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! I don’t know about you, but for me, the past few days have offered up even more evidence that our world is vulnerable to software bugs. Yep, […]
Alphabet pours $5B into Waymo, Cruise scraps the Origin and Elon’s bet on autonomy Read More »
Don Burnette, CEO and co-founder of self-driving truck startup Kodiak Robotics, had an “a-ha” moment when the company started working with the U.S. Department of Defense. Kodiak’s mission has always been to pursue long-haul autonomous trucking, but two years ago, the startup won a $50 million contract from the DoD to help the Army automate
Kodiak Robotics is taking self-driving trucks off road to reach profitability faster Read More »
In the lithium-ion battery world, the race to the bottom isn’t as ominous as it sounds. Battery manufacturers are under pressure from automakers to lower prices while maintaining or improving performance. They’ve largely delivered, with battery pack costs dropping from $780 to $139 per kilowatt-hour over the last decade, according to BNEF. That’s allowed electric
GM-backed Addionics aims to make lithium-ion batteries cheaper with wavy foil Read More »
India conglomerate Jio has partnered with Taiwanese fabless semiconductor giant MediaTek to supply the booming electric scooter market with digital dashboards. The partnership, which was announced Thursday at an industry event in New Delhi, will bring chips supplied by MediaTek and an Android-based operating system along with hardware developed by Jio to electric scooters in
Jio partners with Taiwan’s MediaTek to tap into two-wheeler EV market Read More »
Elon Musk says he will show off Tesla’s purpose-built “robotaxi” prototype during an event October 10, after scrapping a previous plan to reveal it August 8. Musk said Tesla will also show off “a couple of other things,” but didn’t explain what that meant. The comments, made on Tesla’s second-quarter earnings call Tuesday, largely confirms
Elon Musk says he will show off Tesla’s purpose-built “robotaxi” prototype during an event October 10, after scrapping a previously-planned reveal on August 8 earlier this month. Musk said Tesla will also show off “a couple of other things,” but didn’t explain what that meant. The comments, made on Tesla’s second-quarter earnings call Tuesday, largely
Elon Musk sets new October 10 date for ‘robotaxi’ reveal and ‘other things’ Read More »
Alphabet will spend an additional $5 billion on its self-driving subsidiary, Waymo, over the next few years, according to Ruth Porat, the company’s chief financial officer. Porat announced the commitment to a new “multi-year investment” Tuesday during Alphabet’s second-quarter earnings call. “This new round of funding, which is consistent with recent annual investment levels, will
Alphabet to invest another $5B into Waymo Read More »
Waymo has started testing a new robotaxi built by Chinese electric automaker Zeekr on public roads in San Francisco. Waymo has “less than a handful” of the Zeekr vehicles in San Francisco today and isn’t driving them autonomously yet. Still, the fact that Waymo has hit the roads with a roomier, custom-built robotaxi signals the
The Waymo-Zeekr robotaxi has come to San Francisco Read More »
Singapore’s ride-hailing and food delivery company Grab is expanding its services beyond ride and food delivery by doubling down on the competitive restaurant booking industry in Southeast Asia. Grab confirmed to TechCrunch that it acquired a Singapore-based dining reservation platform, Chope, for an undisclosed amount. Grab already offers restaurant reservations in Singapore by way of
Grab acquires Singapore’s restaurant reservation platform Chope Read More »
GM’s self-driving car subsidiary Cruise is scrapping plans to build the Origin — a purpose-built robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals — and will instead use the next-generation Chevrolet Bolt in its operations. GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra told shareholders Tuesday the decision will “simplify their path to scale” and addresses the regulatory
GM’s Cruise abandons Origin robotaxi, takes $583 million charge Read More »
