Everyone needs to get around. How we do it will change more over the next decade than it has in the last century. Legacy automakers, like Ford and GM, are scrambling to become technology-savvy companies, and the tech industry is trying to cash in on the change. New players, like Rivian and Tesla, are disrupting the industry and sometimes stumbling. We look at how self-driving hardware and software make the automobile better or, in some cases, deeply flawed. We cut through the hype and empty promises to tell you what’s really happening and what we think is coming. Verge Transportation cares about all moving machines and the place they have in the future.
The first new Prelude in 25 years has a hybrid powertrain and simulated shifting. But don’t let that deter you.
Props to Fred Lambert at Electrek for catching this: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is requesting from Tesla all information about a document called “Radar Saves Us” in its investigation into Full Self-Driving crashes. The details could prove that Tesla knew its camera-only approach to autonomous driving was flawed, which could trigger another massive recall for the company.
So far, most electric vehicles have looked more or less like cars. But recently, a few companies have looked to another, smaller mode of transport for inspiration. The Verge’s Andy Hawkins explains why companies like Amble and Chip are reinventing the golf cart, in the hopes of creating an entirely new kind of street-legal vehicle. As long as the speed limit stays low.
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Tesla filed an NHTSA crash report that lists the driver as “Remote (Commercial / Test),” which Electrek says is a first for Tesla. It’s one of numerous accidents with Tesla’s robotaxis in the past year, and involved a Model Y hitting a tree stump while trying to get out of a dead end road.
Ferrari says the “Chassis 0” version of the polarizing Luce is an “unrepeatable opportunity,” and will go on the auction block during Monterey Car Week in August. The Jony Ive-designed Luce sparked a mixture of fascination and confusion when it was revealed in May. And now you can own the first production version, assuming you have more than $1.1 million at your disposal.
The annual Solar Car Challenge for high school students celebrates its 30th year anniversary with a high-stakes trek across Texas.
Chip Motors is the latest startup with aspirations to disrupt the golf cart market. Its $15,000 EV can only go 25 mph, but it can park itself using remote operators.
Not what anyone expected — or wanted — but a Tesla-branded balance bike is now available for the junior edgelord in your life.
After months of rumors, Honda finally confirmed that it’s killing off the electric Prologue SUV in the US after just two years of sales, CarBuzz reports.
The automaker already pulled the plug on its Honda Zero series of EVs before they even got out of the factory. And after ending sales of the Prologue, that’s exactly the number of EVs that Honda will be left with in the US: zero.
Last year, Ford introduced an app-based kill switch for its F-series trucks, enabling owners to remotely kill the engine from inside the Ford Pass app. Now the company is bringing that feature to more models, including Bronco Sport, Expedition, and Mustang Mach-E, according to The Drive.
The $14.8 billion acquisition offer for the German food-delivery giant, would give Uber ownership over services like Glovo and Foodora to expand its reach into 99 markets. In an effort to avoid antitrust scrutiny, it’s selling off operations to an investment firm in 14 markets where Uber Eats and Delivery Hero overlap.
Bloomberg has the details on some of the gnarlier aspects of a driverless car service, including finding blood, puke, and fecal matter in the vehicles. Emergency responders have received almost 100 calls about passengers falling asleep in their Waymos, and then failing to wake up at their destination. This story reminds me of one I helped report nearly six years ago about Waymo contractors discovering hypodermic needles in the cars. The more things change…
Last month, Slate Auto said its barebones electric truck would start at $24,950, but that amount excluded the destination charge, so it wasn’t the actual final price customers would end up paying. Today, Slate spokesperson Jeff Jablansky emailed to let us know that the freight charge will be $1,450, calling it “the lowest among all pickup trucks in the U.S., because we believe that trucks should be affordable.” That means the total price of the Slate Truck will be $26,400 before factoring in local sales tax. Still pretty cheap!
Volkswagen’s cost-cutting crusade could result in model cancellations at all of the auto giant’s brands, including the all-electric Porsche Taycan, Cayenne Coupe, and 718 successor. Other models to get the ax include the VW Jetta and Taos, and the Audi Q5 Sportback and Q6 E-Tron Sportback. VW’s profits have slumped as it faces billions in tariff costs and stiff competition from China.
In 2024, a dealership in Colorado offered a lease deal on the electric Fiat 500e that sounded too good to be true: $0 down, and $0 a month. Aside from taxes and insurance, the tiny Italian EV was essentially free. Two of the lads at the YouTube channel TFLEV were able to get in on the deal before it went away. So, 18 months in, how did it go? In a new video, they describe the ownership experience of an EV they call “essentially pretty fun” with a lot of flaws.
As telegraphed earlier this year, Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation today creating a $3,500 point-of-sale rebate for the purchase of a new electric vehicle priced up to $50,000. Used EVs sold for up to $25,000 get a $1,750 rebate. Automakers headquartered in California aren’t subject to price caps. Naturally, Tesla fans are mad.
Waymo is lobbying for a bill that would legalize robotaxis in the District of Columbia. Uber opposes the bill, arguing it would displace human drivers. The bill was up for debate during a marathon hearing today (I just checked; it’s still going), but don’t expect a vote any time soon. As TechCrunch notes, the bill is exposing fractures in the Waymo-Uber relationship that could deepen as more big cities confront similar debates.
Both ABC7 and KTLA 5 report that on Saturday afternoon, police arrested this man for vandalism after he was seen smashing up a Waymo at an East Hollywood intersection on Saturday.
They didn’t know if anyone else was inside the vehicle at the time, and Waymo hasn’t issued a statement about the incident.
Xinzhou Wu on autonomy, Chinese cars, and if we really need lidar.
Two teenagers who were drinking alcohol and shooting a toy gun out the window of their Waymo were arrested last week after being tricked by a remote operator into thinking the vehicle had mechanical problems.
Until recently, the debate around Waymo’s remote operators has mostly centered on where they are located: here in the US or overseas? Now we also have to contend with duplicitous remote operators snitching you out to the cops. (But really, don’t shoot water pellets out of your robotaxi. That’s just stupid.)
This report from Futurism dives into some of the inconsistencies in the logo for the newly-renamed President Donald J. Trump International Airport. The shield only has 11 stripes, instead of 13; the eagle’s right-side talons look distorted; and there’s an uneven number of feathers and leaves.
Polestar is down for the count, global EV sales hit 2 million in June, and China’s electric vehicle industry continues to make news this week. Here are some notable headlines:
The EV startup is teaming up with Crayola on a special lineup of wraps for its paint-less electric trucks. Colors include Cerulean, Fern, Jersey Tomato, Razzmatazz, and Dandelion. Why they didn’t think to include Burnt Sienna is beyond me.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a rare warning to autonomous vehicle developers to address the “recent, disturbing trend” of driverless vehicles interfering with law enforcement and other first responders. According to NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison:
Over the past several months, NHTSA has identified a clear pattern of driverless AVs interfering with law enforcement and other first responders. The agency has documented multiple instances in which AVs drove directly into active emergency scenes, blocked the paths of ambulances and firefighters, or failed to recognize and respond to basic safety conditions like flashing lights, flares, smoke, fire, and traffic cones.
The letter follows a meeting earlier this year between NHTSA and emergency responders to hear their driverless car headaches. The agency says it expects operators to respond with solutions by the end of July.
The company is ramping up testing in San Diego, Las Vegas, Tampa, and Denver with the introduction of rider-only operations. Only Waymo employees will get to ride in the vehicles for now, but the company says it expects to kick off public trips soon. Waymo is also testing its newest vehicle, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, with a safety specialist present. No word on when the Hyundais will join the robotaxi fleet.
Because otherwise your Waymo might “snitch” to the cops, as in the case of two 15-year-olds in California. According to 404 Media, the two teens were detained after the robotaxi company reported them for drinking and shooting Orbeez from the vehicle. Seems like the kind of behavior you may invite when you open up your unsupervised ridehailing service to the underage. But also Waymos are covered in cameras, inside and out, and have been known to report wrongdoing to the cops. Basically they’re roving surveillance machines!
New Jersey wants driverless cars, so long as they have multiple sensors. But Tesla’s are camera-only.
Microcars offer fun and practical transportation in golf-cart communities and dense urban centers. Fiat’s Topolino and Topolino Dolcevita start at $13,995, with a range of 46 miles and street-legal top speed of 25 mph. Quantities are limited through select dealers.
The Amble One is an open-air electric vehicle designed for hotels and resorts. Could it be the right fit for America’s truck-fatigued buyers too?
As reported by Electrek, the latest recall is for a “faulty differential unit that may fracture, resulting in a loss of drive power,” affecting more than 42,000 vehicles between 2021-2023 RWD models. The car has been previously recalled at a similar scale for battery safety issues. A poster on the Mach-E forum notes Ford says “a remedy is not yet available” but is expected later this year.
The Drive has new pics of Ford’s $30,000 prototype electric truck, giving us our best look at the pint-sized truck’s real door handles and giant interior touchscreen. But maybe the most interesting aspect, as noticed by mobility investor Reilly Brennan, is the new camouflage that features soccer balls, sail boats, hearts, and other emoji-like symbols. No poops, fortunately.
