Transportation
BMW feels the heat, stops charging for warming cheeks
3:44 pm PDT • September 7, 2023
When BMW started charging an $18 per month subscription for heated seats in 2022, the backlash was swift and brutal. Customers banded together, urging others not to encourage this type…
Transportation
Cruise nears approval to mass-produce robotaxis with no steering wheel, pedals
2:39 pm PDT • September 7, 2023
Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt said Thursday at an investor conference that the company is close to from getting the green light to begin mass production of its purpose-built autonomous vehicle…
Transportation
The question of gig worker status in Massachusetts is back on
6:02 pm PDT • September 6, 2023
A year ago, a Massachusetts court ruled to throw out a 2022 proposed ballot measure that sought to define gig workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Now it appears…
Transportation
Affordable, high-tech EVs in focus at Munich’s IAA Mobility 2023
5:35 pm PDT • September 5, 2023
Automakers around the world have been making an appearance this week at IAA Mobility 2023 in Munich, the largest auto show in Europe. One of the biggest themes at the…
Transportation
Envisics closes $100M to advance AR heads-up display tech in cars
9:48 pm PDT • September 4, 2023
Envisics, a U.K.-based holographics company building in-car technology that projects navigation, safety alerts and other data onto the inside of a windscreen, has closed a $100 million Series C round.…
Featured Article
Protestors rally at Cruise HQ in San Francisco
Protestors gathered Monday outside Cruise’s headquarters in San Francisco after reports of one of its robotaxis blocking an ambulance with a patient on board who later died. The incident, which the San Francisco Fire Department reported last week, happened on August 14, when a driver hit a pedestrian in the city around 11 p.m. The…
8:39 pm PDT • September 4, 2023
In the newest uproar you might have missed, Elon Musk says X, formerly Twitter, will file a defamation lawsuit against the Anti-Defamation League. Musk accused the ADL, an organization that…
Transportation
Google brings that cheap flight data and the feds investigate Elon’s glass house
12:15 pm PDT • September 3, 2023
Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B. Kirsten is away, so…
Transportation
Fisker confirms Foxconn will build its $29,900 Pear EV, but questions remain
5:34 pm PDT • August 31, 2023
EV startup Fisker revealed more details about its $29,900 Pear electric urban lifestyle crossover vehicle Thursday at the company’s Product Vision Day. Included in that reveal was confirmation that Foxconn,…
Transportation
Biden offers $15.5B to boost battery and EV manufacturing
3:04 pm PDT • August 31, 2023
The United States Department of Energy is dedicating $15.5 billion to support the transition to electric vehicles. As part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda, most of the…
Transportation
UK startup BackPedal uses GPS tracking to reclaim stolen e-bikes
9:26 am PDT • August 31, 2023
New e-bike models keep coming off production lines with GPS tracking enabled, with the idea that such tech will deter theft and help you recover your bike if it gets…
Transportation
Feds investigate Tesla’s use of funds for secret ‘glass house’ project
6:02 pm PDT • August 30, 2023
Manhattan federal prosecutors and the Securities and Exchange Commission are separately investigating the use of Tesla funds to bankroll a secret project that is described internally as a glass house…
General Motors has found a new way to get in on the generative AI buzz. The automaker is now using Google Cloud’s conversational chatbot, dubbed Dialogflow, to handle some non-emergency…
Transportation
NHTSA raises more concerns about Tesla’s Autopilot safety
2:21 pm PDT • August 29, 2023
Once again, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) is requesting more information from Tesla regarding the safety of Autopilot. In a special order dated July 26, the regulator shared…
Climate
Redwood Materials raises $1B to expand US battery supply chain
5:00 am PDT • August 29, 2023
Redwood Materials, the battery recycling startup founded by former Tesla co-founder and CTO JB Straubel, has raised over $1 billion in a Series D round at a post-money valuation of…
Transportation
Mercedes to open first charging hubs in Atlanta, China, Germany
4:34 pm PDT • August 28, 2023
Mercedes-Benz has shared plans to open its first electric vehicle DC fast-charging hubs in Atlanta, Georgia; Chengdu, China; and Mannheim, Germany, starting in the fourth quarter of 2023. The automaker…
Transportation
Cruise is bringing its robotaxis to Seattle and Washington, DC
4:24 pm PDT • August 28, 2023
Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of General Motors, said Monday it has begun manual data collection in Seattle and Washington, DC, the first step toward launching commercial services in the cities.…
Tesla shareholders who claimed to face financial losses after CEO Elon Musk tweeted about taking the company private might be on the verge of receiving compensation from a $42.3 million…
Transportation
Polestar 4 to feature Mobileye’s hands-off, eyes-off driving tech
8:44 am PDT • August 25, 2023
Swedish electric vehicle maker Polestar wants to bring Mobileye’s Chauffeur, a hands-off, eyes-off autonomous driving technology, to its Polestar 4 electric SUV coupe. The Polestar 4, which launched Friday in…
Transportation
Automakers now have to comply with MA’s Right to Repair law
8:09 am PDT • August 23, 2023
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Tuesday automakers can comply with a Massachusetts Right to Repair law, reversing a previous directive to ignore the state legislation. Massachusetts’s Right…
Transportation
Second-life Jaguar I-Pace batteries to power energy storage systems
6:47 am PDT • August 23, 2023
JLR has found a use for its second-life Jaguar I-Pace batteries. The automaker, formerly known as Jaguar Land Rover, is working with Wykes Engineering, a manufacturer of renewable energy products,…
Transportation
Grieving widow sues Tesla over deadly Model 3 crash and explosion
8:54 am PDT • August 22, 2023
A grieving widow is suing Tesla after her husband’s 2020 Model 3 crashed and exploded, causing a fire that resulted in his death. The plaintiff, Jiyoung Yoon, claims Tesla played…
Transportation
More complaints prompt NHTSA probe of Ford 2022 Mach-E recall
7:16 am PDT • August 22, 2023
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said Monday it is investigating whether Ford‘s 2022 recall of nearly 49,000 Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles sufficiently addressed issues and whether more vehicles…
Climate
Swedish EV battery maker raises $1.2B to expand to North America
6:46 am PDT • August 22, 2023
Northvolt, a Swedish producer of lithium-ion batteries, has raised around $1.2 billion from BlackRock and various Canadian pension plans to build new factories in North America and Europe, according to…
Featured Article
For climate tech startups, the IRA is starting to pay off
The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in August 2022, has allocated $400 billion in federal dollars for clean energy projects as the United States aims for up to a 40% reduction in economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. And even startups are beginning to benefit. Private investment into climate tech…
5:30 am PDT • August 18, 2023
Transportation
Ford aims to secure battery material supply with new Canada facility
10:12 am PDT • August 17, 2023
Ford is partnering with South Korean battery manufacturers SK On and EcoPro BM to build a cathode manufacturing facility in Quebec, Canada. The CAD $1.2 billion (USD $890 million) joint…
Transportation
GM partners with startup Mitra Chem to develop affordable EV batteries
6:49 am PDT • August 16, 2023
General Motors is leading a $60 million Series B round into Mitra Chem, a battery materials startup promising to help build more affordable and accessible EV batteries for future GM…
Featured Article
Tracking the EV battery factory construction boom across North America
The onshoring of battery manufacturing for EVs started as a trickle during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now it’s a tsunami. In 2019, just two battery factories were operating in the United States with another two under construction. Today there are about 30 battery factories either planned, under construction or operational in the country. U.S. president Joe…
5:00 am PDT • August 16, 2023
Transportation
ElectraMeccanica to merge with electric truck startup Tevva
8:31 am PDT • August 15, 2023
ElectraMeccanica, the maker of the tiny three-wheeled Solo electric vehicle, will merge with U.K.-based truck manufacturer Tevva in a bid to grow their combined market share for electric trucks, the…
Transportation
Nikola shares tank after EV maker recalls its battery-electric big rigs
8:30 am PDT • August 14, 2023
Electric truck maker Nikola shares plummeted Monday after it recalled nearly all of its battery electric semi trucks. The company recalled 209 of its Class 8 Tre battery electric vehicles…
