Around 550 employees across autonomous vehicle company Motional have been laid off, according to information taken from WARN notice filings and sources at the company. Earlier this week, TechCrunch reported that Motional is pausing commercial operations and delaying plans to launch a robotaxi service with its next-gen Hyundai Ioniq 5 robotaxis until 2026 as it… Continue reading Motional cut about 550 employees, around 40%, in recent restructuring, sources say
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
The buzziest EV IPO of the year is a Chinese automaker
Electric vehicle demand might be softening, but investors appear to be excited about the U.S. debut of a Chinese luxury EV brand. Geely-owned Zeekr hit the New York Stock Exchange with a splash on Friday, making it the first major U.S. listing by a Chinese company since 2021, following China’s effective ban on foreign IPOs.… Continue reading The buzziest EV IPO of the year is a Chinese automaker
Fisker Ocean faces fourth federal safety probe
The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened a fourth investigation into the Fisker Ocean SUV, this time to probe multiple claims of “inadvertent Automatic Emergency Braking.” The agency’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) said it has received eight complaints about these braking incidents, three of which have reported injuries. The ODI has already… Continue reading Fisker Ocean faces fourth federal safety probe
Tesla drives Luminar lidar sales and Motional pauses robotaxi plans
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Tap, tap. Mic check. Check 1, 2, 3. This thing on? Hey hey, yup, it’s the same TechCrunch Mobility newsletter you love, but on a different day.… Continue reading Tesla drives Luminar lidar sales and Motional pauses robotaxi plans
Uber promises member exclusives as Uber One passes $1B run-rate
Uber plans to deliver more perks to Uber One members, like member-exclusive events, in a bid to gain more revenue through subscriptions. “You will see more member-exclusives coming up where members have exclusive access to events and experiences, which will kind of surprise and delight our members,” said Uber chief financial officer Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah Wednesday… Continue reading Uber promises member exclusives as Uber One passes $1B run-rate
Tesla is Luminar’s largest lidar customer
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that lidar sensors are a “crutch” for autonomous vehicles. But his company has bought so many from Luminar that Tesla is now the lidar-maker’s top customer. Tesla accounted for “more than 10%” of Luminar’s revenue in the first quarter of 2024, or a little more than $2 million, the… Continue reading Tesla is Luminar’s largest lidar customer
Exclusive: Wayve co-founder Alex Kendall on the autonomous future for cars and robots
U.K.-based autonomous vehicle startup Wayve started life as a software platform loaded into a tiny electric “car” called Renault Twizy. Festooned with cameras, the company’s co-founders and PhD graduates, Alex Kendall and Amar Shah, tuned the deep-learning algorithms powering the car’s autonomous systems until they’d got it to drive around the medieval city unaided. No… Continue reading Exclusive: Wayve co-founder Alex Kendall on the autonomous future for cars and robots
Luminar cuts 20% of staff and outsources lidar production
Lidar company Luminar is slashing its workforce by 20% and will lean harder on its contract manufacturing partner as part of a restructuring that will shift the company to a more “asset-light” business model, as it aims to scale production. The cuts will affect around 140 employees, and are starting immediately. Luminar is also cutting… Continue reading Luminar cuts 20% of staff and outsources lidar production
A wrestling match over who should control robotaxis is playing out in California
Cities around the country have long been crying out for more control over how autonomous vehicles are deployed on their streets. In California, they might finally get their wish. A handful of AV-related bills, which made progress this month in their long journey through the state legislature, could put more restrictions on companies like Cruise,… Continue reading A wrestling match over who should control robotaxis is playing out in California
Seven Waymo robotaxis block traffic to San Francisco freeway on-ramp
Seven Waymo robotaxis blocked traffic moving onto the Potrero Avenue 101 on-ramp in San Francisco on Tuesday at 9:30 p.m., according to video of the incident posted to Reddit and confirmation from Waymo. While routing back to Waymo’s city depot that evening, the first robotaxi in the lineup came across a road closure with traffic… Continue reading Seven Waymo robotaxis block traffic to San Francisco freeway on-ramp