3+ week, 5+ day ago (531+ words) Residents of San Francisco's Mission district are blaming Waymo for the death of a local celebrity: KitKat, a 9-year-old bodega cat. The cherished feline "was found dying in the street" the night of Monday, Oct. 27. The Mission Local report said a 311 call was made shortly after midnight that blamed the Waymo for hitting the local "liquor store's cat that was sitting in the sidewalk next to the transit lane." A bartender from Delirium, located in the Mission District, mourned the loss of KitKat, calling him "the sweetest boy." Mission Local wrote that he was always a welcome presence for those "starting or ending their nights at the bars near 16th and Valencia streets." Frequent patrons of Randa's Market offered condolences to Zeidan, and a small memorial was set up on the sidewalk. An altar of milk crates adorned with flowers, pictures…...

1+ week, 3+ day ago (327+ words) Autonomy, the smartphone app that offers all-in-one subscriptions for EVs, will add 1,250 Polestar and Volvo electric cars to its fleet, as well as additional Tesla models. The company, which currently operates an all-Tesla fleet in several American states, secured a $25 million loan from Fincity Corporation through SR Alternative Credit. The company said customers can expect to see the Polestar 2 and facelifted Tesla Model 3 and Model Y in the app soon, with additional vehicles from Volvo and other automakers set to join the fleet. Autonomy did not detail what other models would be available in the future. Tesla Model 3 EVs available as long-term rentals through Autonomy Back in 2023, the startup had roughly 1,300 cars in its fleet, but was forced to cut back on its initial goal of acquiring 23,000 EVs from no fewer than 17 automakers due to the plummeting value of EVs....

3+ day, 3+ hour ago (384+ words) Last July, I leased a 2024 Chevrolet Blazer EV LT2. I got a stunning lease deal, leaving me conflicted about the car. I love my Blazer EV, but I wouldn't have paid its $52,000 sticker price. The good news is, I didn't, and you don't have to, either. Used Blazer EVs are shockingly cheap. The best price I've seen so far is $21,499 at used car retailer CarBravo, for a Radiant Red LT2 with 14,000 miles. But while that price is an outlier, it is exceedingly easy to find examples for under $25,000. Most of them have very few miles, and all appear to be in good condition. Of course, if you've been following the Blazer EV story, you may know why these are cheap. The Blazer got off to a rough start, with software problems that were bad enough to strand our own Kevin Williams. That…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago (328+ words) Ford is now selling certified pre-owned vehicles on Amazon Autos, the American e-commerce giant's car sales platform. The move effectively puts local dealers' inventory on Amazon's website, allowing customers to browse what's available, finance their next vehicle and prepare some of the paperwork before scheduling a pick-up date at the dealership. The two companies said that all of the certified pre-owned cars that are now up for sale on Amazon Autos are backed by Ford's Blue Advantage warranties, which include roadside assistance. Customers can also check out the full service history online, as well as the final price. The third category is reserved for "Blue Certified" vehicles, which are sold by Ford dealers but may include vehicles for other brands, not just the blue oval automaker'think trade-ins. These cars come with just a 90-day or 4,000-mile limited warranty. Whatever the…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago (543+ words) Next year is a pivotal one for Rivian. The electric-vehicle startup has seen strong critical success with its R1S and R1T, but long-term viability depends on its more affordable R2 being a huge hit with a wider audience, just like the Tesla Model Y once was. Maybe that's why the first Rivian R2 to debut won't be its most expensive configuration." On tonight's third-quarter earnings call, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe offered a few new details about the R2 when it goes on sale in 2026." "We're going to limit the number of variants that we're building, and so we have a launch edition for the R2," Scaringe said. "And this is a classic challenge, because there's thousands and thousands of people who are excited for R2. Some will want the most base version, the lowest-price version. Others are going to want the highest-end version." The goal for the…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago (287+ words) What's old is new again in the EV world. And the long-running Chevy Bolt is back for the 2027 model year." General Motors canceled the Bolt in 2023, then decided to revive it for one last hurrah. On a recent episode of the Plugged-In Podcast, Patrick George and I were joined by GM President Mark Reuss, who explained the thinking behind the Bolt's big updates." "When we brought it back we wanted to, again, focus on what customers wanted," he said." That meant more range, a cheaper LFP battery chemistry and'perhaps most importantly'faster charging than ever before. For an inside look at America's new cheapest EV and how it came to be, check out the full clip with Reuss." And, if you want to hear what one of GM's top executives thinks about China, EV policy, future battery tech and more, watch…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago (405+ words) Rivian's joint venture with the Volkswagen Group isn't just developing the underlying tech for upcoming Rivians, Audis and Porsches. The firm sees a future in selling its electrical architectures to other car companies." "We're solving a problem not only for Rivian and VW, but we're solving a problem for the larger automotive industry," Wassym Bensaid, Rivian's chief software officer and a co-head of the joint venture, told reporters on Wednesday. "And that could become basically an opportunity for a standard technology stack that others can use as well." These systems of high-powered computers and the software that ties everything together should allow for richer software features and better software updates. But everything besides the foundational systems'like autonomous driving features or user interfaces'will need to be added on by each brand." The JV's leaders think other manufacturers will line up for…...

3+ week, 1+ day ago (339+ words) The Tesla Semi has to be the only vehicle that we know of that received a mid-lifecycle facelift without technically being in production'only a handful have been built so far. However, that's exactly what happened as Tesla quietly unveiled an updated Semi yesterday, which it has redesigned to receive the new family face, as well as a series of technical improvements. Tesla revealed the Semi in 2017 with plans to start building it in 2019, but it has kept pushing back its production start date. During yesterday's annual shareholder meeting, Elon Musk reaffirmed the company's plan to begin volume Semi production next year, promising to put an end to what has proven to be a painfully slow rollout. The lower part of the vehicle is obscured, so there may be some additional visual changes hiding there, like redesigned aero wheels. It may…...

3+ day, 6+ hour ago (532+ words) A new member of the Tesla owner's club gets a rude awakening one day on her way to work. All of a sudden, she can't figure out how to stream music. Here's what happened. TikTok creator Alison Johnson (@fitnesswithalison) is a fitness instructor who recently purchased a Tesla." "So I recently joined the Tesla family," she says to start the video, which she posted over the weekend. "I'm getting in my car this morning and I'm like, "OK, I'm gonna play some jams.' It says "premium connectivity required." In the end, Johnson says she is going to forgo the subscription service for now. "OK, no worries," she says. "I'm gonna give myself my own concert. $10 here. $10 there. It adds up, buttercup. I'll just sing my way to work." Johnson shows viewers the menu on her display that shows the "Monthly…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (953+ words) It's hard to argue that Toyota isn't operating from a position of strength right now. As global electric vehicle sales remain uneven, the Japanese automaker continues to generate robust profits from its broad hybrid lineup and has managed the U.S. tariff challenges more effectively than many of its competitors. What about what comes next? It's similarly hard to argue that Toyota is some kind of industry leader on software and autonomous vehicles'both of which are experiencing a boom right now. But being the world's largest automaker by volume has its perks, and that includes the scale and capital needed to build a whole city devoted to testing next-generation mobility technology. Almost six years after it was first announced at CES 2020, Toyota's Woven City is open for business. Or living. Or a mix of both. It's one of the more bold and…...