Transportation Archive

Alphabet’s autonomous vehicle company has “reached a preliminary agreement” with the world’s largest automaker “to explore a collaboration focused on accelerating the development and deployment of autonomous driving technologies,” according to a just-published blogpost. Does that mean we’ll soon be getting driverless Rav4s? Too soon to say, but the agreement also includes Woven, which is Toyota’s autonomous subsidiary. And the announcement specifically mention’s Toyota’s expertise to enhance next-generation personally owned vehicles (POVs)” — which we know is on the mind of Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai.

Robyn Denholm, who was appointed chair of Tesla’s board of directors after the SEC forced Elon Musk to step down, just sold over $32 million worth of shares in the company. As Electrek notes, it appears that she is close to liquidating her entire position in Tesla, with only 85,000 shares left and 300,440 stock options expiring later this year. Several Tesla investors have urged the board to rein in Musk, who’s political alliance with the Trump administration has done irreparable damage to the company’s brand. But under Denholm’s leadership, the board has done essentially nothing to curb Musk’s worst tendencies.

UPS revealed the job cuts in its earnings report released today, which it says are linked to “lower volumes from our largest customer,” Amazon. The company announced earlier this year that it will decrease its Amazon deliveries by more than 50 percent by the second half of 2026.

The excellent Tim Stevens joins The Vergecast to talk all things Slate, which recently unveiled its first product, an extremely barebones, all-electric, two-seater pickup truck.

More incoming tariff flip-flopping from the White House, The Wall Street Journal reports today. Trump is expected to rollback some duties on automakers so they don’t end up paying for multiple tariffs on materials like on steel and aluminum. You know, they stuff they usually make cars out of. And here’s the kicker: Trump may end up actually reimbursing some car companies for their tariffs based on the value of the vehicle! Folks, this is what real leadership looks like. According to the Journal: