Everyone needs to get around. How we do it will change more over the next decade than it has in the last century. Legacy automakers, like Ford and GM, are scrambling to become technology-savvy companies, and the tech industry is trying to cash in on the change. New players, like Rivian and Tesla, are disrupting the industry and sometimes stumbling. We look at how self-driving hardware and software make the automobile better or, in some cases, deeply flawed. We cut through the hype and empty promises to tell you what’s really happening and what we think is coming. Verge Transportation cares about all moving machines and the place they have in the future.
It’s more than a mower — which it had better be, given the price.
Did you know there’s a website you can check to see if Flock customers (like policing and surveillance agencies) have searched for your license plate number? Have I Been Flocked? warns users that its data is incomplete, but developer Cris van Pelt told Business Insider that visits to the database have “exploded.”
[haveibeenflocked.com]
As more robotaxis hit the road, the fight over the rules governing the technology is intensifying.
Guests are being invited to “experience the future of full autonomy” at the event in Austin, Texas. The gold-tinted driverless vehicle has been popping up around the country, although often with a steering wheel and pedals, as employees continue to gather data. In the lead up to the event, the company has increasingly been operating its fleet of Model Y robotaxis without human supervision.
The publication doesn’t often recommend against an entire product category, but that’s what happened after CR’s testers tried out 13 e-scooters. They found that e-scooters have gotten dangerously fast over the past several years, just as the number of scooter-related injuries as also skyrocketed. Both of CR’s testers sustained injuries while riding scooters! (I can sympathize.)
Eleven automakers, including Tesla and Xiaomi, launched software updates to comply with China’s largest recall ever over mechanical door release handles that may be hard to find or operate during emergencies. China previously banned Tesla-style concealed door handles because people were getting trapped inside their cars. The country also ordered Tesla to add driver monitoring to over 2 million vehicles to make sure drivers keep their eyes on the road, Electrek reports.
Nevada’s transportation authority unanimously approved permits for Tesla, Waymo, and Uber, paving the way for up 7,000 robotaxis to flood the streets of Clark County over the next 12 months, TechCrunch reports. Tesla received approval for 5,000 robotaxis — though the company’s reps said they’d be thrilled if they get to 2,500 — while Waymo and Uber were authorized for 1,000 each. Amazon’s Zoox already has a permit for 100 robotaxis in the city. The vote positions Las Vegas as the next major robotaxi market, with Amazon, Uber, Waymo, and Tesla all battling for customers.
The S6 is a fast-charging, fast-accelerating EV that fits into the German brand’s under-the-radar fast sedan tradition quite well.
The Zeekr RT minivan, which has been rebranded as Ojai, is now available to all riders in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles (after launching to select passengers last May). The company plans on bringing the egg-shaped shuttle to Denver, San Diego, and Las Vegas as its next cities before the end of the year.
The company calls it the world’s first state-backed trial aimed at mitigating warming contrails across an entire flight corridor — specifically the eastern half of the North Atlantic corridor, which accounts for around 5 percent of global contrail warming.
Contrails (not to be confused with conspiracy theories about “chemtrails”) are a big problem for the planet because they trap heat, accounting for about 35 percent of aviation’s global warming impact. Google has been working with American Airlines to help pilots find more sustainable flight paths.
While checking out the 1,800-horsepower Destrier that Bugatti unveiled at Monterey Car Week, the folks at Road & Track also got a taste of the carmaker’s C-Seed Bugatti N1 TV.
Inspired by another 1,800hp beast, its sculptural design unfurls the 110- or 137-inch TV hiding inside in 45 seconds and can rotate up to 180 degrees.
Swedish trucking company Einride says it will buy 500 Tesla Semis, representing the largest order for the electric Class 8 truck yet reported. But as Electrek notes, it’s not clear that Einride has enough money to fund the purchase. The trucking company has about $77 million in the bank, which is less than the estimated $145 million it will cost to buy the Tesla Semis.
Segway’s new $449.99 S2 Kids self-balancing scooter is a direct descendent of the brand’s original Personal Transporter but includes upgrades like animated RGB lighting and built-in Bluetooth speakers for blasting music. It’s got a top speed of 8.7 mph, a range of eight miles, and a weight limit of up to 132 pounds.
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Google won a $10 million bankruptcy auction to acquire a hefty collection of business data from the now defunct Spirit Airlines, which it plans to use for AI training. The data, which includes calendar info, documents, spreadsheets, emails, and employee chats will be “deidentified,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement to Axios:
“We will not receive any personal information from this dataset. Any data we receive will be rigorously scrubbed of any personally identifiable information by a third party before receipt.”
Musk’s DOGE was supposed to rebuild the nation’s air traffic control system, but it ended up paving the way for Peter Thiel’s company to take over.
Last month, I spoke to Matthew Haiken, who owns a Polestar dealership in Short Hills, New Jersey, about the EV brand’s sudden decision to withdraw from the US market. Now, Haiken is suing the company, claiming it planned to pull out of the US even before the government issued a de facto sales ban. When we spoke, Haiken said Polestar had plenty of foreknowledge of the government’s decision.
We knew about this for a long time, and to hear that we got a red light and we couldn’t sell cars and we’re pulling out of the US when our sister brands and other brands got green lights, it was completely upsetting and shocking.
The car was expected to sell for around $1.1 million, but the polarizing EV absolutely shattered that at auction. The proceeds from the sale of chassis #0 will be going to charity, but it’s still a wild price for a car that starts at $600,000 retail.
Waymo has received regulatory approval in the state to “expand” its autonomous ride-hailing service “across the SF Bay Area and LA” and bring it to Sacramento and San Diego, the company said on Friday. The approved expansion covers “most of the state’s population,” Electrek reports.
The expansion will be “gradual and guided by our safety framework,” according to Waymo.
SV stands for Superveloce, or ‘super fast.’ And that’s an apt description for this heat-seeking missile of a sports car.
Bike shop owners say the law, which places heavy restrictions on e-bike ownership in the state, is fueling a steep drop in sales, with some saying as much as 90 percent of their business has evaporated.
“It has had a chilling effect on the legitimate e-bike industry,” said Mike Grotz, owner of Cyclesport in Park Ridge. “We sold over 50 Class 1 e-bikes last year, this year, a total of 4 e-bikes.”
Workers are being laid off, and some shop owners predict they will be forced to shut down. Who could have predicted this?
The very popular Dutch maker of cargo bikes is now selling its Breeze Stateside. You can’t pass a school in Amsterdam without seeing a dozen Urban Arrows with kids frolicking in their front buckets, but longtails seem to sell better in the US of A. Prices start at $6,999.
More than just an E-Ray replacement, the GSX adds more power to the Corvette experience.
The German automaker must have gotten an earful from owners, because after a brief, stick-less interlude, the 911 Carrera S is getting its manual transmission back. The Porsche 911 Carerra S with MT Package (starting price $169,450 for the coupe, $183,350 for the cabriolet) shares its six-gear transmission with the Carrera T, and comes exclusively in rear-wheel drive. Manual transmissions aren’t for everyone, but plenty of Porsche people still prefer them.
TechCrunch reports that the new factory would be located 45 minutes outside of Houston:
The new factory, called Project Crystal Sun, could cost as much as $10.1 billion. Tesla has applied for tax incentives to partially offset the cost, saying that it is exploring other sites “across multiple U.S. states.” The factory would create about 9,700 full-time jobs, Tesla said.
Correction, August 21: fixed the “million” typo in the headline to correctly say “billion.”
The drivers won the right to unionize last year after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill enabling gig workers to unionize. The ridehail drivers would remain independent contractors but would be able to negotiate with the companies for better pay and benefits. The state is the second to allow ridehail drivers to unionize, after Massachusetts. Illinois is also considering its own legislation.
Trustees are trying to keep Accell Group’s operations running while takeover bids are considered, but manufacturing in Hungary, where operations were recently centralized, has halted leading to concerns about spare parts and warranty claims. The Hungarian factory has an annual capacity of almost 300,000 bicycles, of which almost 99 percent are e-bikes.
[Bike Europe]
The affordable EV club gets a new member! The newly announced starting price — which includes a $1,495 destination fee — will put the Kia EV3 in competition with the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt when it goes on sale later this year. (The EV3 is long delayed, having been available in Europe since 2024.) When it does, it’ll be available in standard and long-range configurations, offering 221 and 321 miles per charge, respectively.
