Andrew J. Hawkins

The company, which was led by ex-Tesla CTO JB Straubel, says it just closed its series E funding, including participation from Google and other investors. The money will be put toward building out Redwood Materials’ energy storage platform as well as its EV battery recycling and critical minerals business. And in a blog post, the company gestures at the current debate over AI data centers and electricity demand, saying:

Lisa Drake, who previously served as vice president of technology platform programs and EV systems, is now in charge of the automaker’s energy division. Late last year, Ford downsized its EV ambitions, scrapped the F-150 Lightning, and announced a pivot to hybrids and battery storage systems to meet growing demand from AI data center construction. Drake will lead those efforts, which include “scale Ford Energy’s end-to-end operations, spanning design and development, battery cell and system manufacturing, and end customer sales.”

Google’s Gemini, in particular, according to ProPublica, citing internal communications. The regulations don’t even have to be that good, officials say; “We don’t need the perfect rule on XYZ. We don’t even need a very good rule on XYZ,” one official is reported to have said. This will surely end well.

Every time it gets really cold, the climate change deniers come out of the woodwork with their best “I am very intelligent” grins to sputter some version of “whither global warming?” Fortunately, The Verge’s senior science reporter Justine Calma knew to anticipate these inane inquiries in her story today about the approaching winter storm:

GM is ending production of its most affordable EV after the 2027 model year, replacing it with a gas-powered Buick. The decision came less than a year after the automaker rolled out a revamped version of the Bolt with better charging capabilities. Of course, this won’t be the first time that the automaker killed off the Bolt. But given the inhospitable environment around EVs these days, the Bolt’s days were likely numbered. GM has said its priority is profitable autos like the Buick that previously was built in China.