Shell USA expands to EV charging stations

Shell USA is expanding from gas pumps to charging points.

The oil giant bought Volta Inc., owner of a network of about 3,000 electric vehicle charging points, including 28 on Long Island. Volta also has another 3,400 EV charging stations under development. The price of the acquisition was $169 million.

Volta’s charging stations are placed at what Shell calls “destination points” such as shopping centers, malls, grocery stores and pharmacies. On Long Island, for example, there are six Volta EV chargers at Broadway Commons mall in Hicksville and two at Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove, according to Volta’s website. Most others are near Stop & Shop supermarkets in Nassau.

ChatGPT fastest to 100 million users

The buzz around ChatGPT, the controversial artificial intelligence app that can convincingly mimic human writing, has been enormous. And it has ridden the buzz to apparently set a record as fastest-growing app after launch, according to a Reuters report. ChatGPT reached 100 million active users in January, just two months after it launched. By comparison, TikTok needed nine months after it launched to hit 100 million users.

PC sales ‘collapse’

PC sales continued to slump in the fourth quarter of 2022, with shipments of personal computers falling for the sixth straight quarter, according to separate reports from Gartner and IDC. Gartner, calling the 28% drop in fourth-quarter shipments a “collapse,” said it was the worst year-over-year performance since it started tracking the PC market in the mid-1990s.

Tesla raises Model Y prices

Tesla has raised prices on its Model Y SUV, due to rising demand and changes in U.S. government rules that make more vehicles, including the Model Y, eligible for $7,500 tax credits. The electric vehicle maker bumped up the price of the Model Y Long Range version by about 2% to $54,990 and the Performance version by about 2.7% to $57,990. — AP