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I’m positive you’re ready to be taught the outcomes of final week’s ballot. (Reminder: Join the Mobility e-newsletter to take part in our polls!) Here’s what I requested: “What’s the finest enterprise mannequin for autonomous automobile tech? (Maintain profitability in thoughts.)”
Far and away, readers assume longer-haul supply is one of the best guess, with 40% choosing this feature. Robotaxis got here in subsequent with 25.5% of the vote, adopted by licensing tech to automakers at 19.1% and last-mile supply with 14.9%. One reader emailed to level out that I didn’t embrace warehouse purposes like autonomous forklifts. The longer-haul supply class will be damaged down additional, although, and is price one other ballot, which we included on this week’s e-newsletter.
Within the lengthy record of arguments one would possibly make to justify a $1 trillion compensation package deal, having management over a robotic military was definitely not on my thoughts. And but, that is the argument Elon Musk made throughout Tesla’s third-quarter earnings name.
Right here’s the rundown: On November 6, shareholders will vote whether or not to approve a board-endorsed compensation package deal that might grant Musk as much as 12% of Tesla’s inventory. If the corporate hits its goal market worth of $8.6 trillion, that package deal could be price about $1 trillion.
The board and Musk have spent weeks lobbying shareholders to approve the measure, at the same time as proxy advisers Institutional Shareholder Companies and Glass Lewis have advisable that buyers reject it. Musk is now in assault mode, which was on show on the finish of the earnings name when he referred to as the companies company terrorists and made his ultimate pitch. His robotic military argument facilities on energy and management, not a lot cash. Though, hey, cash can present each.
“My largest concern line: If we construct this robotic military, do I’ve a robust affect over that robotic military? I don’t really feel snug constructing a robotic military if I don’t have a robust affect,” Musk mentioned throughout the earnings name. He was referring to Tesla’s Optimus robotic program and used it for example of merchandise he desires full management over.
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That argument will hardly persuade Musk’s critics, notably within the wake of his position as head of the Division of Authorities Effectivity. However Musk doesn’t have to persuade his rising record of critics, except, after all, they personal Tesla shares.
Slightly hen
This week, Normal Motors dropped the ax on the BrightDrop electrical van program after 4 brief years. It was not the largest shock on this planet; in spite of everything, tons of of unsold vans have been sitting untouched in tons in Michigan and Canada for months now. (One little hen reached out to inform us that tons of of them are in so much in Flint, Michigan.) GM cited a slower-than-expected marketplace for industrial electrical vans, nevertheless it didn’t go into element about why, precisely, BrightDrop failed so miserably.
One other little hen has given us a clue, although. The vans are dear however well-liked and will save fleet house owners cash over time. And electrical drivetrains are an amazing match for last-mile supply. What GM seems to have missed was the infrastructure piece, in accordance with one insider. The corporate leaned onerous on outdoors partnerships to construct out so-called depot charging, as a substitute of providing it as a part of the fleet purchases. That turned quite a few potential prospects away and simply typically induced complications.
Acquired a tip for us? E-mail Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Sign at kkorosec.07, or e mail Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.
Offers!
The massive deal this week is about EVs and AI information facilities. Sure, there’s a connection.
Redwood Supplies raised $350 million in a Collection E spherical led by enterprise agency Eclipse, and included a brand new strategic funding by Nvidia’s enterprise capital arm, NVentures. The corporate’s valuation was not disclosed, however a supply acquainted with the spherical instructed TechCrunch it was about $6 billion, a billion {dollars} greater than its earlier valuation.
The chunk of this cash goes towards Redwood’s new power storage enterprise, which is giving a brand new objective to EV batteries it has collected and which have an excessive amount of life left to place by the recycling course of. The corporate ties these retired EV batteries to renewable power sources like wind and photo voltaic, or the grid, to energy AI information facilities or industrial websites.
Different offers that acquired my consideration this week …
Avride secured strategic investments and different commitments of as much as $375 million, backed by Uber and Nebius. None of those corporations gave me specifics when requested if this was all fairness. One insider did say to concentrate to the “different commitments” bit, which suggests it was not a straight money injection.
Spiro, the African electrical motorcycle startup headquartered in Dubai, raised $100 million in a spherical led by the Fund for Export Improvement in Africa (FEDA), the event arm of Afreximbank. That is the most important increase ever for African e-mobility.
Notable reads and different tidbits
Normal Motors made a number of bulletins at an occasion in NYC that have been meant to point out the place it’s headed. And, sure, AI performs a central position. Earlier than AI may take the stage, GM mentioned it’ll overhaul {the electrical} and computational guts of its future automobiles. The corporate will roll out a brand new electrical structure and centralized computing platform in new automobiles, beginning with the Cadillac Escalade IQ in 2028. That basis will permit the corporate to ship quicker software program; extra succesful automated driving options, together with eyes-off driving; and a customized, conversational AI assistant.
Earnings season is upon us, and this quarter I’m expecting information and govt commentary that helps me perceive how tariffs and the expired EV tax credit score are affecting the automotive sector. I don’t have any clear takeaways but — and doubtless received’t till the subsequent quarter.
Tariffs are hitting, Q3 experiences from GM and Ford point out. As an example, GM forecast that tariffs will scale back its 2025 income by $2.3 billion and Ford mentioned it might take a $2 billion chew out of the underside line. However each of these projections are billions of {dollars} higher than the automakers predicted earlier this yr, and the automakers hope to offset these prices. CEOs from each automakers thanked President Trump for extending a aid measure from tariffs on automotive elements sourced from Canada and Mexico.
Another GM and Ford information: Ford will proceed to pause manufacturing of its F-150 Lightning vehicles because it prioritizes gasoline and hybrid F-Collection variations in a bid to get well from a fireplace at its major aluminum provider Nevolis. In the meantime, GM CEO Mary Barra instructed the Verge’s Decoder podcast that the corporate will drop help for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto from all of its automobiles. Oh, and late-breaking: GM has laid off 200 salaried workers from its Warren Tech Heart.
Tesla delivered a file variety of automobiles within the third quarter of 2025, outcomes buoyed by U.S. prospects who took benefit of the expiring federal EV tax credit score. That didn’t translate to larger earnings. Tesla’s third-quarter revenue was $1.4 billion, 37% decrease than it was in the identical quarter final yr.
The Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration opened an investigation after seeing footage from early October of a Waymo autonomous automobile maneuvering round a stopped faculty bus that was unloading children in Atlanta.
Rivian is present process a little bit of a shake-up that features slicing 600 folks from its workforce (its third spherical of layoffs this yr), and its founder and CEO is taking over yet one more place: chief advertising officer. Rivian additionally agreed this week to pay $250 million to settle a class-action shareholder lawsuit filed after the corporate abruptly hiked costs on its R1 pickup truck and SUV in 2022.
In the meantime, I spent a while within the Bay Space with executives from Rivian’s micromobility spinout firm Additionally. The corporate revealed three new merchandise, and if Additionally president Chris Yu and Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe (and Additionally board member) are to be believed, there shall be much more coming. For now, it’s a slick modular pedal-assist e-bike and two pedal-assist quad automobiles — the supply van model that Amazon has already agreed to purchase. The massive compelling tech story right here is vertical integration and software program.