EVs | TechCrunch

VC darling Rad Power Bikes hit with another round of layoffs

Rebecca Bellan — Thu, 01 Aug 2024 14:59:11 +0000

Rad Power Bikes, the Seattle-based e-bike startup that has raised more than $300 million from investors, went through another round of layoffs in July, TechCrunch has exclusively learned. This is the company’s fifth round since April 2021, when it cut back 100 staffers. Rad’s latest layoffs follow a culling a year ago, when the e-bike […]

The Waymo-Zeekr robotaxi has come to San Francisco

Rebecca Bellan — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 16:30:28 +0000

Waymo has started testing on public roads in San Francisco a new robotaxi built by Chinese electric automaker Zeekr. Waymo has “less than a handful” of the Zeekr vehicles in San Francisco today and isn’t driving them autonomously yet. Still, the fact that Waymo has hit the roads with a roomier, custom-built robotaxi signals the next […]

GM’s Cruise abandons Origin robotaxi, takes $583 million charge

Kirsten Korosec — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 15:12:21 +0000

GM’s self-driving car subsidiary Cruise is scrapping plans to build the Origin — a purpose-built robotaxi with no steering wheel or pedals — and will instead use the next-generation Chevrolet Bolt in its operations. GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra told shareholders Tuesday the decision will “simplify their path to scale” and addresses the regulatory uncertainty […]

Elon Musk is now a villain in Joe Biden’s presidential campaign

Sean O'Kane — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 20:03:53 +0000

Biden centering Musk in his campaign is a notable escalation, considering he spent most of his presidency seemingly pretending the billionaire didn't exist.

Ford’s EV plans are in flux once again as it invests $3B into its biggest trucks

Kirsten Korosec — Thu, 18 Jul 2024 15:40:16 +0000

Ford is still pushing forward on electrification, notably by increasing hybrid options.

Fisker cleared to sell North American EVs for $46.25 million

Sean O'Kane — Tue, 16 Jul 2024 22:05:55 +0000

Fisker has been given the green light by a bankruptcy judge to sell more than 3,000 of its Ocean SUVs to a vehicle leasing company, a deal that will net the defunct EV startup a maximum of $46.25 million. The approval of the sale clears the way for the rest of Fisker’s bankruptcy process to […]

Fisker has one major objector to its Ocean SUV fire sale

Sean O'Kane — Mon, 15 Jul 2024 19:28:40 +0000

One major dissenter threatens to upend Fisker’s apparent best chance at offloading its unsold EVs, a deal that would keep the startup’s bankruptcy proceeding alive and pave the way for paying back creditors some of what they’re owed. The objection to the sale comes from the office of the U.S. Trustee, an arm of the […]

Helixx wants to bring fast-food economics and Netflix pricing to EVs

Tim Stevens — Sun, 14 Jul 2024 14:44:32 +0000

When Helixx co-founder and CEO Steve Pegg looks at Daisy — the startup’s 3D-printed prototype delivery van — he sees a second chance. And he’s pulling inspiration from McDonald’s to get there. The prototype, which made its global debut this week at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, is an interesting proof of concept. Virtually every part […]

Lucid revs up sales, Fisker makes a deal and Uber reignites an old fight

Kirsten Korosec — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 17:05:00 +0000

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Did you miss us last week? Even with a relatively quiet week due to the July 4 holiday, there were some notable goings-on. To no one’s surprise, […]

Henrik Fisker drops salary to $1 to keep Fisker Inc. bankruptcy case alive

Sean O'Kane — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 17:00:02 +0000

Fisker Inc. co-founders Henrik Fisker and his wife, Geeta Gupta-Fisker, are lowering their salaries to $1 in order to keep their failed EV startup’s bankruptcy proceedings funded, as lawyers work to complete a sale of its remaining inventory. Fisker Inc.’s restructuring officer, John DiDonato, said in a Tuesday morning filing that the couple, who co-founded […]

Lucid Motors sets new record for EV deliveries as it seeks ‘escape velocity’

Sean O'Kane — Mon, 08 Jul 2024 13:25:27 +0000

These efforts have come as Lucid is looking to start building its Gravity SUV by the end of this year.

Fisker asks bankruptcy court to sell its EVs at average of $14,000 each

Sean O'Kane — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 19:14:00 +0000

Fisker has a willing buyer for its remaining inventory of all-electric Ocean SUVs, and has asked the Delaware Bankruptcy Court judge overseeing its Chapter 11 case to approve the sale. If approved by the judge, Fisker would be able to offload 3,231 finished EVs to a New York-based vehicle leasing company for $46.25 million. That […]

The fight over Fisker’s assets is already heating up

Sean O'Kane — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 20:40:03 +0000

Fisker is just a few days into its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, and the fight over its assets is already charged, with one lawyer claiming the startup has been liquidating assets “outside the court’s supervision.” At issue is the relationship between Fisker and its largest secured lender, Heights Capital Management, an affiliate of financial services company […]

Fisker faced financial distress as early as last August

Sean O'Kane — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 17:37:14 +0000

Fisker was facing “potential financial distress” as early as last August, according to a new filing in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, which the EV startup initiated earlier this week. The admission provides a clearer picture of Fisker’s troubles in 2023 as it struggled to ramp up deliveries of its flagship Ocean SUV, despite CEO […]

Fisker failed because it wasn’t ready to be a car company

Sean O'Kane — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 22:02:37 +0000

Two years ago, an employee at Fisker Inc. told me that the most pressing concern inside the EV startup was not whether its Ocean SUV would get built. Fisker was outsourcing the manufacturing of its first EV to highly respected automotive supplier Magna, after all. The startup’s November 2022 start-of-production target was aggressive, but not […]

EV startup Fisker files for bankruptcy

Kirsten Korosec, Sean O'Kane — Tue, 18 Jun 2024 08:06:36 +0000

Fisker Group Inc., the EV startup founded by famed designer Henrik Fisker, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection — a capstone to months of problems with its Ocean SUV that included recalls and dozens of lemon law lawsuits. The California-based company, which filed for bankruptcy in Delaware District Court, had been seeking a deal with another […]

Rivian overhauled the R1S and R1T to entice new buyers ahead of cheaper R2 launch

Kirsten Korosec — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 16:00:15 +0000

Rivian has changed 600 parts on its R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck in a bid to drive down manufacturing costs, while improving performance of its flagship vehicles. The end goal, which will play out over the coming year, is an existential one. Rivian lost about $38,784 on every vehicle it delivered in the first […]

Swiss startup Neural Concept raises $27M to cut EV design time to 18 months

Mike Butcher — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 12:15:03 +0000

Neural Concept lets designers model how components will perform before they can be manufactured.

Inside EV startup Fisker’s collapse: how the company crumbled under its founders’ whims

Sean O'Kane — Fri, 31 May 2024 21:57:52 +0000

Update: Fisker has since filed for bankruptcy, after last-ditch efforts to rescue the company failed. An autonomous pod. A solid-state battery-powered sports car. An electric pickup truck. A convertible grand tourer EV with up to 600 miles of range. A “fully connected mobility device” for young urban innovators to be built by Foxconn and priced […]

Tesla shareholder sweepstakes and EV layoffs hit Lucid and Fisker

Kirsten Korosec — Thu, 30 May 2024 17:05:00 +0000

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Okay, okay — remember last week when I suggested Tesla was being a bit extra in its bid to convince shareholders to vote in favor of relocating […]