TechCrunch Mobility: Inside GM’s $900M EV battery gamble

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Senior newsman (and nonmigratory artillery expert) Tim De Chant traveled to General Motors’ sprawling Warren Technical Center extracurricular Detroit to larn much astir the automaker’s plans to trim the outgo of its adjacent slate of EVs. The upshot: GM is banking connected LMR batteries and a caller Battery Cell Development Center that is viewed arsenic the span betwixt its R&D efforts and full-scale production. 

Kurt Kelty, GM’s VP of artillery and sustainability, provided caller details astir the company’s $900 cardinal inaugural and however this caller chemistry volition sphere scope portion slashing costs. For instance, the Chevrolet Silverado EV could beryllium $6,000 cheaper. Read the communicative here.

As with astir companies these days, AI besides makes a cameo appearance. Although I should enactment that AI plays much than conscionable a supporting relation astatine GM. I precocious interviewed Sterling Anderson, GM’s main merchandise officer, and Jason Fischer, who is enforcement manager of virtual integration engineering, astir immoderate of the changes wrong the institution and however it’s utilizing AI. That communicative is coming adjacent week, but I’ll springiness you a spot of a teaser. 

GM is utilizing a postulation of extracurricular AI models, arsenic good arsenic ones it has created in-house that tin beryllium utilized crossed ample swaths of the concern and that — here’s the punchline — volition velocity up its conveyance improvement cycle. I’ll person much details successful my article, and don’t worry, if you miss it, I volition item it successful adjacent week’s newsletter. 

Finally, past week I wrote astir the Ferrari Luce EV and however it doesn’t substance that it has been truthful wide criticized. I got immoderate fantastic emails from you each connected the taxable — thanks! The poll, however, showed that arsenic overmuch sum arsenic the Luce received, galore of you truly don’t attraction astir it. 

In the canvass I asked, ‘Do you emotion it, hatred it, oregon indifferent to it?’ Most of you, astir 44%, are indifferent, portion the remainder are arsenic divided betwixt emotion and hate. 

The much I deliberation astir the aboriginal of the Luce EV, the much I deliberation this mightiness go a ragebait acquisition among those who tin spend it and are deemed worthy by Ferrari to bargain it.

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Deals!

Image Credits:Bryce Durbin

The looming SpaceX IPO is the woody of the decade, surely for the bankers and for CEO Elon Musk. But it could besides impact Tesla shareholders. 

As portion of the IPO registration process, a institution volition often record galore amendments earlier making its nationalist markets debut. SpaceX has filed a fewer already. And our eagle-eyed elder newsman Sean O’Kane spotted a caller condemnation added to the S-1 papers that has immoderate large implications: “We whitethorn contented a important magnitude of equity successful transportation with aboriginal transactions.”

While it is surely imaginable that SpaceX volition usage the $75 cardinal it is expected to rise to drawback up a assortment of companies, the astir apt M&A people is Tesla. This condemnation was included successful the hazard factors and appears to beryllium preparing aboriginal investors for the anticipation of a large dilution event. Read the afloat story. 

There is different absorbing woody spotted by O’Kane — this clip involving Carvana and Slate Auto, the electrical conveyance startup backed by Jeff Bezos. According to documents obtained by TechCrunch, Carvana has been granted the enactment to invest successful Slate Auto. As O’Kane notes successful his article, this could hint astatine a deeper concern betwixt the 2 companies.

Other deals that got much attraction …

Layup Parts, a startup trying to go the Amazon of composite parts, raised $42 million successful a Series A backing circular led by dual-use task money Marlinspike, with information from caller investors Cerberus Ventures and Pinegrove Venture Partners, arsenic good arsenic existing backers Founders Fund and Lux Capital. 

Mach Industries, the three-year-old defence tech startup that present has 5 autonomous vehicles successful development, raised a $300 million Series C astatine a $1.8 cardinal valuation. The circular was led by Infinite Capital and Ribbit Capital and includes backing from Bedrock Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Khosla Ventures.

Molfar Defence Technologies, a Polish-Ukrainian defence startup processing anti-drone radar systems, closed the archetypal tranche of its €2 cardinal backing round. Swedish capitalist Front Ventures committed €1.5 million, Tech.Eu reported.

Spiro, the African electrical mobility startup, raised $215 cardinal successful a circular that pushed its valuation adjacent to $1 billion, Bloomberg reported. 

Notable reads and different tidbits

Image Credits:Bryce Durbin

Avride CEO Dmitry Polishchuk shared a fewer stats astir the autonomous conveyance startup connected LinkedIn. The institution has completed 60,000 trips for Uber riders successful Dallas since launching successful December. (Avride robotaxis amusement up connected the Uber app successful Dallas.) The company’s fleet of vehicles, which includes trial cars and the Uber robotaxis, has driven much than 1.3 cardinal miles, with a cardinal of that covered successful the archetypal 5 months of 2026.

Lectric eBikes launched its 3rd marque successful six months — an inaugural the institution has sunk astir $10 cardinal into. How is this seven-year-old institution expanding portion truthful galore others tanked? I dug into the institution a spot and interviewed its co-founder to find out. Read the afloat story.

Uber’s yearly Lost & Found Index has provided a alternatively quirky anthropological snapshot of its riders implicit the past decade. This year, the institution besides released a database of items left successful robotaxis that are disposable via the Uber app. There are immoderate unusual items connected the list! It besides got maine reasoning astir however Uber is intelligibly uncovering each mode imaginable to propulsion into — and marque wealth from — the nascent autonomous conveyance industry. To my point: Uber is readying to enactment 500 data-collection vehicles connected the roadworthy this twelvemonth arsenic portion of its caller AV Labs division. 

Waymo had a mates of absorbing quality items this week. One of its robotaxis was used successful a burglary and the lawsuit sheds immoderate airy connected however Waymo handles each that rider footage it collects. And the Alphabet-owned institution announced a woody with B2U to usage the batteries from its retired all-electric robotaxis to support energy grids successful California and Texas. 

Woven Capital, Toyota’s maturation fund, promoted Jarek Khoilian and Manas Punhani arsenic principals. Reminder: Woven Capital launched its $800 cardinal money II successful September 2025.

One much happening …

Image Credits:Kirsten Korosec

With Subaru rolling retired immoderate caller EVs, I thought it would beryllium bully to punctual myself what the archetypal was like. I’m talking astir the Solterra, which was calved retired of a concern betwixt Toyota and Subaru to jointly make a level dedicated to artillery electrical vehicles.

I spent a week with a pearl-white 2026 Subaru Solterra premium trim exemplary that starts astatine $38,495. Putting speech for a infinitesimal that my friend’s Ring camera identified the Solterra arsenic a mini play cart, this EV does person thing to offer. Yeah, it’s basic. And sure, it’s not going to occurrence disconnected the enactment similar a Tesla, Lucid, oregon Porsche Taycan. But it doesn’t request to. 

The header present is that the Solterra has gotten amended — and it truly needed it. 

The 2026 exemplary has a clump of notable updates that amended the power, range, and usability. 

The beforehand and rear motors person been updated — on with a caller controller that improves powerfulness organisation and power — and unneurotic nutrient an improved 233 horsepower (the XT trim pushes it up to 388 hp). Like astir different EVs retired there, the Solterra present has an integrated NACS charging port, the strategy developed by Tesla. The scope has besides improved to an EPA-estimated 288 miles, which is notable considering Subaru accrued the artillery capableness by lone 2 kWh and managed to summation the scope by much than 50 miles. There is besides a preconditioning mounting to hole the artillery for a charge, which greatly improves the charging time. 

Subaru revamped the tech wrong arsenic well, adding a 14-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and making wireless 15 W smartphone chargers for standard.

Subaru doesn’t connection existent one-pedal driving successful the Solterra, a modular bearer of EVs. Instead, the Subaru has paddles located connected the backmost of the steering instrumentality that fto you summation the regenerative braking if you want. But it won’t travel to a implicit halt similar different fashionable EVs that person one-pedal driving. While longtime EV owners mightiness beryllium turned disconnected by this, it could beryllium much charismatic to car buyers who privation their EV to enactment similar their aged gas-powered car.