The future of transportation is electric. Tesla proved with the Model S that customers would want to buy luxury vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries. Other EV startups like Faraday Future, Byton, Lucid Motors, and SF Motors are chasing after Elon Musk. And major automakers like Jaguar, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz have each released their own Tesla challengers. There are obstacles, such as the need for a more robust charging network. But battery-powered cars are here to stay.
Eight months after the iOS app launched, Tesla has released an Android version of its Robotaxi app. The service expanded to Houston and Dallas last week, but still seems to only have a small number of vehicles actually on the road.
[Google Play]
It’s slightly smaller than the full Cayenne EV, and costs a little bit less, with a starting price of $116,000 that can be specced all the way up to $170,000 for the top trim. It can do 0-60mph in 2.4 seconds while putting out 1,141 horsepower. And it’s 113 kWh battery offers up to 350 miles of range, with a peak charging speed of 400 kW.
The storm struck Friday evening, causing damage to one of the buildings in Rivian’s facility. A photo posted on Reddit showed the inside of Building 2 with the roof partially collapsed. No one was injured, and in an email to staff, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said the building will be back up and running this week:
While Building 2 has sustained damage and is closed for the time being as we complete our assessments, I am incredibly relieved to share that there were no injuries at our plant. We anticipate resuming operations in Building 2 this week. Operations at other facilities continue as planned.
According to Autotrader data spotted by The Guardian, new EVs now cost on average £785 (about $1,065) less than gas cars. The UK’s EV grant, its zero-emission vehicle mandate, and more competition from brands like BYD have helped drive down prices, reducing a major barrier to EV adoption.
Reporting from Bloomberg on how many Cybertrucks Elon’s other companies have been buying:
SpaceX, the Musk-led rocket and satellite maker, accounted for 1,279 — or more than 18% — of the 7,071 Cybertrucks registered in the US during the fourth quarter, according to registration data that S&P Global Mobility provided to Bloomberg News. The billionaire’s other ventures acquired another 60 vehicles during those months.
The iX is the latest EV to meet an untimely death in America, where policy decisions are propelling us backward rather than forwards. But discontinuing the iX — first reported by BMW Blog (we love it when an enthusiast blog breaks news ) — isn’t the end of BMW’s EV journey in the US. The German automaker is shifting to its next-gen Neue Klasse platform, with the new iX3 set to arrive in just a few months.
Finnish startup Donut Lab claims it’s made a solid-state battery breakthrough. Whether you believe it or not, the technology does appear to be more than just hype.
VW is swapping the electric compact SUV with the gas guzzling Atlas at its Chattanooga factory, right in the midst of a global oil crisis. The automaker says it will continue to sell ID.4s in the US while it still has inventory, and promises future version of the EV for the US market — with no timeline attached. The ID.4 is the latest casualty of the Trump administration’s knee-capping of the EV market in the US.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed its investigation into Tesla’s Actual Smart Summon, or ASS, which allows owners to remotely control their vehicles from a smartphone app. The agency’s Office of Defects Investigation was probing an estimated 2.6 million vehicles with the parking feature after dozens of reports of crashes. But the agency closed the investigation after concluding that the risk of crash severity was low because the speeds were very slow.
A two-seater electric pickup with no paint, no radio, no power windows, not even a dang cell connection — who is this for?
Car reviewer Edmunds says its “the first automotive testing authority in the US” to put a Chinese electrified vehicle, in this case the Geely Galaxy M9, through its rigorous review process. The verdict is as you would expect: a hybrid with superior electric range (101 miles!), world-class metrics, a premium interior, and serious value. “The Geely Galaxy M9 is a wake-up call for the automotive industry,” said Alistair Weaver, Edmunds editor-in-chief.
It’ll take more than a $4 gallon of gas to kill America’s love affair with big SUVs.
“We’re bringing Maps’ AI-powered EV charging features to over 350 car models with Android Auto,” the company writes. It should predict where, when, and how long you’ll need to charge — after you punch in charge level manually. Google doesn’t mention battery preconditioning, though both Apple and Google are pursuing that vehicle-by-vehicle.
The Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies joint venture brought one of its new software-defined test vehicles to Sweden and Germany to see how it handles the cold. They stress-tested the all-wheel drive system and validated over-the-air software functionality, amid other tests. Most importantly, the completion of these tests bring Rivian a step closer to receiving the next tranche of investment from VW, which will be crucial as the automaker ramps up its R2 production.
A prototype Tesla Cybercab was spotted out and about in Los Angeles recently, complete with a steering wheel and a human driver. The panel gaps, of course, were in full display. But the cab’s apparent misalignment was the thing that really caught this TikTok user’s attention. Also his observation that it looks like “a Pixar Model 3” is going to live rent-free in my brain for the rest of time.
Tesla and Lucid are raising eyebrows with their two-seater autonomous vehicles. But ridehail fleets have very different needs for EVs than retail buyers do, and that matters.
