Japanese car giants Honda and Nissan are working out the details of a major merger that could create the world’s third-largest automaker, as the companies look to survive in an industry faced with uncertainty. The Tesla-led shift toward electric vehicles, and China’s increased importance in the automotive market, have companies like Honda and Nissan feeling […]

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Struggling electric van startup Canoo has placed its remaining employees on what it’s calling a “mandatory unpaid break” through at least the end of the year, according to an email obtained by TechCrunch. The company told employees they are being locked out of Canoo’s systems at the end of the day Friday, according to the […]

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Four employees have sued Rivian in separate lawsuits this year over allegations they were harassed, in some cases by top executives, and that the company’s leadership did little to address their concerns, according to a TechCrunch review of court records. Rivian has also reached settlements in three other harassment and discrimination cases, TechCrunch has learned.  […]

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Tesla is evaluating multiple Texas cities where it wants to test a long-promised robotaxi service, including Austin, according to emails obtained by Bloomberg News. An employee has apparently been in touch with Austin officials since May, and recently held an event in December to “train first responders on how to best work with Tesla’s autonomous […]

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Struggling EV startup Canoo says it has furloughed 82 employees and is idling its factory in Oklahoma while it grasps for the capital needed to survive. The company claims it is in “advanced discussions with various capital sources” to raise emergency funding. The announcement comes just a few days after board member James Chen resigned, […]

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Rivian has released a new software update to its vehicles that brings some long-awaited apps to its in-vehicle experience. Owners who update their R1S SUV or R1T pickup truck can now use YouTube (while parked) or SiriusXM (with a subscription). The company is also adding Google Cast functionality. That also can only be used while […]

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Hyundai’s electric vertical takeoff and landing startup Supernal is shifting its global headquarters from Washington, D.C. to Irvine, California and asking around three dozen of workers to relocate, TechCrunch has learned. The company told TechCrunch about 5% of its total workforce — roughly 35 to 40 people — are being asked to relocate to California. […]

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General Motors said Tuesday it will no longer fund the development of a commercial robotaxi business and will instead absorb its self-driving car subsidiary Cruise and combine it with the automaker’s own efforts to develop driver assistance features — and eventually fully autonomous personal vehicles. The pivot is a remarkable step for the automaker, which […]

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The first Lucid Motors Gravity SUV just rolled off the company’s production line last week, and now it has an official EPA range estimate of 450 miles. That’s a tick higher than the 440-mile estimate Lucid had been citing in the run-up to the official launch and production run of the SUV, which starts at […]

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Consumer Reports has put out its annual automaker reliability list, and the top spot is relatively unsurprising: Subaru. What may come as a surprise to some is that Rivian’s EVs are dead last, especially considering the company topped a different Consumer Reports survey from earlier this year about the “most loved” auto brands. The consumer […]

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The first Lucid Motors Gravity SUV has rolled off the company’s production line in Casa Grande, Arizona, according to a post on X. The company will now set its aim on ramping up production of the new electric vehicle and making the first deliveries — though the company is staying quiet about when it will […]

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Rivian has opened a new charging station in Joshua Tree, California, that is open for other EV owners to use — a first for the company. It’s part of a plan to build out a much larger interoperable charging network across the U.S., though the company is still very early in that process. The new […]

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Mercedes-Benz has delivered the first all-electric popemobile to the Vatican: a modified version of the German automaker’s G-Class SUV. Some of the biggest changes from the standard G-Class involve using the four electric motors at each wheel to carefully control the vehicle at low speeds as it travels around the Vatican grounds. There is also […]

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Delaware Chancery court judge Kathaleen McCormick has denied Tesla’s request to revise her decision to strike down CEO Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay package — despite shareholders voting at the company’s annual meeting this year to “re-ratify” the deal. Her decision, laid out in a 103-page opinion piece published on Monday, explains that the attempt […]

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The Federal Trade Commission is investigating Uber over whether it broke consumer protection laws by allegedly automatically signing people up for its Uber One subscription service and making it hard to cancel, according to Bloomberg News. The investigation was opened earlier this year after the FTC received customer complaints. Uber told Bloomberg that its cancellation […]

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Mexico’s economic development — turbocharged by the amount of nearshoring in recent years — has made it fertile ground for startups. But the trend is under threat if President-elect Donald Trump follows through with his idea of taking a harder line on trade with Mexico.  Jaime Tabachnik, co-founder and CEO of Mexican trucking finance startup […]

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Pony AI, the Chinese autonomous vehicle startup that’s looking to go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange, now wants to raise around $260 million, according to a new regulatory filing. That’s up from its previous target of around $224 million. To meet the goal, Pony will sell as many as 20 million American depository shares. […]

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Volkswagen of America has a new CEO: Rivian’s recently departed chief commercial officer Kjell Gruner. The appointment comes just one week after VW parent company Volkswagen Group formalized a $5.8 billion joint venture with Rivian, which will be focused on EV architecture and software. While Gruner’s new post isn’t really related to that new JV, […]

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Vegas police received funding for tech like drones and license plate readers from Ben Horowitz. Now it wants AI to go through police footage.

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