Skip to main content

Land Rover makes Scottish island less remote with potentially lifesaving project

A team of volunteers and expert Land Rover drivers traveled Scotland’s Isle of Mull to deliver unique three-word address plaques to the island’s 2,000 addresses. The plaque distribution could result in saving residents’ lives in medical emergencies.

Joining Land Rover Experience drivers as part of the brand’s 70th year of humanitarian efforts, the volunteers provided a service for Mull’s 2,667 residents. The Addressing Mull project was in response to a request from the island’s doctor, Brian Prendergast, who asked for assistance in providing a unique identifier for each home and business on the island to assist responding medical personnel.

Many of the Isle of Mull’s streets lack formal names, and the local postal codes encompass large areas. Without precise local knowledge, it can be nearly impossible to find individual homes. Residents can provide their three-word locations when they need an emergency medical response.

“Using three-word addresses will vastly improve the ability of doctors and nurses, particularly those new to the island, to locate and assist remote-living patients,” Prendergast said. “We believe it will not only help us deliver a better routine health care service, but will save vital minutes in emergency call-outs that could literally save a life. The island is really grateful to What3words and Land Rover for putting Mull on the map.”

What3words, a geocoding system, generated the three-word addresses. The London-based company divided the world into 57 trillion 3-meter by 3-meter squares. The company’s technology assigns each square a unique 3-word address matched to a specific location on an online map.

The address words, currently available in 26 languages, are optimized for voice input and can be used with a variety of platforms, machines, and e-commerce checkouts, according to the company. The free What3words app is available for iOS and Android.

Jaguar Land Rover currently has more than 40 social-impact programs lined up with What3words.

“At Jaguar Land Rover, we are passionate about the impact technology can make when combined with the talent of our people,” Chris Thorp, Jaguar Land Rover responsible business director, said. “Addressing Mull by Land Rover is the ideal way to launch our global humanitarian partnership with What3words, which has the potential to transform isolated communities around the world by making them more accessible.”

Editors' Recommendations

Bruce Brown
Digital Trends Contributing Editor Bruce Brown is a member of the Smart Homes and Commerce teams. Bruce uses smart devices…
Tesla’s fix for faulty Cybertruck pedal is simpler than you might think
Tesla Cybertruck

Less than five months after handing over the first Cybertrucks to customers, Tesla has had to recall the electric pickup to fix an issue with the accelerator.

In a notice issued on Friday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said that the recall impacts Cybertruck vehicles manufactured from November 13, 2023, to April 4, 2024. This suggests that all -- or almost all -- of the 3,878 Cybertrucks being recalled are those that have been manufactured to date.

Read more
Ford Mustang Mach-E 2024 vs. Mach-E 2023: What’s new in Ford’s electric Mustang?
Blue Ford Mustang Mach-E on a rooftop

The Ford Mustang Mach-E is easily one of the best EVs for the price, offering a solid range, sleek design, and pretty good tech on the inside. In recent years, it has gotten even cheaper -- thanks in large part to a price war between it and the Tesla Model 3. And, the company just took the wraps off of the latest and greatest version of the Mach-E, labeled as the 2024 model.

The 2024 Mustang Mach-E is notably different from the 2023 iteration in some meaningful ways. So much so that we decided to take a look at the two head-to-head -- to see if it was better to pay for the 2024 model or save some cash on any remaining 2023 stock.
Design
The Mustang Mach-E looks relatively unique -- in a good way. And thankfully, Ford has largely kept the overall design the same for the 2024 model, at least when it comes to the more consumer-focused models. The car retains the slatted taillights and crossover size. It also offers a large selection of colors, including the very blue Grabber Blue Metallic, as well as Rapid Red Metallic. It's a good selection of colors, and there should be an option for most buyers.

Read more
Tesla to begin production on new, more affordable models
Tesla Model 3

With competition increasing from Chinese and other automakers, Tesla boss Elon Musk revealed on Tuesday that his company is planning to begin production of new, more affordable models in “early 2025, if not late this year.” Notably, that's earlier than the previously stated date of late 2025, though whether Musk actually succeeds in meeting the earlier production time frame is another question entirely.

The news came as Tesla released its latest quarterly figures. Revenue for the electric vehicle maker came in at $21.3 billion, down from the $23.3 billion it reported for the same three-month period a year earlier and also down from the $25.2 billion reported in the previous quarter. Profit reached $1.1 billion, marking a 55% fall compared to the same period a year ago.

Read more