The ridehail company’s partnership with AV developer WeRide is launching in Dubai, after several months of successful trips in Abu Dhabi. The vehicles still include safety drivers and won’t be fully driverless until later this year, Uber says. Uber is also working with Waymo in Austin, Texas, and has several other AV partnerships in the works.
That’s Tesla bull Dan Ives from Wedbush reacting to this morning’s first quarter production and delivery report, in which the company clocked a 13 percent decrease in sales year over year. Ives, who strongly believes in Elon Musk’s vision of AI, robotics, and self-driving cars, is nonetheless adamant that the billionaire CEO needs to take the proverbial bull by the horns. He writes:
The time has come for Musk....it’s a fork in the road moment. The more political he gets with DOGE the more the brand suffers, there is no debate. This quarter was an example of the damage Musk is causing Tesla. This continues to be a moment of truth for Musk to navigate this brand tornado crisis moment and get onto the other side of this dark chapter for Tesla with much better days ahead.
[wedbush.bluematrix.com]
Rivian just released a miserable production and delivery report for the first quarter of 2025. The company produced 14,611 vehicles, but only sold 8,640 of them, a 36 percent drop year over year.
As noted by TechCrunch, Rivian warned last earnings call that its sales would be affected by the Los Angeles wildfires, as well as a “challenging demand environment.” Still, the company reaffirmed its full-year guidance to sell 46,000 to 51,000 vehicles in 2025.
One of Flightradar’s most-tracked flights today was BAW999, which listed the retired supersonic jet as flying from London to New York. This, of course, was just too good to be true.
A Senate bill requiring all new cars to have AM radio now has over 60 cosponsors, meaning it can overcome a filibuster, Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said today. It’s a response to new electric vehicles increasingly lacking the first-generation radio broadcast technology.
Automakers, including Tesla, argue that AM radio is incompatible with EVs, citing electromagnetic interference from the powertrain. Supporters say they’re worried about losing a crucial medium for emergency broadcasts during natural disasters. And conservatives love it for right-wing news and media. The bill passed the House last year, and it’s looking increasingly likely that, despite changing listening habits, AM radio is here to stay.
