Welcome again to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for information and insights on the way forward for transportation. To get this in your inbox, join right here totally free — simply click on TechCrunch Mobility!
We’re within the midst of one in every of my 4 favourite occasions of yr — earnings season. And it’s not simply that I like numbers. These required filings minimize via numerous the advertising and marketing noise offered by firms the remainder of the yr. In addition they assist me assess the short- and long-term stakes the businesses face.
Rivian’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings did exactly that. My takeaway: Software program, and particularly its know-how three way partnership with Volkswagen Group, was the corporate’s savior in 2025. It is going to additionally buoy the corporate into 2026 (one other $2 billion is anticipated from VW Group) as Rivian launches its most necessary product so far: the lower-cost R2 SUV.
The corporate’s earnings additionally offered a progress report on its bid to decrease the price of items bought per unit. The TL;DR is that the cogs per unit for its present portfolio continues to be excessive however dropping, which means it’s dropping much less on every car it sells. In response to Rivian, the corporate’s automotive cogs per unit delivered was $100,900 in 2025, down from $110,400 in 2024.
The upcoming R2, which is meant to be significantly cheaper (each in manufacturing price and price ticket) than its flagship R1T truck and R1S SUV, would be the subsequent large check. We’ll get some perception into the outcomes of that later this yr.
The R2 is anticipated to enter manufacturing within the first half of the yr (we’re listening to June), and primarily based on its steerage for 2026, Rivian is assured it has the demand and the power to ramp manufacturing. The corporate expects to ship between 62,000 and 67,000 automobiles in 2026 — which may present as much as a 59% bump from final yr. Rivian delivered 42,247 automobiles in 2025, which incorporates its two R1 client automobiles and the electrical supply van (EDV).
The market beloved that steerage, btw. Rivian inventory shot up 27% within the day after it reported earnings.
Techcrunch occasion
Boston, MA
|
June 23, 2026
Slightly fowl
Over the previous 18 months, I’ve observed a divergence in how Uber and Lyft are approaching AVs. Uber is locking up AV partnerships with each participant it may possibly. Lyft is trailing behind. Seems, I’m not alone on this commentary.
Insiders have shared their puzzlement about why Lyft hasn’t been extra aggressive on this entrance. They famous that Lyft is sitting on about $1.8 billion in money, money equivalents, and restricted money, and lately introduced a brand new $1 billion share repurchase program that represents about 15% of its market cap, per CNBC. That has some questioning why Lyft didn’t put money into components of the AV worth chain like Uber is doing versus shopping for shares again.
In the meantime, these little birds additionally pointed to a couple high executives who’ve departed over the previous yr. Aurélien Nolf left his place as VP of monetary planning and evaluation and investor relations to turn into CFO of Navan. Audrey Liu, who was an govt VP and head of rider and neighborhood security, is now at Adobe. Ameena Gill, who was VP of security and buyer care simply took a job at rival Uber.
Received a tip for us? Electronic mail Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Sign at kkorosec.07, or electronic mail Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.
Offers!
Shut followers of the mobility-crazed years, between 2015 and 2019, would possibly recall what number of lidar firms popped up throughout that point. Most of the dominant and buzziest ones have since shuttered, whereas a number of the smallest gamers have held on and expanded.
Take Ouster, as an illustration. I bear in mind method again when Ouster had this tiny little sales space within the jam-packed startups space (Eureka Park) at CES. In the present day, the corporate is far larger — due to scale, its 2022 merger with rival Velodyne, and its acquisition of Sense Photonics in 2021. And it doesn’t seem like completed.
The corporate most lately acquired Stereolabs, an organization that makes vision-based notion methods for robotics and industrial purposes, for a mix of $35 million and 1.8 million shares.
As TechCrunch senior reporter Sean O’Kane notes in his article, the deal is the most recent in a march towards consolidation amongst notion sensor suppliers. (Simply final month, MicroVision purchased the lidar belongings of the buzzy-but-now-bankrupt Luminar for $33 million.)
So why all of the exercise? It’s difficult, as they are saying. From my POV, the frenzy round “bodily AI” has reignited curiosity and funding in sensor applied sciences, significantly cameras.
Different offers that obtained my consideration …
Ever, the EV-only market, raised $31 million in a Sequence A funding spherical led by Eclipse. Different backers embody Ibex Traders, Lifeline Ventures, and JIMCO — the funding arm of the Saudi Arabian Jameel household (an early investor in Rivian).
Natilus, the San Diego-based startup growing blended-wing plane, raised $28 million in a Sequence A funding spherical led by Draper Associates. Different buyers embody Sort One Ventures, The Veteran Fund, and Flexport, in addition to new backers New Vista Capital, Soma Capital, Liquid 2 VC, VU Enterprise Companions, and Wave FX.
Notable reads and different tidbits
Aurora shared in its This autumn and full-year earnings report that its self-driving vans can now journey nonstop on a 1,000-mile route between Fort Value and Phoenix — exceeding what a human driver can legally accomplish. The corporate shared plenty of different tidbits, and financials, which you’ll examine right here.
The U.S. Securities and Change Fee closed its investigation into Fisker final yr, TechCrunch was in a position to be taught, due to a Freedom of Info Act request.
Lyft has launched teen accounts, a product that permits minors as younger as 13 to hail a trip with out an grownup in 200 U.S. cities, together with Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, and New York.
A contemporary batch of movies provides us the perfect have a look at how Rivian has modified the rear door guide launch on its upcoming R2 SUV. This seemingly minor design element has life-or-death stakes and comes because the EV business, and significantly Tesla, is getting stress to alter hid, digital door handles.
The Trump administration formally repealed the EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding,” which discovered that greenhouse gases corresponding to carbon dioxide and methane have been a menace to human well being and welfare. This modification would solely have an effect on tailpipe emissions for automobiles and vans — if the EPA makes it via the prolonged strategy of repealing the regulation, which will definitely embody quite a few lawsuits geared toward stopping it.
Uber has locked in a pair dozen AV partnerships, and we’re beginning to see the outcomes of these offers. China’s Baidu and Uber plan to launch robotaxis in Dubai within the subsequent month, beginning with choose places inside the Jumeirah space. In the meantime, Chinese language robotaxi firm WeRide and Uber introduced a “major expansion of their strategic partnership” to deploy a minimum of 1,200 robotaxis throughout the Center East via 2027, in accordance with the businesses. As a part of this, WeRide and Uber have launched a robotaxi service in downtown Abu Dhabi.
Waymo pulled the human security driver from its autonomous check automobiles in Nashville because the Alphabet-owned firm strikes nearer to launching a robotaxi service within the metropolis. In the meantime, this tech-forward firm is wrestling with the analog drawback of making certain the doorways of its robotaxis are correctly shut. Its answer? Pay DoorDash gig staff to close Waymo robotaxi doorways. Waymo tells us it is a pilot program in Atlanta to reinforce its AV fleet effectivity.
One closing Waymo merchandise: The corporate is beginning to roll out its sixth-generation “Waymo Driver,” which is built-in into the Zeekr RT (rebranded Ojai) and can ultimately be within the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Waymo has began “absolutely autonomous operations” within the Ojai car in San Francisco and Los Angeles and is giving entry to staff. The general public should look forward to a bit.
Yet another factor …
Rivian has pitched its upcoming R2 SUV as a extra inexpensive mannequin. What does “extra inexpensive” imply? The corporate has thrown round $45,000 and $50,000 as a base value. The corporate’s launch model of the R2, which will likely be a dual-mode and all-wheel-drive premium trim, will undoubtedly be costlier. In our e-newsletter this week, we requested readers, “What’s your guess on the price of the launch version?”
Join our e-newsletter to take part in our polls!
