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.
While checking out the 1,800-horsepower Destrier that Bugatti unveiled at Monterey Car Week, the folks at Road & Track also got a taste of the carmaker’s C-Seed Bugatti N1 TV.
Inspired by another 1,800hp beast, its sculptural design unfurls the 110- or 137-inch TV hiding inside in 45 seconds and can rotate up to 180 degrees.
Swedish trucking company Einride says it will buy 500 Tesla Semis, representing the largest order for the electric Class 8 truck yet reported. But as Electrek notes, it’s not clear that Einride has enough money to fund the purchase. The trucking company has about $77 million in the bank, which is less than the estimated $145 million it will cost to buy the Tesla Semis.
Segway’s new $449.99 S2 Kids self-balancing scooter is a direct descendent of the brand’s original Personal Transporter but includes upgrades like animated RGB lighting and built-in Bluetooth speakers for blasting music. It’s got a top speed of 8.7 mph, a range of eight miles, and a weight limit of up to 132 pounds.
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Google won a $10 million bankruptcy auction to acquire a hefty collection of business data from the now defunct Spirit Airlines, which it plans to use for AI training. The data, which includes calendar info, documents, spreadsheets, emails, and employee chats will be “deidentified,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement to Axios:
“We will not receive any personal information from this dataset. Any data we receive will be rigorously scrubbed of any personally identifiable information by a third party before receipt.”
Musk’s DOGE was supposed to rebuild the nation’s air traffic control system, but it ended up paving the way for Peter Thiel’s company to take over.
Last month, I spoke to Matthew Haiken, who owns a Polestar dealership in Short Hills, New Jersey, about the EV brand’s sudden decision to withdraw from the US market. Now, Haiken is suing the company, claiming it planned to pull out of the US even before the government issued a de facto sales ban. When we spoke, Haiken said Polestar had plenty of foreknowledge of the government’s decision.
We knew about this for a long time, and to hear that we got a red light and we couldn’t sell cars and we’re pulling out of the US when our sister brands and other brands got green lights, it was completely upsetting and shocking.
The car was expected to sell for around $1.1 million, but the polarizing EV absolutely shattered that at auction. The proceeds from the sale of chassis #0 will be going to charity, but it’s still a wild price for a car that starts at $600,000 retail.
Waymo has received regulatory approval in the state to “expand” its autonomous ride-hailing service “across the SF Bay Area and LA” and bring it to Sacramento and San Diego, the company said on Friday. The approved expansion covers “most of the state’s population,” Electrek reports.
The expansion will be “gradual and guided by our safety framework,” according to Waymo.
SV stands for Supervolce, or ‘super fast.’ And that’s an apt description for this heat-seeking missile of a sports car.
Bike shop owners say the law, which places heavy restrictions on e-bike ownership in the state, is fueling a steep drop in sales, with some saying as much as 90 percent of their business has evaporated.
“It has had a chilling effect on the legitimate e-bike industry,” said Mike Grotz, owner of Cyclesport in Park Ridge. “We sold over 50 Class 1 e-bikes last year, this year, a total of 4 e-bikes.”
Workers are being laid off, and some shop owners predict they will be forced to shut down. Who could have predicted this?
The very popular Dutch maker of cargo bikes is now selling its Breeze Stateside. You can’t pass a school in Amsterdam without seeing a dozen Urban Arrows with kids frolicking in their front buckets, but longtails seem to sell better in the US of A. Prices start at $6,999.
More than just an E-Ray replacement, the GSX adds more power to the Corvette experience.
The German automaker must have gotten an earful from owners, because after a brief, stick-less interlude, the 911 Carrera S is getting its manual transmission back. The Porsche 911 Carerra S with MT Package (starting price $169,450 for the coupe, $183,350 for the cabriolet) shares its six-gear transmission with the Carrera T, and comes exclusively in rear-wheel drive. Manual transmissions aren’t for everyone, but plenty of Porsche people still prefer them.
TechCrunch reports that the new factory would be located 45 minutes outside of Houston:
The new factory, called Project Crystal Sun, could cost as much as $10.1 billion. Tesla has applied for tax incentives to partially offset the cost, saying that it is exploring other sites “across multiple U.S. states.” The factory would create about 9,700 full-time jobs, Tesla said.
Correction, August 21: fixed the “million” typo in the headline to correctly say “billion.”
The drivers won the right to unionize last year after Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill enabling gig workers to unionize. The ridehail drivers would remain independent contractors but would be able to negotiate with the companies for better pay and benefits. The state is the second to allow ridehail drivers to unionize, after Massachusetts. Illinois is also considering its own legislation.
Trustees are trying to keep Accell Group’s operations running while takeover bids are considered, but manufacturing in Hungary, where operations were recently centralized, has halted leading to concerns about spare parts and warranty claims. The Hungarian factory has an annual capacity of almost 300,000 bicycles, of which almost 99 percent are e-bikes.
[Bike Europe]
The affordable EV club gets a new member! The newly announced starting price — which includes a $1,495 destination fee — will put the Kia EV3 in competition with the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt when it goes on sale later this year. (The EV3 is long delayed, having been available in Europe since 2024.) When it does, it’ll be available in standard and long-range configurations, offering 221 and 321 miles per charge, respectively.
Wahoo is revamping its app to expand beyond its core cycling hardware to become a “connected training ecosystem.” And that means subscriptions. Under its new three-tier model, basic Wahoo device support is still free; $4.99/month adds performance analytics, insights, and training load tracking for self-guided athletes; and $17.99/month adds structured training guidance.
Rear-facing radar is already an add-on for roadies, and comes integrated into some high-end eSUV bikes. Now N+, the company responsible for the Mercedes-branded e-bikes, is taking things a step further by linking it to a video camera visible on the display of its €3,999 VW-branded e-bike.
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Tesla’s chief car designer Franz von Holzhausen said the second generation Roadster is coming “very soon,” while eagerly rubbing his hands together on the latest episode of Jay Leno’s Garage. What was hailed as “the quickest production car ever made” when announced in 2017, has so far missed its 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 dates. Will 2026 be any different?
The FIA has recognized the Hydromax’s Speed Week runs at Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats, measuring 400.623 mph and 412.135 mph for an average of 406.320 mph, as the new record for a hydrogen internal combustion-powered vehicle.
JCB makes heavy equipment and shoved two “production-based” hydrogen digger engines into a slim frame to set the record, with British driver and outright land speed record holder Andy Green behind the wheel.
This Reddit user claims a Tesla employee left the door open on this Cybercab while charging. Sure! There’s steering wheel inside, which we’ve seen before. But also there’s something called “Rodeo controls” on the touchscreen, with buttons labeled “Short oops,” “Long oops,” “Win,” and “Voice notes.” These are no doubt controls for safety driver to record incidents or mistakes made by the self-driving system. Business Insider previously reported the existence of Tesla’s Project Rodeo, in which safety drivers would deliberately delay taking manual control longer than a typical driver.
No specs or timeframe accompanied the photos, or even a justification for why you’d want satellite internet in a taxi that targets dense urban environments where cellphone signal is strong. The car certainly doesn’t need it to drive, but, as Electrek notes, it’s a nice recurring revenue stream for SpaceX, and further justification for the two companies to merge and make Richie Rich another $1 trillion richer.
An escape clause in Elon Musk’s $1 trillion Tesla pay package approved last year would eliminate daunting operational targets if SpaceX were to purchase Tesla, as many expect. Under the terms, an acquisition treats those performance goals as met. Depending on the acquisition price SpaceX sets for Tesla, which Musk can heavily influence, a merger could instantly award him hundreds of millions of Tesla shares and consolidate his voting control.
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has come out in support of The Delivery Protection Act, a union-backed proposal that would force companies like Amazon, FedEx, and others to hire the workers who deliver packages wearing their logos. As it is, those workers are often contractors, which the backers of Intro 518 say serves as a smokescreen allowing the big companies to avoid responsibility and minimum pay regulations.
According to local reports, the man was crossing the street outside a crosswalk in Dallas when he was hit by an SUV driver, causing him to be thrown into a driverless Waymo vehicles. On the surface, the crash sounds similar to one that eventually took down Cruise’s robotaxi business. In that instance, the Cruise vehicle failed to immediately pull, dragging the person for 20 feet. In this case, the victim struck the left rear of the Waymo vehicle.
[FOX 4 News Dallas-Fort Worth]
Two people have filed a class action suit against Mercedes-AMG, claiming that a raised metal logo on the seats of certain models literally brands them on hot days. According to the Associated Press:
Lahigani, a Los Angeles resident, had leased a new 2026 Mercedes-AMG E-Class vehicle from an authorized Mercedes-Benz dealership in Los Angeles, according to the suit. He reported receiving second-degree burns on his back on May 31, after entering his vehicle wearing a tank top. A board-certified dermatologist subsequently documented first- and second-degree burns, describing the injury as “AMG inscribed.”
Here’s a nine-second clip of a concept car the company says will kick off a “bold new era for Acura design” next week at Monterey Car Week. Acura’s future models will feature the new design language, starting with the fourth-gen RDX Hybrid Acura revealed a prototype of earlier this year.
Ford says its Fathom electric truck will start at $28,350, just a few thousand more than Slate’s. There’s good reason to be cautious about how long that lasts.
Codiusprime:
I think if you can actually buy a base model at 28,350 a year after release, this will be a win. We all know what happened to the cheap Maverick though. I’ll continue to believe all of this when I see it. Not to mention the dealerships sabotaging this effort at every turn.
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