Rivian will resume prep-work on its planned Georgia factory in August and is still looking to break ground early next year, according to emails TechCrunch obtained through a public records request. The restarted effort comes months after the Biden administration’s Department of Energy approved a $6.6 billion meant to fund construction. Rivian has invested more… Continue reading Rivian restarting work on its Georgia factory, emails show
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
Uber makes multimillion-dollar investment in Lucid and Nuro to build a premium robotaxi service
Uber is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into EV maker Lucid and autonomous vehicle technology startup Nuro in a bid to launch its own premium robotaxi service. Under the deal announced Thursday, Uber will invest $300 million in Lucid and separately buy “at least” 20,000 of the EV maker’s new Gravity SUV over the… Continue reading Uber makes multimillion-dollar investment in Lucid and Nuro to build a premium robotaxi service
GM teams up with Redwood Materials to power data centers with EV batteries
GM is sending new and old EV batteries to recycler Redwood Materials, which then repurposes the packs for stationary energy storage, the two companies announced today. Second-life batteries from GM have already made their way through Redwood’s process and into a 12 megawatt microgrid at the company’s Sparks, Nevada, headquarters. Electricity from that installation then… Continue reading GM teams up with Redwood Materials to power data centers with EV batteries
GMC Hummer EV outsold the Tesla Cybertruck last quarter
Sales of Tesla’s Cybertruck have plummeted from their peak last year, to the point that the hulking (and expensive) GMC Hummer EV outsold the polarizing steel-clad curiosity in the second quarter. Tesla sold just 4,306 Cybertrucks in the second quarter, just shy of the 4,508 Hummers that GMC moved in the same period, according to… Continue reading GMC Hummer EV outsold the Tesla Cybertruck last quarter
Ex-Waymo engineers launch Bedrock Robotics with $80M to automate construction
Bedrock Robotics, an autonomous vehicle technology startup founded by veterans of Waymo and Segment, has been operating quietly for more than a year. Now, it’s breaking cover with an $80 million funding round from investors Eclipse and 8VC. Bedrock Robotics is focused on developing a self-driving kit that can be retrofitted to construction and other… Continue reading Ex-Waymo engineers launch Bedrock Robotics with $80M to automate construction
Faraday Future faces potential SEC enforcement action after three-year probe
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sent letters to Faraday Future founder Jia Yueting and president Jerry Wang, alerting them that they may soon face enforcement actions from the agency as the result of a three-year fraud investigation. The letters, known as “Wells Notices,” state that the commission’s staff has made an internal determination… Continue reading Faraday Future faces potential SEC enforcement action after three-year probe
Transit software startup Via confidentially files for an IPO
Via, the transit software startup that garnered attention for its consumer-facing on-demand shuttle service, said it has filed confidentially for an initial public offering. Via has been batting around plans for an IPO for years. The company filed confidentially for an IPO in 2021, but never took the next official and regulatory steps to enter… Continue reading Transit software startup Via confidentially files for an IPO
China’s Geely is officially bringing its luxury EV startup Zeekr private
China’s Geely Auto is officially taking its luxury EV subsidiary Zeekr private, just over a year after the company debuted on the New York Stock Exchange. The news comes two months after Geely offered to take Zeekr private, following President Donald Trump’s threats earlier this year to delist Chinese stocks from U.S. exchanges. When the… Continue reading China’s Geely is officially bringing its luxury EV startup Zeekr private
AV startup Pronto.ai acquires off-road autonomous vehicle rival SafeAI
The Venn diagram of engineers who know a little bit about AI, self-driving, and mining has a small intersection. Pronto.ai CEO Anthony Levandowski wants as many of those people as possible. And an acquisition is helping him achieve that goal. The San Francisco-based startup, which has developed a self-driving system designed for haulage trucks and… Continue reading AV startup Pronto.ai acquires off-road autonomous vehicle rival SafeAI
Lucid Motors will roll out hands-free highway driving this month
Lucid Motors is set to roll out a software update on July 30 that will enable hands-free highway driving on its Air sedans, a major step forward for the company’s advanced driver assistance system. The rollout will put Lucid Motors on a short list of companies that have made hands-free driving possible in the United… Continue reading Lucid Motors will roll out hands-free highway driving this month