Transportation editor
Andrew is transportation editor at The Verge, He covers electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, public transit, policy, infrastructure, electric bikes, and the physical act of moving through space and time. Prior to this, he wrote about politics at City & State, Crain's New York Business and the New York Daily News. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids, and many different brands of peanut butter.
The Japanese automaker’s joint venture in China is aiming to launch an EV with a driver assist that’s equivalent to Tesla’s controversial FSD, according to Reuters. That’s especially interesting considering Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus was the only company to pass the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety’s rigorous ADAS test. Not saying there’s a direct connection, but Toyota certainly has the chops.
This report from Reuters looks at how executives from Volkswagen and Rivian courted each other in the run-up to the surprise announcement of the $5 billion joint venture this week. One of things they did to determine whether it would be a good fit was to strip the electronics out of two Audis and replace them with modules and harnesses supplied by Rivian. Later, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe teases the possibility of a Rivian-powered Porsche — which I think I speak for many when I say, sick.
The compact EV was supposed to go on sale in North America this year, but thanks to the Biden administration’s tariffs on vehicles from China, that won’t be happening. Volvo tells InsideEVs that the EX30’s debut is being pushed to 2025 while it moves production to Ghent, Belgium. The EV is currently being assembled in China, where Volvo’s parent company Geely is based.
Rivian teases five new vehicles, and I have no idea what they are
The mystery vehicles highlight how, despite its financial woes, Rivian is playing the long game.
2019: Rivian raises $700 million in a round led by Amazon.
2019: GM in talks with Rivian, but Ford muscles it out, invests $500 million. Rivian will make an electric truck with Ford.
2020: Ford-Rivian truck canceled because of the pandemic.
2021: Rivian raises $2.5 billion from Ford and Amazon.
2022-23: Ford sells majority stake in Rivian in $7.3 billion write-down.
2024: Rumors circulate that Rivian is in talks with Apple.
Marc Whitten, who ran Amazon’s Fire TV and Kindle divisions and more recently served as president at Unity Create, is stepping into the role left empty by Kyle Vogt, who stepped down after a disastrous response to a driverless car crash incident. The GM-backed robotaxi company has been slowly deploying more vehicles after vacating San Francisco in the wake of the incident in which one of its vehicles dragged a pedestrian 20 feet.
[www.getcruise.com]