A new venture firm called Leitmotif has been on a quiet blitz for the last 16 months, funding around 20 startups broadly focused on decarbonization. Its portfolio includes EV companies, space and battery plays, and four nuclear fusion startups. But the firm has only said its funding is from “European industrial interests.” Now, Leitmotif has […]
Meet the new VC firm secretly backed by Volkswagen Read More »
A new venture firm called Leitmotif has been on a quiet blitz for the last 16 months, funding around 20 startups broadly focused on decarbonization. Its portfolio includes EV companies, space and battery plays, and four nuclear fusion startups. But the firm has only said its funding is from “European industrial interests.” Now, Leitmotif has
Meet the new VC firm secretly backed by Volkswagen Read More »
Volkswagen’s ultra-cheap EV called the ID EVERY1 — a small four-door hatchback revealed Wednesday — will be the first to roll out with software and architecture from Rivian, according to a source familiar with the new model. The EV is expected to go into production in 2027 with a starting price of 20,000 euros ($21,500).
Volkswagen’s cheapest EV ever is the first to use Rivian software 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! Before we move into the news of this week, we have one more roundup of transportation tech at CES 2025. As I noted last week, autonomous vehicle
A rising EV startup star snags $100M and Tesla’s win-lose federal funding moment Read More »
The old chestnut passed around by industry watchers for the past decade was that CES — one of the world’s largest consumer tech trade events — had turned into an auto show. Maybe even the most important auto show of the year. And there was ample evidence of that. GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra
CES 2025: Where have all the US automakers gone? Read More »
Volkswagen Group’s troubled automotive software unit Cariad left terabytes of customer data on around 800,000 electric Audi, Seat, Skoda, and Volkswagen vehicles exposed to the internet for months, reports Der Spiegel [in German], citing security researchers who learned about the data spill from an unnamed whistleblower. The researchers, who gave their talk at the Chaos
Security researchers have discovered multiple vulnerabilities in the infotainment units used in some Skoda cars that could allow malicious actors to remotely trigger certain controls and track the cars’ location in real time. PCAutomotive, a cybersecurity firm specializing in the automotive sector, unveiled 12 new security vulnerabilities impacting the latest model of the Skoda Superb
Researchers find security flaws in Skoda cars that may let hackers remotely track them Read More »
Volkswagen bet big on European-made batteries a few years ago with two massive investments in Northvolt, the Swedish manufacturer. Now, the automaker’s €1.4 billion stake is worth less than half that, according to Reuters. The write downs occurred throughout the current fiscal year as the situation at Northvolt deteriorated. It’s unclear what Volkswagen’s current stake
Volkswagen of America has a new CEO: Rivian’s recently departed chief commercial officer Kjell Gruner. The appointment comes just one week after VW parent company Volkswagen Group formalized a $5.8 billion joint venture with Rivian, which will be focused on EV architecture and software. While Gruner’s new post isn’t really related to that new JV,
VW taps former Rivian exec to run US business 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! Before we jump into the news, I wanted to steer you toward a recent TechCrunch Equity podcast episode with Waabi co-founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun. A little
Will Rivian be Volkswagen’s software savior? VW is betting $5.8B it will Read More »
