The top vehicle safety regulator in the U.S. has launched a formal probe into an April crash involving the all-electric VinFast VF8 SUV that claimed the lives of a family of four, TechCrunch has learned. The crash happened in Pleasanton, California at about 9 p.m. on April 24. Police told local news outlets at the […]
VinFast crash that killed family of four now under federal investigation Read More »
A new crop of early-stage startups — along with some recent VC investments — illustrates a niche emerging in the autonomous vehicle technology sector. Unlike the companies bringing robotaxis to city streets, these startups are taking their tech off-road. Two recent entrants — Seattle-based Overland AI and New Brunswick-based Potential — are poised to get
VCs and the military are fueling self-driving startups that don’t need roads Read More »
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! What a wild week for transportation news! It was a smorgasbord of news that seemed to touch every sector and theme in transportation, including tariffs on Chinese
Tesla keeps cutting jobs and the feds probe Waymo Read More »
Uber is taking a shuttle product it developed for commuters in India and Egypt and converting it for an American audience. The ride-hail and delivery giant announced Wednesday at its annual Go-Get event in New York City that it will launch a shuttle service in certain U.S. cities this summer. The service will eventually cater
Uber has a new way to solve the concert traffic problem Read More »
Around 550 employees across autonomous vehicle company Motional have been laid off, according to information taken from WARN notice filings and sources at the company. Earlier this week, TechCrunch reported that Motional is pausing commercial operations and delaying plans to launch a robotaxi service with its next-gen Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxis until 2026 as it
Motional cut about 550 employees, around 40%, in recent restructuring, sources say Read More »
Waymo’s autonomous vehicle software is under investigation after federal regulators received 22 reports of the robotaxis crashing or potentially violating traffic safety laws by driving in the wrong lane or into construction zones. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) says the probe is intended to evaluate the software and its
Waymo’s robotaxis under investigation after crashes and traffic mishaps Read More »
Kyle Vogt, the former founder and CEO of self-driving car company Cruise, has a new VC-backed robotics startup focused on household chores. Vogt announced Monday that the new startup, called the Bot Company, has raised $150 million from former GitHub CEO and investor Nat Friedman, Pioneer founder and investor Daniel Gross, Spark Capital general partner
Cruise founder Kyle Vogt is back with a robot startup Read More »
Cruise has started testing its autonomous vehicles in Phoenix, with plans to begin “supervised” driving in the city more than six months after the GM self-driving subsidiary halted its driverless operations across the United States. Cruise announced Monday in a blog post that it will begin testing two vehicles in autonomous mode on public roads
GM’s Cruise ramps up robotaxi testing in Phoenix Read More »
Around 550 employees across autonomous vehicle company Motional have been laid off, according to information taken from WARN notice filings and sources at the company. Earlier this week, TechCrunch reported that Motional is pausing commercial operations and delaying plans to launch a robotaxi service with its next-gen Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxis until 2026 as it
Motional cut about 550 employees, around 40%, in recent restructuring, sources say Read More »
Electric vehicle demand might be softening, but investors appear to be excited about the U.S. debut of a Chinese luxury EV brand. Geely-owned Zeekr hit the New York Stock Exchange with a splash on Friday, making it the first major U.S. listing by a Chinese company since 2021, following China’s effective ban on foreign IPOs.
The buzziest EV IPO of the year is a Chinese automaker Read More »
