The Latest from Harri Weber
Mark Cuban’s bidet brand buys shower startup that wooed Tim Cook
The folks behind Nebia — the techy shower-head startup backed by Apple CEO Tim Cook and a host of other big names — have sold to Mark Cuban’s Brondell, which makes bidets, air purifiers and
Tesla’s energy storage arm caps 2022 with ‘highest level’ of deployments ever
The growth keeps coming for Tesla’s energy storage business. On Wednesday, the automaker said its home and utility-scale battery deployments reached 6.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) during its fiscal 20
GM, please build the baby EV pickup of my dreams
In an industry obsessed with making everything huge (at least here in the U.S.), you may not’ve expected GM to show interest in an electric baby pickup, but here we are. GM is considering a pick
In race to electrify, Uber wants EVs that sacrifice top speeds, wheels
The clock is ticking for Uber to electrify its fleet, and the rideshare company wants automakers to help by designing cheaper electric vehicles for its drivers. Lawmakers are setting deadlines for rid
Wastewater recycler Membrion makes light work of removing heavy metals
PureTerra, a venture firm that aims to fund “disruptive water technologies,” is pumping millions into Membrion so the Seattle startup can mass-produce its wastewater treatment tech. Membri
Sealed buys sensor startup InfiSense to fuel energy-saving services
Sealed built a business around predicting energy use and getting homeowners to ditch fossil fuels. So, naturally, the company’s first acquisition is a startup that tracks energy on a granular le
E Ink’s latest color displays have me dreaming of electronic paper magazines
There’s still nothing quite like thumbing the pages of a real-life print magazine, but the latest evolution of E Ink’s color tech is creeping tantalizingly close — at least as far as my
How companies at CES are taking on climate change (or pretending to)
I can’t get it out of my head: A honkingly big Caterpillar sign that read, “JOIN US AS WE BUILD A BETTER WORLD.” The digital recruitment billboard at CES 2023 followed promos for an autonomous c
Mercedes-Benz plots ‘global’ EV charging network with 10,000 chargers by 2030
Today at CES 2023, a great-Big Tech conference in Vegas, Mercedes-Benz announced its answer to range anxiety and the great electric-vehicle charger shortage. Following the likes of Tesla and GM, the G
Samsung’s new washer captures microplastics from your dirty laundry
Unless you live in a natural fibers–only household, your laundry is likely exacerbating an environmental crisis with each wash. The terrible microplastics mess we’re making — thanks in great
Micromobility in limbo: Takeaways from Paris and LA
Shared electric scooters came onto the scene five years ago with a promising vision of getting people out of cars and on to greener modes of transportation. Yet despite billions in VC money and plenty
Clean energy: Scrubbing wind turbines with robots nets Aerones $39M
Aerones, a robotics startup that scrubs and inspects wind turbines so humans don’t have to, secured $38.9 million in fresh funding this month from dozens of undisclosed investors, TechCrunch has
Tesla Powerwall customers in Texas can now sell their electricity back to the grid
Elon Musk’s plan to “operate as a giant distributed utility” is creeping toward reality. Tesla first piloted a “virtual power plant” in California, inviting Powerwall hom
Honda says VR is changing how it designs cars. You might not notice.
Honda is pulling away from a design practice that’s (literally) shaped auto making since the ’30s. The $43 billion company still depends on life-size clay models to evaluate its designs, a tri
Porsche, World Fund join $63M bet on batteries for electric planes
To help electric planes take off, German battery company Customcells says it landed about $63 million (€60 million) in Series A funding from Porsche and several climate-tech investors. World Fund, a
America’s weak EV charging infrastructure might get a boost from dealers
As electric vehicles begin to take some market share, the nation’s charging infrastructure is playing catch-up. Some folks already have an edge in this race, including some California residents
American Battery Factory’s first ‘gigafactory’ inches toward reality
American Battery Factory’s big plan to build a bunch of, erm, American battery factories got a jolt Tuesday when Tucson, Arizona, gave the company the go-ahead to locate its first plant near th
Plant Prefab nabs $42M to crank out ‘extremely sustainable’ custom homes
Prefabricated homes always seem to be on the cusp of something big — solving housing shortages, tackling systemic waste or just generally ushering in the “very up-to-date.” But in the U
Early Light Ventures plots a second, $15M fund for software ‘underdogs’
With a stated mission to “back the underdogs that traditional VC has overlooked,” early-stage investor Early Light Ventures has secured at least $10.6 million toward its next fund, TechCru