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The ballot outcomes are in (from final week’s version) and it’s clear what you need: Evaluation with a capital A. You additionally need scoops, a little bit of a information roundup, and offers, however far and away you’re on the lookout for evaluation. I’ve at all times sprinkled my ideas and insights all through the publication, however over the subsequent few weeks and months you’ll see me push additional into evaluation.
On that word, earnings season is upon us and two stood out to me: GM and Tesla. Each firms are dealing with stress from tariffs. And whereas GM additionally sells gas-powered autos, each are attempting to promote EVs in a market that has seen development sluggish whereas dealing with a future with out EV incentives.
How GM and Tesla plan to navigate this (or no less than what they’re signaling) is sort of completely different.
GM, which noticed tariffs take a $1 billion chunk out of its Q2 line, nonetheless sees EVs as its “north star.” And whereas GM definitely trails Tesla in EV gross sales at the moment, it has an even bigger mixture of EV fashions to draw prospects — greater than a dozen in all. And Chevrolet is now the No. 2 EV model within the U.S.
And whereas GM did tout $4 billion of deferred income from its superior driver-assistance system Tremendous Cruise, together with OnStar and different software program providers that shall be acknowledged over time, the massive theme of the decision was “flexibility.”
Chair and CEO Mary Barra and CFO Paul Jacobson mentioned the phrase “flexibility” 9 occasions through the Q2 earnings name. What they imply by flexibility is organising factories the place they’ll simply assemble EVs and ICE autos — and alter up the combination based mostly on demand.
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In the meantime, Tesla is betting closely on the “future,” and for CEO Elon Musk meaning autonomy and AI, or as he generally calls it, “real-world AI.”
The overwhelming majority (about 74%) of Tesla’s income nonetheless comes from promoting automobiles, although Q2 results present a 16% year-over-year decline in automotive income. However in the event you listened to the Q2 name, it’s clear that Elon Musk isn’t focused on Tesla being a automobile firm. (He even admitted that the extremely anticipated breakthrough cheaper mannequin Tesla is engaged on is de facto only a stripped down model of the Mannequin Y.)
Musk needs to make and promote Optimus robots and deploy autonomous autos. The issue is that at the moment these merchandise — or future merchandise — usually are not producing earnings, not to mention income.
Sure, Tesla does usher in income from its superior driver-assistance system generally known as supervised Full Self-Driving. (This isn’t an autonomous car and requires human driver engagement.) And sure, the corporate is charging for robotaxi rides in South Austin, however it isn’t at scale, neither is it worthwhile.
Musk acknowledged there could be some tough quarters forward, however he nonetheless believes that in the end this shall be the place the majority of Tesla earnings come from.
I feel that this transition goes to take far longer than Musk has publicly shared. (Simply at the moment, The Info reported the corporate is way behind on its Optimus robot production goal.) And it appears the corporate is feeling the stress to behave. As an illustration, Tesla is reportedly bringing a restricted model of its robotaxi service to San Francisco this weekend though it technically doesn’t have the required permits. (What do you suppose Tesla’s workaround shall be?)
In the meantime, Tesla is below regulatory and authorized pressures that would additional undermine its effort to reboot gross sales and even threaten his future plans round FSD.
A bit fowl
Obtained a tip for us? E mail Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Sign at kkorosec.07, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com.
Offers!
Only a smattering of offers this week!
Bosch Ventures led a $21 million Series B funding in 4screen, a Munich-based firm that connects automakers, manufacturers, and drivers by way of native car shows.
Blockskye, a company journey infrastructure firm, raised $15.8 million in a spherical led by Blockchange. United Airways Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, Lasagna, Litquidity Ventures, Longbrook Ventures, KSV International, and TFJ Capital additionally participated.
Startup Glīd Applied sciences raised $3.1 million in a pre-seed funding spherical led by Outlander VC, with participation from Draper U Ventures, Antler, The Veteran Fund, M1C, and angel buyers.
Los Angeles-based Nevoya got here out of stealth final 12 months with the formidable aim of breaking the EV truck adoption logjam. Nevoya made sufficient progress on its aim to draw buyers — and a $9.3 million seed round led by Lowercarbon. Floating Level and LMNT Ventures additionally joined, together with current buyers Third Sphere, Stepchange, and By no means Elevate. Qasar Younis, the founder and CEO of buzzy self-driving AI firm Utilized Instinct, additionally invested.
Rune Applied sciences, a startup that desires to sort out AI-enabled software program for army logistics, raised a $24 million Sequence A spherical led by Human Capital with participation from Pax VC, Washington Harbour Companions, a16z, Point72 Ventures, XYZ Enterprise Capital, and Ahead Deployed VC.
Swift Navigation, which has developed centimeter-accurate positioning for car autonomy, robotics, and logistics, raised $50 million in a Sequence E financing spherical led by Crosslink Capital. Current buyers NEA, Eclipse Ventures, EPIQ Capital Group, First Spherical Capital, TELUS International Ventures, and Potentum Companions, together with new buyers Niterra Ventures, AlTi Tiedemann International, GRIDS Capital, Essentia Ventures, Shea Ventures, and EnerTech Capital additionally participated.
Notable reads and different tidbits
Autonomous autos
Lyft will add autonomous shuttles made by Austrian producer Benteler Group to its community in late 2026. The shuttles shall be deployed in partnership with U.S. cities and airports.
Electrical autos
Lucid Air homeowners will have the ability to cost their luxurious EVs at hundreds of Tesla Supercharger stations in North America beginning July 31, practically two years for the reason that automakers reached an settlement. However there’s a notable caveat: Lucid Air autos received’t have the ability to cost as quick as Tesla autos.
Gig financial system
Uber is bringing its women preferences feature, which lets feminine drivers and riders match with one another, to america. The characteristic will first roll out in Detroit, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Final however not least
Another word on Tesla. By the point this text reaches your inbox, we received’t have a solution, however an vital Department General Services listening to has been held all week in California. At stake: Tesla’s capability to promote automobiles in California.
The TL;DR: The California Division of Motor Autos is arguing that Tesla ought to lose its license to promote autos within the state over false promoting claims on its branded Autopilot and Full Self-Driving superior driver-assistance methods.