Tesla Cybertruck first ride: inside Elon Musk’s electric pickup truck

About an hour or so after Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed an absurd, futuristic, brutalist electric pickup called Cybertruck to the world, I pulled myself up into its passenger seat. A Tesla employee then took me and three others for a short joy ride down a temporarily closed-off road that lines one side of SpaceX… Continue reading Tesla Cybertruck first ride: inside Elon Musk’s electric pickup truck

Audi reveals its second electric car, the E-Tron Sportback

Audi just pulled the wraps off of the E-Tron Sportback, the company’s second electric car, at the 2019 LA Auto Show. Coming to Europe in the first half of 2020, the top-tier version of the new premium EV will offer up to 446 kilometers of range (277 miles) and is powered by dual electric motors… Continue reading Audi reveals its second electric car, the E-Tron Sportback

Axon, formerly Taser, plans to put automatic license plate readers on police dashboards

Axon, the company formerly known as Taser, is entering another controversial surveillance business: the automatic license plate reader industry. In a report released by its ethics board today, the company said it planned to enter the market and make the tech, called ALPR, available on a “future version” of dashboard cameras already used in police… Continue reading Axon, formerly Taser, plans to put automatic license plate readers on police dashboards

EV startup Canoo’s mysterious backers named in new harassment lawsuit

Electric vehicle startup Canoo and its CEO Stefan Krause have been accused of discrimination, harassment, breach of contract, and wrongful termination in a new lawsuit. The suit — which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday by Christina Krause, Canoo’s former head of communications and Stefan Krause’s wife — also claims the California… Continue reading EV startup Canoo’s mysterious backers named in new harassment lawsuit

Here’s what Lucid Motors’ $700 million EV factory will look like

Lucid Motors spent the last few years waiting to break ground on a brand-new factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, and the EV startup was finally able put things in motion late last year after it locked down a $1 billion funding round from Saudi Arabia. Now, The Verge has obtained the first images of what… Continue reading Here’s what Lucid Motors’ $700 million EV factory will look like

DoorDash announces data breach affecting 4.9 million people

On Thursday, DoorDash announced in a blog post that an “unauthorized third party” had accessed user data of approximately 4.9 million “consumers, Dashers, and merchants.” DoorDash said names, email addresses, delivery addresses, order histories, phone numbers, and hashed, salted passwords all “could” have been accessed. But it’s not clear what, if anything, might have been… Continue reading DoorDash announces data breach affecting 4.9 million people

Byton founder says he quit because of Chinese government interference

Carsten Breitfeld, a founder and former CEO of EV startup Byton, says he left the company earlier this year because the Chinese government exerted too much influence after an investment from the country’s oldest state-owned automaker, First Auto Works (FAW). He said that while the deal with FAW lent the credibility he sought for Byton… Continue reading Byton founder says he quit because of Chinese government interference

AV startup Voyage on how low speeds and older customers will help it win the self-driving race

Voyage CEO Oliver Cameron isn’t in any hurry to conquer self-driving cars. The former Udacity vice president for engineering oversees a fleet of low-speed autonomous vehicles providing trips to residents of two retirement communities. His vehicles aren’t fully driverless; they include safety drivers. He’ll remove them when he’s ready. And Cameron’s not interested in tackling… Continue reading AV startup Voyage on how low speeds and older customers will help it win the self-driving race

Audi’s new concept is an all-electric off-roader with drones for headlights

Audi is not a brand you’d typically associate with off-road adventures, but that didn’t stop the automaker from kicking up some dirt with its new concept at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show. The Audi AI:Trail (maybe it’s less of a mouthful in German?) is an all-electric, all-terrain vehicle for the future of outdoor adventures. Before… Continue reading Audi’s new concept is an all-electric off-roader with drones for headlights