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.
Ford is now accepting sign-ups for preorder invites for the upcoming Ford Fathom, the automaker’s $28,350 electric truck that’s coming out next year. Keep in mind, no one has seen this truck beyond a few camouflaged images. But with the average transaction price for a new vehicle over $50,562, it couldn’t hurt to get in line for Ford’s new ultra-low-cost EV.
Last Saturday, The Verge won a New York Emmy Award for our 2025 video about how electric cargo bikes are reshaping cities. It won in the “Environment / Science” category, which is fitting since e-bikes are proven tools for combating climate change.
On a personal note, it was especially gratifying to win an Emmy for a video that featured the bike bus I helped start in my town in New Jersey. Kids should be able to bike safely with their friends to school! And electric cargo bikes help make that happen.
It took nearly a decade for Tesla’s next-gen sports car to arrive, but it’s finally here. The timing couldn’t be worse.
GM is using AI models and a new mini factory to build and test cheaper EV battery cells in half the time.
Tiny pickup trucks might just become a thing in the US if the California-based startup Telo has its way.
VW’s successor to the ID.4 has a “completely redesigned exterior,” a range of up to 600 km (372 miles), and either a 58 or 77 kWh battery. The ID.Tiguan will start at €42,695 and could launch as soon as early 2027.
The airline said it will install Starlink across its entire mainland fleet of 1,300-plus aircraft, up from a previous commitment of 500 planes. Installations will begin in early 2027 and use Starlink’s Performance Aero Terminal, which can deliver speeds of up to 1 gigabits per second. Meanwhile, SpaceX founder Elon Musk is predicting Delta Air Lines’ CEO will lose his job over his decision to go with Amazon’s Leo satellite internet.
The Alphabet-owned company announced its first debt financing of $5 billion, arranged by Goldman Sachs and a bunch of private credit providers. Earlier this year, Waymo raised $16 billion in equity; this time its debt. As it scales its robotaxi service, Waymo needs to buy more stuff, like cars, sensors, charging stations, and depots. And banks and lenders are more willing to let the company take out loans using that stuff as collateral. At this stage of the game, paying back a loan with interest is cheaper than giving away equity. Waymo’s growing up!
The sportier, M-badged iX3 SUV has twin motors putting out 603 horsepower and 645 lb-ft of torque, with a blistering 0-60 time in 3.9 seconds. You can also expect all the standard M chassis tech, like adaptive suspension, variable sport steering, and an electronically controlled differential. BMW calls the design “unmistakably extroverted,” and yeah, I kind of agree.
A new software update rolling out the R2 enables Pet Cam, through which vehicle owners can keep tabs on their furry friends, as well as cabin temperature, via the Rivian app. (Tesla pioneered using in-cabin cameras to monitor pets with Dog Mode, released in 2019.) Rivian is also adding its AI-powered voice assistant to the R2 — which may be more of a mixed bag, based on some reviews from R1 owners.
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If you’ve ever been blinded by the atomic glare of an approaching car at night, this one’s for you. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that it’s tackling headlight glare — a problem so widespread that it’s even spawned its own subreddit.
The agency said it will bring together experts in vehicle lighting with safety and equipment associations to come up with changes to federal safety rules. NHTSA already allows adaptive headlights, so I’ll be curious what solutions they come up with.
The ridehail and food delivery company is expanding into corporate catering with the acquisition of ezCater, a Boston-based company that generated $2.5 billion in gross bookings over the last 12 months. The purchase will boost Uber’s food business, which has been growing at a faster pace than its ridehail service.
The company just released its third quarter sales in report, in which it recorded a 6.7 percent decrease in deliveries and a whopping 24 percent drop in production. Lucid said it only built 2,954 vehicles in Q3, a 38 percent drop from the previous quarter and the lowest number of vehicles for the company since early 2025. But Lucid said this is all part of the plan:
Deliveries exceeded production as the company continued to execute its planned inventory reduction, converting existing vehicle inventory into customer deliveries as part of the previously announced operating reset targeting $1.4 billion of cash flow improvements in 2026.
BougeRV’s DuneRover is so good on hills and sand that you’ll forgive the disco lights.
First, it was a rainstorm. Then the cars couldn’t accelerate properly. Then everyone had to wait around for a software update. That’s how a race at the Sepang International Circuit ended up starting 90 minutes late. The new engines have proven controversial and drawn plenty of ire from drivers.
After being idle on the throttle and letting the car slow, as is the norm on a formation lap, the software bug prevented the electrical power from kicking in. Tombazis described it as being a “loop.” The computer was stuck and unable to initiate a power return. For some drivers, the only solution was to stop and reset the car to get it going again. Esteban Ocon compared it to restarting Windows on a computer.
Musk has famously insisted that cameras are enough for his self-driving cars, when everyone else is pairing them with more advanced sensors. Now He’s explicitly said that his Robotaxis can’t run at night because it’s dark — a problem lidar and radar could easily solve.
Under SB 1246, which goes into effect in July 2028, robotaxi operators will face fines of up to $10,000 for each autonomous vehicle that blocks emergency responders for more than 30 minutes.
The law will also require robotaxi companies like Waymo, Tesla, and Zoox to employ remote drivers in the US to take control of the vehicles and move them out of the way — something police and firefighters have had to do themselves.
The hearing, ostensibly on a massive package of 21 bills pertaining to e-bike safety, lasted approximately seven hours — but amounted to very little. According to Hell Gate:
Perhaps the hearing’s lack of substance was due to the middling quality of the legislation itself, a hodgepodge of basic street safety actions (installing calming measures in bike lanes), cries for the state to do something (require e-bike riders to be registered), and increased app-based surveillance of deliveristas. But you can’t deny there were numerous bills. City Council Speaker Julie Menin touted the number as a “record” for a single hearing.
The anti-e-bike crowd was there, too, booing any mention of cars and trucks as the cause of the overwhelming majority of traffic crashes. What a productive use of everyone’s time!
[Hell Gate]
Its delivery vehicles were cited for over a dozen violations, including double parking, speeding in school zones, blocking bus and bike lanes, and more, according to a report from ALIGN. During the same five year period, Amazon vehicles also got 13,029 reports for idling too long.
[Alliance for a Greater New York]
Tesla said in a post on X that it’s delaying its outdoor Roadster event slated for October 1st until October 15th due to a severe weather forecast. The delay comes a week after Tesla re-opened reservations for the next-gen Roadster it originally revealed almost a decade ago.
According to the Wall Street Journal, local guides were initially concerned Uber would be sending regular drivers out for its tours of Kenya’s Nairobi National Park, rather than licensed guides:
“It got to a point where safety was paramount,” said Uber East Africa General Manager Imran Manji, who helped create the service. He imagined a worst-case scenario where Uber-branded vehicles could be targeted in retaliation. “We don’t want to put the driver or the guide in danger, and we don’t want the passengers in any danger,” he said.
Sony’s keynotes were once a highlight of the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. But the company’s presence has shrunk in proportion to its slow exit from consumer electronics. And with Bravia now a TCL brand, and the Afeela EV joint venture with Honda scrubbed, there’s little reason to attend.
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Yes, if it’s Amflow’s TL Carbon — but expect compromises.
It claims its new Smart Charging Station offers its “fastest production-ready charging performance” yet, and also includes a new system that can “gradually fix” EV battery degradation from fast charging:
The Group has additionally developed lithium-ion pulse restoration technology, which uses micro-pulse currents to reactivate lithium ions accumulated at the negative electrodes during repeated fast charging. By combining AI charging management with battery restoration technology, Geely is able to increase battery cycle life by 20%.
