Transportation & Auto News | TechCrunch

Ola Electric surges in India’s biggest listing in two years

Manish Singh — Fri, 09 Aug 2024 04:48:11 +0000

Ola Electric, India’s largest electric two-wheeler maker, saw its shares rise as much as 20% on its public debut on Friday, making it the biggest listing among Indian firms in two years. Shares of the Bengaluru-based firm, which counts SoftBank and Temasek among its backers, jumped to as high as ₹91.18 (about $1.1) after starting […]

Archer to set up air taxi network in LA by 2026 ahead of World Cup

Rebecca Bellan — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 20:00:00 +0000

Los Angeles is notorious for its back-to-back traffic. Three events that promise to bring in millions of spectators from around the world — the 2026 World Cup, the Super Bowl in 2027 and the 2028 Olympics — have LA officials searching for a range of new mobility solutions to address its congestion problems. But they’re […]

Lyft ‘opens a can of whoop ass’ on surge pricing, Tesla’s Dojo explained and Saudi Arabia pumps $1.5B into Lucid

Kirsten Korosec — Thu, 08 Aug 2024 17:05:00 +0000

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! Anyone paying even a little bit of attention to Tesla has probably heard about Dojo. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has referenced Dojo repeatedly over the years, oftentimes […]

Lyft to ‘open up a can of whoop ass’ on surge pricing

Rebecca Bellan — Wed, 07 Aug 2024 13:09:07 +0000

Ride-hail giant Lyft will pilot a new feature called Price Lock that will let a rider purchase a monthly subscription “that caps the price for a specific route at a specific time,” according to CEO David Risher. The feature is designed to address the inconsistencies of surge pricing, particularly for commuters who use the Lyft […]

Rivian lost $1.46B in Q2 as it drives toward a VW-linked future

Sean O'Kane — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 22:07:00 +0000

Rivian’s financial losses have crept up as it pushed out the last of its first-generation R1 trucks and SUVs in favor of newer, more cost-efficient versions — a sign of just how much the company could use the $5 billion it could get as part of a recently announced deal with Volkswagen Group. The company […]

Waymo expands robotaxi coverage in Los Angeles and San Francisco

Kirsten Korosec — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 17:48:06 +0000

Waymo, the Alphabet-owned self-driving car company, is adding another 10 square miles to its robotaxi service area to include cities surrounding San Francisco. The move, which adds Daly City, Broadmoor and Colma, pushes its total commercial service territory to about 55 square miles. Waymo said Tuesday it is also adding 16 square miles of new robotaxi […]

Uber highlights autonomous vehicle efforts now that Tesla’s in its rearview mirror

Rebecca Bellan — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 15:00:00 +0000

Uber is highlighting the success of its autonomous vehicle effort — likely to assuage investors concerned about incoming competition from Tesla.

H3X scales up its electric aerospace ambitions with $20M in new funding

Devin Coldewey — Tue, 06 Aug 2024 11:45:00 +0000

Many industries that rely on legacy energy sources are aiming to electrify or at least streamline their operations, but for countless use cases, the tech just isn’t there. H3X is changing the game with electric motors so compact and efficient that the aerospace and marine world — not to mention investors — are taking notice. […]

Lucid pumps $1.5B from Saudi wealth fund after CEO warned relying on its ‘bottomless wealth’ was ‘dangerous’

Sean O'Kane — Mon, 05 Aug 2024 22:45:09 +0000

Saudi Arabia is committing even more money to Lucid Motors as the EV startup struggles to erase its losses. Lucid announced Monday as part of its second-quarter earnings report that an affiliate of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund is committing another $1.5 billion, with half coming in the form of a private placement and the […]

Tesla Dojo: Elon Musk’s big plan to build an AI supercomputer, explained

Rebecca Bellan — Sat, 03 Aug 2024 17:00:00 +0000

Dojo is Tesla’s custom-built supercomputer that’s designed to train its “Full Self-Driving” neural networks.

Self-driving truck startup Aurora Innovation raises $483M in share sale ahead of commercial launch

Rebecca Bellan — Fri, 02 Aug 2024 23:38:36 +0000

Self-driving technology company Aurora Innovation was hoping to raise hundreds of millions in additional capital as it races toward a driverless commercial launch by the end of 2024. The company, which had arranged to sell up to $420 million worth of shares, exceeded its goal and raised $483 million. The newly raised funds come a little […]

Anthony Levandowski bets on off-road autonomy, Nuro plots a comeback and Applied Intuition gets more investor love

Kirsten Korosec — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 15:05:00 +0000

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! Summer road trip season is upon us, so when Google announced some updates to Google Maps, we got excited. Surely this would include a feature that allows […]

VC darling Rad Power Bikes hit with another round of layoffs

Rebecca Bellan — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 14:59:11 +0000

Rad Power Bikes, the Seattle-based e-bike startup that has raised more than $300 million from investors, went through another round of layoffs in July, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. This is the company’s fifth round since April 2021, when it cut back 100 staffers. Rad’s latest layoffs follow a culling a year ago, when the e-bike […]

Why Anthony Levandowski returned to his off-road autonomous vehicle roots with AV startup Pronto

Kirsten Korosec — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 14:45:00 +0000

Five years ago, as robotaxis and self-driving truck startups were still raking in millions in venture capital, Anthony Levandowski turned to off-road autonomy. Now, that decision — which brought the former Google engineer and serial entrepreneur back to the roots that helped launch his pioneering and controversial career — is starting to pay off. Pronto, […]

Indian startups gut valuations ahead of IPO push

Manish Singh — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 12:36:14 +0000

Ola Electric and FirstCry are set to test investor appetite with public listing, both pricing their shares below their previous valuation asks.

Google Maps announces new features and somehow none of them are ‘pause navigation’

Sean O'Kane — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 21:52:04 +0000

Look, we’ve all been there. You’re on a road trip and you pull off the highway for some food or fuel. And then Google Maps starts (rudely) yelling at you to get back on the road. The company has all the money and AI chips in the world and yet the app can’t just chill […]

Sennder buys CH Robinson’s European business

Ingrid Lunden — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 08:14:28 +0000

Sennder is acquiring the European ground transportation assets of logistics giant C.H. Robinson.

Lime is piloting two new e-bikes to attract more women and older riders

Rebecca Bellan — Tue, 30 Jul 2024 04:00:00 +0000

Shared micromobility giant Lime is piloting two new vehicles designed to appeal to women and older folks who might appreciate a lower step-through frame, smaller wheels and an upgrade from pedal-assist. Lime has experimented with several new form factors over the years in a bid to capture customers and adapt to changing tastes and trends. […]

The fall of EV startup Fisker: A comprehensive timeline

Henry Pickavet — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 23:00:00 +0000

Here is a timeline of the events that led fledgling automaker Fisker to file for bankruptcy.

The question haunting Fisker’s bankruptcy

Sean O'Kane — Mon, 29 Jul 2024 21:51:41 +0000

As failed EV startup Fisker winds its way through bankruptcy, a persistent and tricky question has become a flashpoint of the proceedings: does its only secured lender, Heights Capital Management, deserve to be at the front of the line to reap the proceeds of a liquidation? Heights has maintained an unequivocal “yes.” But new information […]