Industry

Autonomous vehicle companies and suppliers have collectively spent about $75 billion developing self-driving technology, with scant sign of meaningful revenue emerging from AV services after all that investment. This has spelled disaster for Aurora Innovation, TuSimple Holdings and Embark Technology, whose shares have each plunged at least 80 percent this year. It’s no wonder Intel

PAHRUMP, Nev. — Countless data points gathered by vehicles every day on public roads can be used to improve safety and traffic flow and speed up emergency response times. British automotive data startup Wejo hopes to play a major role in getting the auto industry to that point by using data to learn how drivers

Ouster Inc. has unveiled a series of digital lidar sensors that use a new chip and provide double the range of the previous generation. The San Francisco company said its REV7 sensors have a maximum range of more than 400 yards, allowing detection of objects up to a quarter-mile away. The distance is achieved by

PAHRUMP, Nev. — Countless data points gathered by vehicles every day on public roads can be used to improve safety and traffic flow and speed up emergency response times. British automotive data startup Wejo hopes to play a major role in getting the auto industry to that point by using data to learn how drivers

West Coast charging network operator EVCS is looking to simplify powering electric vehicles by offering a choice of monthly subscription plans. The move marks a departure from the way such networks typically operate. Most require a low monthly fee and charge an additional amount per kWh used. “It really is a minefield across the various

WASHINGTON — The Biden administration said Wednesday it is awarding $2.8 billion in grants for projects to boost U.S. manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries and domestic mineral production. The White House is also launching an effort, dubbed the American Battery Material Initiative, to strengthen critical mineral supply chains as automakers race to expand U.S. electric

Uber is debuting an ad format that will tap into the company’s first-party data to target riders during each part of their route.  Journey Ads will serve brand messages to riders while they are waiting to connect with a driver, waiting to be picked up and during their trip. The ads will also apply to

Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s driverless-vehicle unit, plans to expand its robo-taxi service to Los Angeles, the third region where it will be offered. The company will follow the same playbook for the service, called Waymo One, that it has elsewhere, according to an announcement Wednesday. Local employees will try the program first, followed by so-called “trusted

Intel’s Mobileye said on Tuesday it was targeting a valuation of nearly $16 billion in its initial public offering, less than a third of what it had previously expected, as volatility in stock markets and rising interest rates dampen the appetite for new listings. The self-driving unit of Intel said in a regulatory filing it

Lyft Inc. is increasing the service fee its U.S. riders pay directly to the company to cover higher insurance costs, the ride-hailing firm said. The increase averages less than 50 cents per trip nationally, a Lyft spokesperson said. The company pays for drivers’ insurance when they are working on its platform. “Lyft is facing insurance

BMW Group and AirConsole, a gaming platform, said they formed a partnership to bring gaming inside BMW vehicles. The partnership, announced earlier this week, aims to make games playable directly through the legacy automaker’s infotainment displays, with smartphones acting as controllers. Games will be delivered over-the-air, BMW said in a statement. AirConsole is available on

BERLIN — Mercedes-Benz and Microsoft announced a partnership using Microsoft Cloud for a data platform intended to improve production efficiency at over 30 passenger car plants globally. The data platform, called MO360, is already available in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and will also be launched in the United States and China, Mercedes said

This much is clear: Tesla says it is going to start delivering Semi trucks Dec. 1, a full five years after Elon Musk started taking orders for them. The first ones are going to PepsiCo, which will put them to work at a Frito-Lay facility in Modesto, California, and a beverages plant in Sacramento. From

TOKYO — Fast-moving Hyundai Motor Group says it will plow billions of dollars into developing software in a move to speed product development and boost revenue, including the creation of a new operating system for over-the-air updates in all Hyundai, Kia and Genesis vehicles by 2025. The sweeping initiative will usher in a wave of

One of the largest looming questions about the mass adoption of electric vehicles is whether the power grid can keep up with increased demand. General Motors wants to provide an answer – and perhaps some power – to ensure reliability for both utility operators and motorists. The automaker unveiled a new business unit Tuesday called

Alamy By Chris Baraniuk Technology of Business reporter If you want to understand how governments can fuel the rise of new technologies, look no further than the taxi fleets of Beijing. Five years ago, the city revealed plans to ban the introduction of fossil fuel-powered taxis. Today, thousands of the cars run on batteries instead.

Tesla Inc. delivered 83,135 China-made electric vehicles in September, smashing its monthly record, according to a report released on Sunday by the China Passenger Car Association. The number marks an 8 percent increase from August and set a record for Tesla’s Shanghai factory since production began in December 2019, topping the prior sales high of

When Chris Thomas worked as an intern at Ford Motor Co. in the depths of the Great Recession, he finagled his way into a meeting with Bill Ford Jr. and asked the company chairman to put him on the most interesting project possible. Thomas spent his summer analyzing transportation trends in cities with more than

DUBLIN, Va. —Freightliner has led its U.S. diesel big rig rivals for years, commanding a market share no competitor could catch. But the nascent transformation to electric trucking provides other players an opening, and Volvo has jumped ahead. Sales of electric trucks are still almost immeasurable compared to the roughly 150,000 heavy-duty diesel trucks manufacturers

Amazon.com Inc. is shutting down tests of its home delivery robot, the latest sign that the e-commerce giant is starting to wind down experimental projects amid slowing sales growth. Work on Scout, an autonomous machine launched about three years ago, has already been halted, according to a person familiar with the situation. Amazon spokesperson Alisa

Autonomous driving technology developer Mobileye will supply advanced driver-assistance systems and automated vehicle technology to three additional brands under Geely Holding Group.  The three brands are set to launch electric vehicles next year, which will be fitted with its SuperVision technology, the Intel subsidiary said last week, without identifying the brands. The technology enables a

SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla Inc. said on Tuesday it will remove ultrasonic sensors from its vehicles starting this month, as it moves ahead with using only cameras in its safety and driver-assistant features. Tesla vehicles now have 12 ultrasonic sensors on the front and rear bumpers, and short-range sound sensors are mainly used in parking

Multiple owners, conflicts with regulators in several cities — scooter company Spin is riding the ups and downs of micromobility. But with its March sale by Ford Motor Co. to Germany’s Tier Mobility AG, the company is now looking to take a ride into profitability. Spin plans to reach that goal through several initiatives, CEO

BERLIN — Sixt will buy about 100,000 electric vehicles from China’s BYD under a partnership agreement signed by the two companies. Under the first stage of the agreement, Sixt will order several thousand full-electric vehicles from BYD, the first of which will be available to Sixt customers in Europe in the fourth quarter, the German

HANOVER, Germany — While the auto industry struggles to convince consumers that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles have a place in daily transportation, truckmakers see huge potential for the technology. It’s a matter of chemistry, Andreas Gorbach, Daimler Trucks’ technical chief, said at IAA Transportation 2022. No battery chemistry will ever outperform how much energy engineers

SAN FRANCISCO — Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk showed off on Friday a prototype of its humanoid robot “Optimus,” predicting the electric vehicle maker would be able to produce millions and sell them for under $20,000 — less than a third of the price of a Model Y. Musk said he expected Tesla would be

Electric-vehicle startup Arrival SA‘s shares surged after it said it’s in talks to raise capital to build and sell its products in the U.S. The company, which is primarily UK-based, also said it’s a step closer to operating so-called microfactories to produce battery-powered vans. The shares rose more than 15 percent in premarket U.S. trading

Automatic emergency braking has a lot of room for improvement. That’s the conclusion of a study released Thursday by AAA, which crash-tested four models with the feature from four automakers: the 2022 Chevrolet Equinox LT, 2022 Ford Explorer XLT, 2022 Honda CR-V and 2022 Toyota RAV4 LE. Rear-end crash performance, a test in which vehicles

DENVER — More than a decade ago, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen famously claimed, “Software is eating the world.” That trend certainly is reverberating through the automotive world. What was once a primarily atoms-focused hardware business is increasingly morphing into a bits-driven software and services one. Powertrain electrification and in-vehicle connectivity have turned cars into computers

In a surprise move, General Motors joined forces with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to recommend tougher emissions rules for passenger vehicles. But skeptics remain unconvinced by the company’s professed commitment to going green, citing GM’s history of battling tougher fuel economy rules. GM and the EDF are recommending that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)