Polestar raises $500M from outside investors as EV market grows

Polestar, Volvo Car Group’s standalone electric performance brand, has raised $550 million in its first external round led by Chongqing Chengxing Equity Investment Fund Partnership, Zibo Financial Holding and Zibo Hightech Industrial Investment. SK Inc., the South Korean global conglomerate,

NFT Inc. reimagines urban and rural living with flying car ASKA

A number of startups have promised to bring a drive-and-fly vehicle to market over the past few years, but none have yet managed to follow through. NFT Inc. is betting it will succeed where its rivals have failed, with preorders opening Thursday for ASKA, the company's first electric flying car

Ford takes aim at Tesla, GM with its new hands-free driving system

Ford will debut its new hands-free driving feature on the 2021 F-150 pickup truck and certain 2021 Mustang Mach-E models through a software update later this year, technology that the automaker developed to rival similar systems from Tesla and GM. That hands-free capability — which uses cameras,

Bird, Lime and Veo selected for NYC e-scooter pilot

Lime, Bird and Veo have scored coveted permits to New York City’s first e-scooter pilot. The New York City Department of Transportation, which originally released a request for proposals in October for the pilot that was meant to start in early March, made its selections public Wednesday. Th

Toyota taps Apex.AI for its autonomous vehicle operating system

Automakers shifting to all-electric and tech-laden vehicles have discovered that software — and more aptly software that is free of bugs and can be updated wirelessly — has become a consistent speed bump on the road to attracting customers. It is an issue that plagued Volkswagen’s launch

ZeroAvia’s hydrogen fuel cell plane ambitions clouded by technical challenges

When ZeroAvia's six-seater aircraft completed an eight-minute flight from Cranfield Airfield in the U.K. last September, the company claimed a “major breakthrough” with the first-ever hydrogen fuel cell flight of a commercial-size aircraft. The modified Piper Malibu propeller plane was now

China's XPeng in the race to automate EVs with lidar

Elon Musk famously said any company relying on lidar is “doomed.” Tesla instead believes automated driving functions are built on visual recognition and is even working to remove the radar. China’s Xpeng begs to differ. Founded in 2014, XPeng is one of China’s most celebrate

Daily Crunch: Spotify unveils an in-car entertainment system

Spotify wants to have a bigger presence in your car, Apple hints at iPad-centric announcements and Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop goes on sale. This is your Daily Crunch for April 13, 2021. The big story: Spotify unveils an in-car entertainment system Spotify’s new devic

What’s fueling hydrogen tech?

Hydrogen — the magical gas that Jules Verne predicted in 1874 would one day be used as fuel — has long struggled to get the attention it deserves. Discovered 400 years ago, its trajectory has seen it mostly mired in obscurity, punctuated by a few explosive moments, but never really fulfilling i

Spotify launches its in-car entertainment system ‘Car Thing’ in US

Spotify this morning officially announced the limited U.S. release of its first hardware device, the oddly named Car Thing, aimed at Spotify Premium subscribers. The new device — which Spotify is surprisingly offering for free plus shipping — has evolved substantially from the version t

Why South Africa-based car subscription company Planet42 is going carbon neutral

Since ride-hailing companies like Uber and Bolt disrupted the transportation industry, one of the thorns in their sides has been traffic congestion and pollution. Research has shown that trips from ride-hailing cars have more emissions than those from personal cars. To reduce their carbon footprint

Chinese autonomous vehicle startup WeRide scores permit to test driverless cars in San Jose

WeRide, the Chinese autonomous vehicle startup that recently raised $310 mlion, has received a permit to test driverless vehicles on public roads in San Jose, California. WeRide is the seventh company, following AutoX, Baidu, Cruise, Nuro Waymo and Zoox, to receive a driverless testing permit. In t

Intel’s Mobileye teams with Udelv to launch 35,000 driverless delivery vehicles by 2028

Intel subsidiary Mobileye is ratcheting up its autonomous vehicle ambitions and getting into delivery. The company said Monday it struck a deal with Udelv to supply its self-driving system to thousands of purpose-built autonomous delivery vehicles. The companies said they plan to put more than 35,0

EV automaker Rivian partners with Samsung SDI in battery cell supply deal

Rivian, the Amazon-backed EV manufacturer aiming to bring an electric pickup to market later this year, has partnered with Samsung SDI as its battery cell supplier, the company said Monday. The two companies did not disclose the value of the deal or its term length, but in a statement released Mond