The future of transportation is electric. Tesla proved with the Model S that customers would want to buy luxury vehicles powered by lithium-ion batteries. Other EV startups like Faraday Future, Byton, Lucid Motors, and SF Motors are chasing after Elon Musk. And major automakers like Jaguar, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz have each released their own Tesla challengers. There are obstacles, such as the need for a more robust charging network. But battery-powered cars are here to stay.
The paintless, affordable EV pickup truck started taking reservations just over two weeks ago and crossed the 100,000 mark this past weekend, reports TechCrunch.
It’s a good showing, though as the outlet notes, Slate Auto is only asking $50, and reservations are fully refundable.
In the two days leading up to being let go, former Tesla employee Matthew LaBrot published a website calling for Tesla to “move forward without Elon as CEO,” then attended a Tesla Takedown protest, reports Business Insider.
It’s not the first time a former Tesla employee has claimed to have been fired for criticizing Musk.
[businessinsider.com]
The US Patent and Trademark Office rejected Tesla’s request to trademark the term for being “merely descriptive” and describing “similar goods and services by other companies,” reports TechCrunch:
Tesla needs to give the agency specific plans for how and why it deserves the “Robotaxi” trademark.
The examiner also wrote that Tesla will need to tell the USPTO if “competitors” use the terms “ROBO, ROBOT, or ROBOTIC to advertise similar goods and/or services.”
Tesla has three months to respond before the application is abandoned.
Beginning May 2nd, prices on vehicles such as the Mustang Mach-E EV could jump as much as $2,000, which Ford says will arrive in US dealer lots by late June. The news comes after Ford declared the Trump administration’s tariffs are adding about $2.5 billion of costs for the company in 2025.
The Celestiq carries the brand’s storied history forward — but only for those who can afford it.
The automaker’s software chief Doug Field explains why the company cancelled its ‘FNV4’ project, and why a domain-style system may work better for Ford’s gas and hybrid vehicles.
After Hyundai started making them in the USA, the popular EV became briefly eligible — but mysteriously lost eligibility weeks later, possibly over its batteries. Now, the Ioniq 5 is finally back on the list, until or unless Trump kills the credit entirely. It may not make a difference for many buyers: Hyundai was already offering its own $7,500 discount as a stopgap until the credit came back online.
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.
Is the market ready for a four-wheeled digital detox?
The Tesla CEO has long promised driverless cars that can go anywhere. But now he’s acknowledging that there will be “parameters.”
The automaker started by offering nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) batteries in its electric vehicles, and later added lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries in 2023. “LMR is the answer to ‘what next?’” writes Charles Poon, Ford’s Global Director for Electrified Propulsion Engineering. LMR stands for “Lithium Manganese Rich,” which Poon says is safer, denser, and more cost-effective than other chemistries. And they’re coming close to fruition.
This isn’t just a lab experiment. We’re actively working to scale LMR cell chemistry and integrate them into our future vehicle lineup within this decade. The team is already producing our second-gen LMR cells at our pilot line.
The restrictions on rare earth minerals and related magnets came in response to Trump’s escalating tariffs and we’re now seeing some direct impact. Tesla’s occasional CEO says his plan to build thousands of Optimus humanoid robots this year is contingent upon the availability of those magnets needed for the robot’s motors.
”China wants some assurances that these are not used for military purposes, which obviously they’re not,” said Musk.
Starlink also wasn’t intended for military purposes... until it was.
It looks much like the E Concept presented in Shanghai last year during the debut of Audi’s ringless, all-caps brand for the Chinese market. The E5 Sportback is built on an 800-volt “Advanced Digitized Platform” co-developed with China’s SAIC Motors and features a 100kWh battery capable of 478 miles of range per charge, 3.4 seconds 0-62 mph acceleration, a pillar-to-pillar 4K screen, and a lidar-based driver assistant.
DOGE is gutting the agency that enforces environmental laws Elon Musk’s companies have been accused of breaking.
Slate Auto, the secretive EV startup backed by Jeff Bezos, dropped a bunch of concept versions of its $25,000 electric truck in California over the weekend to emphasize the vehicle’s “transformative” powers, TechCrunch reports. The company is planning an official reveal later this week.
But as noticed by The Autopian’s David Tracy, the concept vehicles are sporting some, shall we say, unique camouflage. One was wrapped in pink and blue advertising for a fake company called “Cry Share” that offers to drive around your crying infant until they fall asleep. Sounds legit.
