Members of the general public will be able to take a Waymo robotaxi, with no human safety operator behind the wheel, between downtown Phoenix and Sky Harbor International Airport starting Friday. Waymo will also be doubling its service area in downtown Phoenix following an initial launch of driverless rides in the area to the public… Continue reading Waymo opens Phoenix airport rides to the public, doubles downtown service area
Author: Tech Crunch Online News
Tesla Powerwall customers in Texas can now sell their electricity back to the grid
Elon Musk’s plan to “operate as a giant distributed utility” is creeping toward reality. Tesla first piloted a “virtual power plant” in California, inviting Powerwall home battery owners to sell electricity back to the grid at peak times to mitigate brownouts. Soon after, the automaker expanded the effort into Australia and Japan, and next it’s… Continue reading Tesla Powerwall customers in Texas can now sell their electricity back to the grid
The battle over gig worker status is heating up
The fight over whether gig workers are independent contractors or employees has been heating up this week on both state and federal levels. The stakes? A once disruptive business model could soon be disrupted itself. On the state level, this week has seen developments in the Proposition 22 saga as companies relying on gig workers… Continue reading The battle over gig worker status is heating up
Zipline is now the national drone service provider for Rwanda
Zipline got its start six years ago using its autonomous electric drones to deliver blood in Rwanda. Now, the logistics and drone delivery startup is expanding its Rwandan government partnership with a lofty aim: complete nearly 2 million instant deliveries and fly more than 200 million autonomous kilometers in the country by 2029. The government… Continue reading Zipline is now the national drone service provider for Rwanda
Lucid wants a slice of China’s crowded EV market
Lucid Motors, the publicly traded electric carmaker, is poised to enter China as it starts hiring in the world’s largest EV market. The California-based auto company is recruiting a dozen positions in Shanghai, its LinkedIn posts show. The roles range from product management, marketing and sales, public policy, design, supply chain management, to software development.… Continue reading Lucid wants a slice of China’s crowded EV market
Musk sells $3.5B worth of Tesla stock as investors voice concern over Twitter involvement
Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold over 20 million shares of the company stock between Monday and Wednesday. The sale is worth about $3.5 billion, according to a regulatory filing. Musk’s latest stock dump follows the nearly $4 billion worth of shares he sold last month. Musk hasn’t provided a reason publicly for the share sell… Continue reading Musk sells $3.5B worth of Tesla stock as investors voice concern over Twitter involvement
Why the SPAC route makes sense for Getaround
The SPAC route to listing on public markets was incredibly popular in 2020 and 2021, but many companies that took this avenue didn’t exactly fare well after going public. So why did consumer car rental marketplace Getaround decide to list by merging with a blank-check company? To answer that question, we need to take a… Continue reading Why the SPAC route makes sense for Getaround
Tesla’s latest OTA update adds Steam games, Apple Music, Zoom and a wild light show mode
Tesla owners: Go check your car. You have some new toys. The latest OTA update added a bunch of features, most notable, Steam, which brings along thousands of games. This app, however, is limited to Model S and X vehicles with 16GB of RAM (only found in vehicles made in 2022). Elon Musk tweeted that… Continue reading Tesla’s latest OTA update adds Steam games, Apple Music, Zoom and a wild light show mode
Redwood Materials to build multibillion-dollar factory in the U.S. “battery belt”
Redwood Materials said Wednesday it will build a new battery materials and recycling facility on a 600-acre campus near Charleston, South Carolina that will eventually employ 1,500 people and make enough cathode and anodes components to supply one million EVs annually. Little is known about the incentives deal the company struck with the state. However,… Continue reading Redwood Materials to build multibillion-dollar factory in the U.S. “battery belt”
Vegas visitors can take semi-autonomous EVs for a tour starting in 2023
Arcimoto, the maker of the three-wheeled electric Fun Utility Vehicles (FUVs), is teaming up with Faction to develop EVs that can be delivered to a customer’s hotel through a combination of low-level autonomy and tele-assist technology. The tie-up is part of an upcoming pilot in Las Vegas with GoCar Tours that will allow tourists to… Continue reading Vegas visitors can take semi-autonomous EVs for a tour starting in 2023