensors, as well as the Qualcomm Snapdragon processors on the Samsung Galaxy S23 or S22, or any Mac that can run Xreal's Nebula launcher. 

If you already own an Xreal Beam, you can also plug the Air 2 Ultra in for a 3DoF experience (read: just simple head tracking) with video playback or console gaming. Oddly enough, the company doesn't plan on supporting more smartphones at the moment, but it is prepping a new custom computing unit to go with the Air 2 Ultra at some point.

Xreal

Like the Pro, the Air 2 Ultra's front layer supports three electrochromic dimming levels for increased immersion (without the need of a physical shield), as well as directional audio technology for improved privacy, and dual microphones for voice interaction. You'll find the same old Sony micro OLED panels with 1080p resolution per eye, a refresh rate of up to 120Hz (90Hz in 3D mode) and brightness of up to 500 nits (250 nits in 3D mode). Xreal added that these glasses can cast a virtual 2D screen "at an equivalent of 154 inches from a distance of 13 feet," and that they are "TÜV Rheinland-certified for Color Accuracy, Eye Comfort, Low Blue Light, and Flicker Free usage."

The $699 Xreal Air 2 Ultra is available for pre-order now, and if you bought an Nreal Light a while back, you're most likely eligible for a $100 discount. That's still not quite as aggressive as the Meta Quest 3's $500 base price, but then again, the Air 2 Ultra is largely aimed at developers for the time being. For one, Xreal's upcoming Unity-based NRSDK 2.2 won't be available until these glasses start shipping in March. Only then will developers be able to leverage the improved hand tracking, hand gesture recognition, spatial anchors, depth mesh and more. That is to say, Xreal will need to win over as many developers as possible to build up its mixed reality ecosystem, before getting consumers' attention at all, if not enterprises — the latter has been the case for HTC, which announced that it was sending VR headsets to the International Space Station back in November.

NVIDIA may have figured out a way to go around the US export restrictions on China, but apparently ASML, the Dutch firm behind the key chipmaking equipment, isn't having much say on this end. According to Bloomberg, Biden's administration reportedly reached out to ASML "weeks before" the January 1, 2024 export ban deadline, requesting the firm to halt some pre-scheduled shipments of its deep ultraviolet lithography (DUV) machines to its Chinese customers. This came after the revelation that SMIC used ASML tech to manufacture Huawei's latest flagship processor, the 7nm HiSilicon Kirin 9000S.

In addition to DUV machines, ASML also manufactures extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV) machines for making more advanced chips — with node processes of 5nm or less — for the likes of Apple and Qualcomm. While ASML was never allowed to sell EUV equipment to China, the Dutch government did grant licenses to the firm for shipping DUV machines to China until the end of 2023.

Bloomberg reports that things changed when the US government — National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, specifically — allegedly contacted the Dutch government regarding some of ASML's final shipments to China, to which his team was asked to reach out to ASML directly. "Shipments of a limited number of machines" were affected.

While China had been able to source lithography machines from elsewhere, they tended to be off less advanced methods. Not to mention the joint effort between the US, Japan and the Netherlands on limiting China's access to such equipment. That said, China had since been pushed to beef up its own silicon ecosystem, to the point where it surprised the world with its homegrown 7nm mobile 5G chip. It's no wonder the US was desperate to halt ASML's final DUV shipments to China, though doing so before the agreed deadline may be a questionable move. 

Xiaomi, a Chinese brand once synonymous with affordable smartphones, is now attempting to make an even bigger splash with its first-ever electric car. Unveiled at a Beijing event earlier today, the Xiaomi SU7 — pronounced "soo-chee" in Chinese — is a sedan based on the company's very own Modena Architecture with HyperEngine electric motors. The line will come in two flavors: the dual-motor all-wheel-drive SU7 Max, and the single-motor rear-wheel-drive SU7.

It'll be a few more months before Xiaomi announces the prices, but it's already claiming that the SU7 Max has a range of up to 800km (497 miles; according to China Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycle aka CLTC), as well as a 0-100km/h acceleration of just 2.78s, both of which apparently beating Tesla's Model S and Porsche's Taycan Turbo. This is partly thanks to battery maker CATL's generous 101kWh 800V high-voltage platform, which offers a 220km range with just a 5-minute charge, or 390km in 10 minutes, or 510km in 15 minutes.

Xiaomi

Xiaomi hired talents from the auto industry to realize this project. Most notably, CEO Lei Jun claimed that Tianyuan Li, formerly of BMW's iX series and iVision concepts, offered himself to Xiaomi's auto design team. Li was also joined by James Qiu, who had previously worked on Mercedes-Benz's Vision EQXX design. They later recruited Chris Bangle, a BMW veteran, to be their design consultant.

The SU7 is about the same size as the BMW 5 series, coming in at 1,440mm tall, 1,963mm wide and 4,997mm long. You get three color options: the signature "aqua blue," gray or olive green. In his event, Lei highlighted the seemingly generous leg room as well as trunk spaces — 517L in the back and 105L in the front.

At the launch event, Lei highlighted details like the "water droplet" head lamps, each of which resembled the Chinese character for "rice" (which is the "mi" in "Xiaomi"), as well as halo rear brake light consisting of 360 LEDs. The exec also pointed out that his team went with the half-hidden door handles, because the more flush handles are apparently harder to use in cold weather.

Xiaomi

Just as Xiaomi teased earlier, the SU7 offers a HyperOS in-car entertainment system, which is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8295 processor and takes just 1.49 seconds to boot. You can access your media, adjust your seats or even control your Xiaomi home appliances via the 16.1-inch 3K central screen, as well as optional Xiaomi Pad tablets which can be mounted on magnetic ports (up to 22.5W output) behind the two front head rests. The UI on the central screen allows for up to three split windows for multitasking, and you can even cast your Xiaomi phone's screen to it for a seamless experience. As for music and video entertainment, it'll be complemented by the 23 internal Dolby Atmos speakers.

Much like Volkswagen, Xiaomi already knows that car owners still prefer to have some physical buttons, so it's kept a few for climate control, as well as two extra buttons — one for toggling the spoiler (Lei said this is largely for showing off), and one for adjusting the body height (to avoid scratching the bottom, if needed). You can also get an optional row of buttons mounted beneath the central display.

Xiaomi

Xiaomi has yet to share prices for the SU7 line, though Lei already hinted that they will be expensive — which is subjective, of course. We shall find out in a few months' time, and hopefully by then we'll know about availability outside China as well, but we wouldn't count on a US launch any time soon, if ever. Meanwhile, you can get the Xiaomi 14, 14 Pro smartphones and the Xiaomi Watch S3 eSIM in their limited edition colors — either aqua blue or olive green — to match the upcoming SU7.

Developing...

It's been an interesting few years for Huawei. After the Chinese giant's initial struggle with the US trade sanctions, it would end up with a surprise mobile resurgence featuring homegrown processors — ones that are just two generations behind the competition. Not only that, the Chinese government has since allocated billions of dollars to boost its silicon industry, so much that Huawei is already working towards a self-sufficient chip network. It's as if former President Donald Trump's earlier attempts to starve Huawei of vital inputs eventually accelerated China's semiconductor development.

Trump's first strike on Huawei was the declaration of a national emergency in May 2019, which saw the Commerce Department add the company to its Entity List, citing surveillance concerns and links to the Chinese state security. As such, Google could no longer provide Android support to Huawei, thus causing the Mate 30 series and later models to miss out on Google apps (they would eventually adopt Huawei's Android replacement, HarmonyOS, two years later).

In November 2019, the FCC banned carriers from buying Huawei and ZTE networking gear with government subsidies.The following March, Trump signed a bill that would reimburse the replacement of Chinese gear — even if it meant spending an estimated $1.8 billion. Huawei attempted to sue the FCC over these restrictions, but the court sided with the regulator.

The tech war heated up rapidly in May 2020, when the US further restricted Huawei's access to American equipment and software. This meant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), the world's leading fab, would have to stop producing HiSilicon chips for Huawei — its then second-largest customer, after Apple. Likewise, Samsung and SK Hynix had to stop selling chips to the Chinese brand by the September 15, 2020 deadline. As Bloomberg's teardown of the latest Huawei smartphones revealed, the company didn't have a problem stockpiling these Korean memory chips.

For processors, Huawei had no choice but to rely more on local chip makers, namely Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) and Shanghai IC R&D Center. That meant a significant downgrade, though: SMIC had just started mass-producing 14nm chips for Huawei then, whereas TSMC reached 5nm later that year and supplied Kirin 9000 processors for Huawei's Mate 40. That would be the final "high-end" Kirin chip, Huawei's mobile boss Richard Yu said at the time.

Qualcomm was eventually allowed to supply 4G chips to Huawei as of November 2020, but that's four G, and market share figures don't lie. The once-leading brand in China dropped to just 16 percent locally in January 2021 (and then down to a mere 6 percent in Q2 2022), as noted by Counterpoint. Huawei's global market share has been negligible since 2021. According to both Counterpoint and Statista, though, since Huawei sold the Honor brand in November 2020, the spin-off has been able to claim one of the top China quarterly chart positions all this time.

China's chip investment finally paid off when SMIC made a 7nm breakthrough in August 2022 — a leap from 14nm in just two years — faster than it took TSMC or Samsung, according to TechInsights. What's more, this achievement was apparently done without using the most advanced lithography equipment, which were largely exclusive to the likes of ASML and Nikon. It wasn't until earlier this year that the US convinced the Netherlands and Japan to restrict China’s access to advanced chipmaking machinery.

As Bloomberg would later find out in a lengthy investigation, this might have been the fruition of a Shenzhen city government investment fund from 2019 that helped Huawei build "a self-sufficient chip network." Through a network of enterprises, Huawei could stealthily gain access to lithography tech while exchanging experts to work on each others' turfs, without raising any flags. Huawei apparently even managed to hire several former ASML employees, which was likely key to reaching the 7nm node process for its latest processor (the 5G-capable HiSilicon Kirin 9000S, fabricated by SMIC). Benchmarks indicate that this chip's performance is on par with Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 from late 2020, thus suggesting that it's around two generations behind the leading competition.

Huawei then took a rather unusual approach to launch its Kirin 9000S smartphones at the beginning of September this year. Without any launch event or teaser, the company simply announced on Weibo that the Mate 60 and Mate 60 Pro were immediately available. This surprise stunt coincided with the US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo's visit to China, which led many to believe that Huawei received special orders from certain authorities to hastily launch these 5G devices ahead of schedule. This was quickly followed by the China's announcement of a $40 billion fund to further boost its chip industry, as well as the launch of two more phones, the Mate 60 Pro+ and the Mate X5 foldable, a week later.

REUTERS / Reuters

While this may seem a temporary win for China, the country actually saw 10,900 chip-related companies close down in 2023 (as of December 11) — a staggering 90-percent year-on-year increase, which is a sign of a bad economy, according to TMTPost. On the flip side, 65,700 new chip-related companies registered in the same period, which is a 9.5 percent increase year-on-year. The report added that the China-made RAM chips and processors on Huawei's Mate 60 series are an indication of the growing reliance on the local supply chain, which will continue to drive the long-term development of the Chinese semiconductor industry.

As much as the US government wants to limit China's access to high-end tech, the truth is western companies still want to tap into the big market in the east. NVIDIA is a prime example, as it's still in talks with the authorities on the specifications of AI chips that it can sell to China, without breaching US export rules. "What we cannot allow them to ship is the most sophisticated, highest-processing power AI chips, which would enable China to train their frontier models," Raimondo told Reuters. Of course, failing that, China may eventually come up with an AI chip that's just as impressive, if not more — like its recent claim of a light-based chip that is apparently 3,000 times faster than NVIDIA's A100.

The US-China tech war isn't just limited to chips, either. The Biden administration is proposing to cut tax credits on electric vehicles that contain Chinese components — especially batteries, as an attempt to wean local car brands off Chinese components. The trade-off here is always the cost savings (as is the idea behind Ford and CATL's Michigan battery plant), as well as the US market missing out on potential breakthroughs on power density or output, namely the upcoming 150kWh battery demoed in Chinese EV manufacturer Nio's ET7, which reached a range of around 650 miles. Who knows, maybe someday Huawei may want to sell its Aito or Luxeed electric cars in the US, too — if it's allowed to enter at all.

Following the patent dispute over the blood oxygen sensor on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, the International Trade Commission (ITC) sided with medical technology company Masimo, and ordered to halt all sales of said wearables in the US — conveniently just in time for the holidays. Apple has since filed a motion to pause this ban until its appeal is done, but earlier today, the ITC denied this request, meaning the Apple Watch ban is going ahead, unless the President decides to veto.

"A Presidential Review Period is in progress regarding an order from the US International Trade Commission on a technical intellectual property dispute pertaining to Apple Watch devices containing the Blood Oxygen feature," Apple told Engadget in an earlier statement. "While the review period will not end until December 25, Apple is preemptively taking steps to comply should the ruling stand."

The Apple Watch models affected will stop being sold on Apple.com on December 21 i.e. tomorrow, then on December 24 at Apple's retail stores, and then until stocks run out for third-party retailers like Amazon and Best Buy — which could be pretty fast given the import ban on December 26. Other models like the Apple Watch SE that don't contain a blood oxygen sensor will continue to be sold.

Masimo filed its lawsuit against Apple in 2021 over alleged violations of patents related to light-based blood-oxygen monitoring. The case originally targeted the Apple Watch Series 6, but despite the sales ban, you can continue to use the blood oxygen feature on that and other previously purchased Apple Watch models. In retaliation, Apple filed two patent infringement suits against Masimo in October 2022, claiming that the latter's own smartwatch copied Apple Watch features.

If you were hoping to play Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding: Director's Cut on a Mac, iPhone or iPad before the year ends, I'm afraid you'll now have to wait a bit longer. 505 Games, the publisher behind this port, announced on X that it needs "a little more time," and that it will have "a new release date in early 2024." Specifically, the Mac App Store now lists January 31, 2024 as the expected date for this post-apocalypse package delivery simulator, which is available for pre-ordering for $40. 

While the game itself is from 2019 (with the director's cut released in 2021), Apple appears to be keen on leveraging such heavyweight titles to show off its own processors — M1 or later — and 3D graphics capabilities. If you prefer mobile, though, you're limited to the iPhone 15 Pro line with their A17 Pro chip. Much like the PlayStation versions, this Apple flavor will also feature cross-over content from Cyberpunk 2077 and Half-Life.

Back in June, Kojima said his future games will also be available on the Apple platform, though it's not clear if that includes Death Stranding 2. More recently, the gaming legend announced that the title will be adapted into a movie, with help from studio A24. "There are a lot of 'game adaptation films' out there but what we are creating is not just a direct translation of the game," Kojima promised.

It may seem like blasphemy for an Engadget writer to diss touch controls, but as the demise of the MacBook Pro's Touch Bar has proven, those aren't always a good idea — especially on cars. As spotted by Autocar at Volkswagen City Studio in Copenhagen, the ID. 2all concept electric car now features a slightly updated interior, with the most notable change being the return of physical buttons below the central touchscreen. According to the brand's interior designer Darius Watola, this will be "a new approach for all models" based on "recent feedback from customers" — especially those in Europe who wanted "more physical buttons."

In Autocar's Tiguan launch interview back in June, Volkswagen CEO Thomas Schäfer already acknowledged customers' criticism on the over-reliance on touch controls — namely on the Golf Mk8 and ID.3, not to mention the same trend across the motor industry. The exec went as far as saying the earlier touch-heavy approach — endorsed by his predecessor, Herbert Diess — "definitely did a lot of damage" in terms of customer loyalty.

The ID. 2all is based on Volkswagen's updated MEB Entry platform, and packs a 223HP motor that can go up to 62MPH in under seven seconds. As far as range goes, this car can apparently travel up to 280 miles on a single charge, but that's with the larger and more advanced 56kWh battery instead of the base 38kWh version. Expect this concept electric vehicle to cost under €25,000 (around $27,300), when it arrives as a production model in Europe in 2025. The company also recently teased the ID. 2all SUV, which is described as "the brother of the ID. 2all," but it won't arrive until 2026.

Earlier today, Scottish adventurers Chris and Julie Ramsey were finally able to announce their completion of the nine-month, 17,000-mile "Pole To Pole EV" expedition, the world's first drive from the 1823 Magnetic North Pole to South Pole — on an electric car, no less. The couple actually reached their destination on December 15 (Friday), but they could only share the news after re-establishing satellite connection later. This feat was achieved using a Nissan Ariya e-4ORCE electric vehicle, which was modified by Icelandic specialist Arctic Trucks — mainly with larger 39-inch tires plus matching wheel arches, along with some ice-friendly gear and body reinforcement work. The powertrain and suspension were mostly stock — just with a lifted height, according to Electrek.

All that extra load on the electric vehicle meant it had to make do with a reduced range of just 150 to 200 miles — a drop from the original 272-mile mark. During the Arctic and Antarctic parts of the trip, the Ramseys picked up tricks on keeping the car battery warm for improved efficiency. Most notably, they would pile up a snow wall to shield the car's underside and front radiator from the cold wind, or they would even use a dedicated tent to cover up the entire car, when it wasn't not too windy. 

Depending on the weather, the duo would use either a 5kW wind turbine or a prototype solar hybrid charging solution to juice up their Ariya. Failing that, there were moments when they had to fall back to their petrol generator — a mandatory equipment for traversing the Arctic regions. Likewise with their diesel support vehicles, as no electric version of those exist. Chris explained to Expedition Portal that the purpose of "Pole To Pole EV" is to prove that electric vehicles make a viable replacement for existing diesel-powered expedition vehicles in the polar regions.

In between the poles, the Ramseys traveled through the Americas, with the northern part being relatively easy thanks to the readily-available chargers along the way. It was a different story down south, but "Pole To Pole EV" collaborated with EV charging solutions provider, Enel X Way, to install chargers along their route through Central and South America — especially the Peru leg of the expedition. Better yet, Enel X Way has promised to keep these new chargers available to the public afterwards, thus extending its electric Pan-American charging corridor.

This isn't the first time Chris and Julie Ramsey made headlines involving electric vehicles. Back in 2017, the Scottish couple became the first to enter and complete the Mongol Rally in an electric car — a modified Nissan Leaf Acenta. Charging was relatively easy between the UK and Turkey, but from there onwards, they had to rely on domestic plug sockets and would end up with many memorable encounters with locals. The two drove 10,000 miles in 56 days — quite a challenge given the modified Leaf's 90-mile range. "But we are pleased that a huge charging network has sprung up across the route since we completed the rally in 2017," Chris added, in case anyone else is up for the EV challenge.

Despite Elon Musk's earlier attempts to avoid further testifying for the Twitter-takeover investigation, his luck appears to have run out. Reuters reported that in a San Francisco hearing on Thursday, a federal judge shot down Musk's attorney's challenge on whether the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) officials had the power to issue subpoenas, thus ruling that the exec must therefore comply with the regulator and appear for testimony. US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler was quoted saying, "you've got one more four-hour deposition, one more day of depositions to survive and it's over." Failing that, the judge would have to issue an order.

The SEC's ongoing probe dives into Musk’s late disclosure of his stake in Twitter — a publicly-traded company back then — which went against the requirements of US securities law. This 10-day delay on the paperwork, along with some potentially misleading information within, may have earned the exec as much as $156 million, according to The Washington Post. Former Twitter shareholders also filed a class-action lawsuit against Musk over his controversial $44 billion takeover of the social media platform, which has since been renamed X.

While it's unlikely that Musk can skip future testimonies for this case, he would be better off heeding Beeler's advice, regardless. "It seems unlikely there’s going to be any more hassle," the judge added, should the world's richest man "work it out" with the SEC. Whether that would help his case is a whole different matter, of course.