Lyft opens up Concierge, its ride-booking service for businesses, to all

Lyft today announced it’s expanding its Concierge program – the service that allows organizations to schedule rides for other people – to more business customers. First announced in 2016, the service was originally designed to help patients get to medical appointments, particularly in areas where they may not have a car of their own, like… Continue reading Lyft opens up Concierge, its ride-booking service for businesses, to all

Social Bicycles raises $10 million Series A round, rebrands as Jump Bikes

Social Bicycles, now officially known as Jump Bikes, has just closed a $10 million Series A round led by Menlo Ventures with participation from Sinewave Ventures, Esther Dyson and others. “At Menlo Ventures, our investment team supports entrepreneurs who are on a mission to change the world—including, how consumers move through it,” Menlo Ventures Managing… Continue reading Social Bicycles raises $10 million Series A round, rebrands as Jump Bikes

Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

Lyft has a new report out detailing its ‘economic impact’ for 2017, and the document includes a lot of stats on its performance throughout the year. The ride-hailing provider claims 375.5 million rides for the year, which is 130 percent growth measured year-over-year. It served 23 million different passengers, itself a 92 percent YoY increase,… Continue reading Lyft says nearly 250K of its passengers ditched a personal car in 2017

One year old Pony.ai raises $112 million Series A to build autonomous car future

No that’s not a typo. Yes, that is larger than the median IPO fundraise last year. But few problems are as daunting as trying to build a fully autonomous car, particularly without the large resources of technology giants like Google, Uber, or Baidu behind you. So for Pony.ai, which was founded a little more than… Continue reading One year old Pony.ai raises $112 million Series A to build autonomous car future

Softbank invests €460M in Germany’s Auto1 car dealer platform

Softbank’s Vision Fund has made another investment: The Japanese conglomerate has agreed to invest €460M in Berlin-based online car dealer Auto1. Auto1 confirmed the investment in a press release put out today, saying the deal values the company at €2.9BN. Around half of the investment is being made through the issue of new shares, it added. The… Continue reading Softbank invests €460M in Germany’s Auto1 car dealer platform

Waymo’s self-driving Chrysler Pacifica begins testing in San Francisco

Waymo is bringing its self-driving cars back to San Francisco streets for testing. TechCrunch has obtained pictures of the Waymo Chrysler Pacifica autonomous test vehicle on SF city roads, and Waymo confirmed that it is indeed bringing test vehicles back to one of the first spots where it ever tested AVs in the first place.… Continue reading Waymo’s self-driving Chrysler Pacifica begins testing in San Francisco

GM and Cruise reveal their fourth-generation, steering wheel-free Cruise AV

GM and Cruise are making progress on their plan to deploy autonomous vehicles on roads for the public: Today, it’s showing off its fourth-generation Cruise Autonomous Vehicle (AV), which comes just a few short months after it first revealed its third-generation vehicle. The fourth generation car is production-ready, according to GM’s Dan Ammann, who discussed… Continue reading GM and Cruise reveal their fourth-generation, steering wheel-free Cruise AV

Here’s what it’s like to ride in Byton’s new Concept SUV

Byton’s electric concept car wowed at CES, and for good reason. The SUV has a lot of strong features, including a max range of 323 miles for the upgraded version, and a starting price of just $45,000. But the real jaw-dropping feature is a 49-inch display that covers the entire dash, providing a multifunctional information… Continue reading Here’s what it’s like to ride in Byton’s new Concept SUV

Ford cars with SYNC 3 are getting Waze support

Ford is bringing crowdsourced navigation app Waze to its SYNC 3 infotainment system, the companies announced at CES 2018. The app will be available via Ford’s AppLink tech, offering up a Waze interface powered by your phone on the in-car central display on vehicles equipped with SYNC 3. The app will support both touch and… Continue reading Ford cars with SYNC 3 are getting Waze support

Grab, Uber’s rival in Southeast Asia, pulls in strategic investment from Hyundai

Grab, Uber’s closest rival in Southeast Asia, continues to slowly release information about its newest funding round after it revealed it has netted a strategic investment from Hyundai. To recap, the Singapore-based firm raised a massive $2 billion led by SoftBank and China’s Didi Chuxing last July with plans to extend the round by a… Continue reading Grab, Uber’s rival in Southeast Asia, pulls in strategic investment from Hyundai