Technology

We’ve reached a point of obfuscated redundancy in the auto space. Many manufacturers pushing out new models incorporate aspects calling on Tesla’s minimalism – but that means the axing of many important things, like the instrument cluster, tactile buttons and dials, and a focus on customization in the infotainment system, with this trend more noticeable in the EV space. Among the axing of supposed non-essentials is the humble full-size spare tyre – which is why it’s cause for celebration whenever it returns.

The Chery Omoda E5, sold in the UK as simply the Omoda E5 and originating from China, is the car we’re celebrating today. I was diplomatic in my initial impressions article on the E5, noting that it’s likely a better fit for value-savvy Aussies than Britons, who have a greater variety at the car’s price point. It lacks a competitive angle on driving comfort, boot capacity, and DC recharge time, though its price to range ratio is considerable and the features offered in the slightly more expensive trim are notable.

Across both trims in Australia and the UK, there is one standout feature – the full-sized spare tyre. There’s also the expected internal space for it to be stored under the boot mat in the back.

A spare tyre is a rarity among new cars, especially for EVs. It’s a feature only typically found in cars built for off-roading lifestyles, such as heavy-duty SUVs and utes, but you’ll find exceptions here and there, like the 2022 Subaru BRZ.

But it should be a greater consideration for drivers and manufacturers alike. Roadside assistance, though often reliable, especially for drivers who may not be comfortable repairing a spare on the roadside, can often be time consuming when your car is capable of carrying a spare. So let’s talk about why it’s great that the Omoda E5 has included it.

Spare a spare?

(Image credit: Behold! The spare tyre found in the Chery Omoda E5. Zachariah Kelly / TechRadar)

The spare tyre is an inclusion that has largely been lost over time, with the argument often going that the space is better used to improve volume capacity, that it adds room for a larger battery or fuel tank, or that it adds unnecessary weight. Of the more than 30 EVs I’ve reviewed, only two have featured a full-sized spare tyre – the Omoda E5 and the 2024 Hyundai Kona EV (though there are a handful of other EVs offering spares).

I’m not going to fly in the face of removing redundancy, but a spare tyre is the furthest thing from it. This is the kind of thing where the term ‘have it and not need it, rather than need it and not need it’ applies.

The most common argument against the provisioned spare tyre is that it’s unnecessary. In many cases, a space–saver tyre is enough to get the job done, or a puncture repair kit would suffice.

A puncture repair kit will only work for holes smaller than 3mm (per Drive, who interviewed a former roadside assistance mechanic on the topic), and even then, the tyre may have been further damaged by driving at low pressure. Meanwhile, a space saver limits your speed to 80km/h (49mph) and can only be used for a short distance. These are solutions that could work in the city, but are unideal if you live far out from town.

Within reason, tyres can be repaired for general road use after a tread puncture, but a puncture to the tyre wall is often unlikely to be repairable. A full-size spare tyre gives the owner greater agency over their car. As it’s specced in-line with the rest of the car’s tyres, it can be fitted and used ongoing as if things were normal – though it would be best to replace (or repair the spare) at your earliest convenience.

But obviously roadside assistance can be preferred. People who are less nimble might not want to bend their back to get the wheel out of the back of the car, or might not want to kneel down to replace the tyre if it’s too heavy.

Getting by sparingly

(Image credit: Zachariah Kelly / TechRadar)

It’s hard to think of a spare tyre as anything less than necessary in rural and regional areas. You can get by in cities where a puncture repair kit or space-saver could be relied on for a short distance, but places like regional New South Wales in Australia may not have a tyre shop or mechanic for a great distance.

And to give yourself peace of mind on the road, especially if you live far out of town or are roadtripping, it’s probably not a bad idea to pick up a compatible full-size spare tyre, to save yourself from calling up roadside assistance.

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I love diving into learning about new things and falling down research rabbit holes, but sometimes I just need a quick, efficient answer to a question or a concise guide to a task. If I’m trying to figure out how long to roast chicken or whether Pluto has been reinstated as a planet, I want a short list of bullet points and a simple yes or no.

So, while ChatGPT's Deep Research feature has proven to be an amazing researcher that is great when I want to immerse myself in a topic, I haven't made it my default tool with the AI chatbot. The AI model's database, as well as its search tool, resolve pretty much any day-to-day question or issue I might ask it. I don't need a formal report on how to make a meal that takes 10 minutes to compile. But, I do find the comprehensive answers from Deep Research viscerally appealing, so I decided it was worth comparing it to the standard (GPT-4o) ChatGPT model and giving it a few prompts that I could imagine submitting on a whim or with little long-term need.

Beef Wellington

(Image credit: ChatGPT Screenshots)

For the first test, I wanted to see how both models would handle a classic, somewhat intimidating recipe: Beef Wellington. This isn’t the kind of dish you can just throw together on a weeknight. It’s a time-consuming, multi-step process that requires patience and precision. If there was ever a meal where Deep Research might prove useful, this was it. I asked both models: “Can you give me a simple recipe for kosher Beef Wellington?”

Regular ChatGPT responded almost instantly with a straightforward, well-structured recipe. It listed ingredients in clear measurements, broke the process down into manageable steps, and offered a few helpful tips to avoid common pitfalls. It was exactly what I needed in a recipe. Deep Research took a full ten minutes and had a very long, complex mini-cookbook centered on the dish. I had multiple versions of Beef Wellington, which did all adhere to my specific requests, but ranged from a Jamie Geller-inspired method to a 19th-century traditional preparation with some substitutions. That's not counting the extra suggestions about decorations and an analysis of various types of puff pastry and their butter-to-flour ratios. If I'm honest, I loved it as a piece of trivia obsession. But, if I wanted to actually just make the dish, it was a bit too much like those recipe blogs where you have to scroll past someone's entire life story just to get to the ingredients list.

TV time

(Image credit: ChatGPT Screenshots)

For the second test, I wanted to see if Deep Research could help me buy a TV so I kept it simple with: “What should I consider when buying a new TV?”

Regular ChatGPT gave me a quick and clear answer. It broke things down into screen size, resolution, display type, smart features, and ports. It told me that 4K is standard, 8K is overkill, OLED has better contrast, HDMI 2.1 is great for gaming, and budget matters. I felt like I had a decent grasp of what to look for, and I could have easily walked into a store with that information.

Deep Research had its usual extra questions about what's important to me, but it was faster this time, only six minutes before delivering a full report on several TVs. Except rather than a simple pros and cons list, I got a lot of unnecessary detail on things like OLED vs. QLED panels, the reason TV refresh rates affect video games, and the impact of compression algorithms on streaming quality. Again, this was all incredibly informative, but entirely unnecessary for my purposes. And unlike Beef Wellington, I'm not going to keep coming back to the TV buying guide on a semi-regular basis.

Telescope look

(Image credit: ChatGPT Screenshots)

For the final test, I decided to get a little more academic in light of my recent decision to pursue astronomy more seriously as a hobby. Still keeping it brief, I asked, “How does a telescope work?”

Regular ChatGPT responded instantly with a simple, digestible answer. Telescopes gather and magnify light using either lenses (refracting telescopes) or mirrors (reflecting telescopes). It briefly touched on magnification, resolution, and light-gathering power, making it easy to understand without getting too technical.

Deep Research gave me a report of a kind I might have written in high school. After asking how technical I wanted my answer, and me responding that I didn't want it to be technical, I waited about eight minutes for a lengthy discussion of optics, the development of different kinds of telescopes, including radio telescopes, and the mechanisms behind how they all work. The report even included a guide on buying your first telescope and a discussion on atmospheric distortion in ground-based observations. It was answering questions I hadn't asked. Admittedly, I might do so at some point so the anticipation of follow-up queries wasn't a huge negative in this instance. Still, a couple of sentences about mirrors would have been just fine in the moment.

Deep thoughts

After running these tests, my opinion of Deep Research as a powerful AI tool with impressive results remains, but I feel much more aware of its excesses in the context of regular ChatGPT use. The reports it generates are detailed, well-organized, and surprisingly well-written. For a random tour of interesting information, it's pretty great, but I much more often just need an answer, not a thesis. Sometimes a shallow dip is preferable to a deep dive.

If the regular ChatGPT approach is accurate and does in seconds what takes Deep Research several minutes and a lot of unnecessary context to provide, that's going to be my preference 99 times out of a hundred. Sometimes, less is more. That being said, Deep Research's shopping advice would be great for a much bigger purchase than a TV, like a car, or even when looking for a house. But for everyday things, Deep Research is just doing too much. I don't need a jet engine for an electric scooter, but, for a transcontinental flight, that jet engine is good to have on-hand.

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• The latest audacious display launch from Thanko certainly pushes boundaries
• Perfect for working on the move - if you have the space
• New double 24-inch monitor can be extended up to 270 degrees

Doubling up on monitors is a surefire way to help drive productivity, but Japanese brand Thanko now seems to have taken things to the next level.

The firm has released a new double 24-inch monitor, and it’s quite the site to behold, as users can expand the monitor into two screens, connected in one single unit.

For those that are short on desk space, it’s a very handy piece of equipment and can be extended up to 270 degrees. The monitor’s measurements come in at 542 x 17 x 650mm (when unfolded) and 542 x 25 x 323mm (when folded).

Getting flexible

Admittedly, it doesn’t quite meet the mark with port options, featuring just a single HDMI slot and two USB-C ports - and one of these is for power supply.

It also boasts an array of ports and features, including a single HDMI port and two USB-C ports, although admittedly one of these is for power supply. These are complemented by a 3.5mm headphone jack as well as two 2W speakers.

From a performance perspective, it also gives users a maximum refresh rate of 100Hz alongside a response speed of 14ms.

The monitor has been touted as a ‘portable’ monitor. Given it weighs some 5kg, or roughly 11lbs, it could make for a great piece of equipment if you're on the move.

You can get your hands on the dual monitor for around ¥62,800 ($420).

Pushing boundaries

This isn’t the first Thanko product to push boundaries, as in February 2022, the gadget maker unveiled an audacious vertical display which allowed users to keep tabs on social media feeds.

The Thanko TL Portrait Display was designed to complement a laptop or desktop display - boasting a display size of 7.9 inches, the compact monitor fitted neatly alongside a laptop, according to reports at the time from Tom’s Hardware.

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• Rocket Enterprise SSD delivers up to 7,000MB/s read speeds with low-latency performance
• Features a 2.5 million-hour MTBF and an ultra-low bit error rate
• Supports both U.2 and U.3 interfaces, making it incompatible with standard desktop motherboards

Sabrent has introduced its first large SSD, the Rocket Enterprise PCIe 4.0 U.2/U.3 NVMe SSD, designed for enterprise — including data centers and large-scale operations by offering up to 30.72TB of storage, just like Micron's 9550 NVMe enterprise SSD, released in 2024.

Sabrent's product listing notes the device is not intended for consumer use, but businesses requiring high-speed, high-endurance storage solutions.

The new SSD delivers speeds of up to 7,000MB/s for sequential reads and 6,800MB/s for sequential writes and also provides up to 1,600K IOPS for 4K random reads, delivering the speed required for AI tools, server applications, and large-scale data management.

Performance tailored for enterprise workloads

The Rocket Enterprise PCIe 4.0 offers enterprise features like namespaces and power loss protection with an endurance rating of one DWPD.

The highest capacity model, at 30.72TB, can handle over 56PB of written data over its lifespan, and it also features a bit error rate (UBER) of less than one sector per 10^18 bits read, ensuring data integrity.

In terms of reliability, the SSD boasts a mean time between failures (MTBF) of 2.5 million hours, reducing the likelihood of unexpected failures. To maintain performance, the SSD offers sustained low-latency 4K random reads and writes.

It operates efficiently, consuming 21W during active use and just 6W while idle.

The SSD supports both U.2 and U.3 interfaces, which can be used simultaneously to ensure compatibility with a wide range of enterprise storage systems. However, this form factor makes it incompatible with standard desktop motherboards, which typically use M.2 or SATA connections.

Even if you could use it in a consumer setup, you might want to give it a second thought — the largest 30.72GB model of the Rocket Enterprise PCIe 4.0 is priced at just under $4,500.

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• Designed for sale in Europe, the ID.EVERY1 will start at around €20,000
• It's slightly smaller than the VW Polo but offers the same room
• A range of 155 miles and a top speed of 80mph has been proposed

Volkswagen teased its tiny, affordable electric city car last month, when it released a series of gloomy images that hinted at a sportier, more aggressive EV to kickstart its line-up of battery-powered passenger cars.

Dubbed the ID.EVERY1 (we know, it’s a terrible name), the show car has now been revealed in all its boxy, flared-arch glory.

Standing at 3,880mm in length, it measures slightly longer than the old Up! (3,600mm) and is designed to sit between the upcoming ID.2all and the current Polo.

Aside from making us want to start a petition against utterly ridiculous vehicle names, the ID.EVERY1 looks slick, with animated front and rear lamps “welcoming” owners, lower front bumpers that offer a "smile" and massive 19-inch wheels that are engulfed by chunky, flared wheel arches.

It certainly moves the game on from the slightly weedy-looking Up! or yesteryear and it offers more interior roominess, too, with space for four people and a luggage compartment volume of 305 liters.

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“A secret sauce element is the roof drawn in in the middle, as is usually known from sports cars,” says Volkswagen Head of Design Andreas Mindt.

Although this is a show car and isn’t the model that will make it on sale, VW has said that the concept reaches a top speed of 130 km/h (80mph) and is powered by a "newly developed" electric motor with 70 kW (95hp). The range is at least 250 kilometers - or around 155 miles in old money.

Very much aimed at the affordable small city car segment, which is currently dominated by things like the Fiat 500e, or the even cheaper Dacia Spring and recently-announced Leapmotor T03, it is designed to offer low-cost motoring without scrimping on VW’s reputation for quality.

Made "in Europe for Europe", the ID.1 - as we hope it will be badged - will start at around €20,000, or around £17,000 in the UK ($21,600 roughly converted).

This will see it kick off a range of nine new models by 2027 including the production version of the ID.2all and updated versions of the ID.3, ID.4 and ID.5.

VW gets back to doing what it does best

(Image credit: Volkswagen)

Despite the fact that the ID.EVERY1 will likely change considerably for this funky looking concept, it already boasts a number of neat and convenient features that help it stand out from the current crowd of basic, budget EVs.

There’s a large central infotainment system, complete with a neat row of physical buttons below that inside. The two-spoke steering wheel is also festooned with multi-function buttons that ensure not everything is committed to a fiddly touchscreen display.

Volkswagen also says that the front passenger side of the dash panel is designed to be ‘variable’. In essence, designers have created a dedicated rail that allow things, such as a tablet or a tray table, to be snapped into place.

The concept images also appear to show a small speaker system that can be clicked into place in the center console – or presumably removed and used as a Bluetooth sound system when picnicking or partying outside.

Taking a leaf out of Kia’s recent design book, the center console can also be used as an arm rest, or slid backwards and offered up as a handy stowage space for rear passengers.

Practical, useable and stylish, the ID.1 will hope to mimic the success of the long-standing Polo, perhaps not in the epic sales numbers but in the fact that it can introduce a fresh new audience to the brand with good looks, a modern interior and an attractive price.

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• Eurocom Raptor X17 laptop is built for AI, cybersecurity, and high-end simulations.
• A 17.3-inch monster with advanced cooling features
• And with 128GB RAM, even heavy workloads run smoothly

Eurocom, known for its powerful but expensive laptops, such as the Sky X4C, has released the Raptor X17, a mobile workstation which supports up to 24TB of NVMe SSD storage across three M.2 slots, including two PCIe 4.0 x4 and one PCIe 5.0 drive.

On the Raptor X17's configuration page, Eurocom says its new laptop is designed for professionals handling intensive workloads such as AI tools training, cybersecurity, and large-scale simulations.

At its heart is Intel’s Core i9-14900HX, a 24-core, 32-thread processor built for exceptional computational power, as the Intel HM770 PCIe 4.0 architecture enables high-speed data processing.

Eurocom Raptor X17 gets a power-packed upgrade

The Raptor X17 features Nvidia’s RTX 4090 mobile GPU with 9,728 CUDA cores and 304 Tensor AI cores. While the absence of an RTX 5090M may be disappointing, the RTX 4090M remains one of the most powerful mobile graphics cards available.

Users can configure storage with RAID 0, 1, or 5, optimizing for speed, redundancy, or a balance of both. The laptop also supports up to 128GB of DDR5 RAM, with speeds up to 5600MHz, ensuring smooth performance for memory-intensive applications.

Eurocom offers two display options: a 17.3-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) panel with a 240Hz refresh rate or a UHD (3840 x 2160) option with a 144Hz refresh rate.

The chassis is made from an aluminum-magnesium alloy, but this does not reduce its weight, as it comes in at 3.29 kg and 24.9 mm thick. While on the heavier side, it serves those who prioritize ruggedness and power.

For connectivity, this business laptop includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports, USB-C 3.2, three USB-A ports, HDMI 2.0, and dual Mini DisplayPort 1.4. It also features a built-in 2.5GbE Ethernet port with support for an additional LAN connection via Thunderbolt 4.

To sustain peak performance under heavy workloads, Eurocom has integrated an advanced cooling system to prevent thermal throttling. The laptop ships with a 780W AC adapter.

With a starting price of $12,000, the Eurocom Raptor X17 makes the MacBook Pro M4 Max, Apple’s most expensive laptop, seem reasonably priced by comparison. However, this mobile workstation is a premium option for users who need extreme performance and configurability.

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