Today's Automotive Pulse
Waymo suspends driverless rides in Atlanta and Texas amid severe storms
Waymo announced a temporary suspension of its driverless‑car services in Atlanta, Georgia, and multiple Texas cities after a vehicle became stranded in flood‑water. The company said the pause is an "abundance of caution" as flash‑flood warnings, severe thunderstorms, hail and gusty winds threaten safety.
Also developing:
By the numbers: LTM Ltd acquires Randstad’s Europe and Australia units for $186M
BYD Next Generation Atto 3 Unveiled with 5 Minute Flash Charging
BYD unveiled the Yuan Plus SUV, known as the Atto 3 in Australia, featuring a groundbreaking 5‑minute flash‑charging capability. The model offers a single‑motor 200 kW version with a 57.5 kWh LFP Blade battery and a dual‑motor 240 kW version with a 68.5 kWh pack, delivering up to 630 km CLTC range. Flash charging can raise the battery from 10 % to 70 % in five minutes and to 97 % in nine minutes, thanks to 1,500 kW‑ready LFP cells. BYD has already deployed over 5,000 flash‑charging sites across 292 Chinese cities.
Tesla's Mad Max Mode Beats Traffic, Outshines Competitors
Tesla Self-Driving Mad Max mode is so fucking sick It doesn't waste your time. Watch how it goes around slow cars on its own like a pro. I've never seen any other self-driving system do anything remotely close at 1:00 it even...
TECH PROFILE: Navtech’s 360-Degree Radar for Highway Detection
Navtech Radar’s 360‑degree sensor delivers continuous corridor coverage, replacing traditional snapshot detectors with a single unit that monitors all lanes, shoulders and ramps. Design starts with outcome‑based specifications, dictating radar spacing, geometry and mounting height (around 4.5 m) to maintain line‑of‑sight....
Ford CEO Jim Farley Warns Iran War Will Spike Auto Costs and Strain Supply Chain
Ford chief Jim Farley told a podcast that the Iran conflict is pushing commodity costs higher, squeezing margins and forcing the automaker to rethink its future lineup. Analysts say the same shock is rippling through trucking firms, with a wave...
RoboSense Moves EOCENE Architecture and Dual Flagship Chips to Mass Production by 2026
RoboSense announced that its EOCENE digital architecture and two flagship LiDAR chips, Phoenix and Peacock, will begin mass production in 2026. The rollout features a 4,320‑core processor capable of 495 billion point‑cloud samples per second and a 40% reduction in chip...
Mobileye Sure Doesn’t Lack Confidence, But Can It Deliver L4?
Mobileye’s EVP Nimrod Nehushtan told investors that the company may be the only robotaxi enabler able to meet Europe’s strict regulatory and KPI demands, positioning Mobileye as a future market leader. The claim is viewed skeptically because Mobileye has repeatedly...
This Pickup Beat Ford's Maverick In Consumer Reports' Best Cars Made In America List
Consumer Reports’ 2026 Best Cars Made in America list crowns the Honda Ridgeline as the top midsize pickup, unseating the Ford Maverick that held the spot for three years. The Ridgeline’s 3.5‑liter V6, standard all‑wheel drive, and 5,000‑pound towing capacity...
Spy Coffee, Robots, and Akio AI: A Visit to Toyota’s Futuristic Woven City
Toyota’s Woven City, a real‑world lab near Mount Fuji, opened its first residential phase in September 2025, housing about 100 residents and 200 daily workers. The community serves as a proof‑of‑concept hub where engineers, partners and families experiment with robotics,...
Taiwan’s Scooter Capital Taipei To Go Fully Electric
Taiwan’s scooter market, long dominated by gasoline two‑wheelers, is entering a decisive electric phase in early 2026. Electric models now represent about 8% of the 1.4 million‑unit fleet, with Gogoro’s battery‑swap network serving over 665,000 subscribers. Legacy players Kymco, SYM and...
Auto China 2026 Deep Dive: From Vehicles to Smart Mobility Ecosystems
Auto China 2026 in Beijing showcased 1,451 vehicles across 380,000 sq m, but its lasting impact lies in the shift from standalone cars to integrated smart‑mobility ecosystems. Automakers such as Chery displayed dozens of models side‑by‑side with semiconductor and AI‑sensor partners, underscoring...
SiEngine Showcases Full-Stack Chip Matrix at Auto China 2026
SiEngine used the 19th Beijing International Automotive Exhibition to unveil its latest full‑stack chip matrix, including the Dragon Eagle cockpit series, Star intelligent‑driving chips, the industrial‑grade Dragon Eagle One, the Tiangong 100 AI accelerator and a new SerDes line. The company...
Smart Tech Competition Intensifies: What Is the Expansion Logic for Module Manufacturers?
At Auto China 2026, Quectel and UNISOC unveiled the AR59xUB automotive‑grade 5G communication module. Built on UNISOC’s A7726 chip, the module supports 3GPP Release 16 with a path to Release 17, delivering up to 5 Gbps downlink and 22 K DMIPS computing power. Unlike prior generations,...
Pony.ai Unveils Next-Generation Autonomous Driving Domain Controller
Pony.ai introduced a next‑generation autonomous driving domain controller on April 25, built on NVIDIA’s DRIVE Hyperion platform and powered by the DRIVE AGX Thor with NVLink. The system delivers up to 4,000 FP4 TFLOPS of combined compute, supporting both single‑chip...
Waymo's Safety Hinges on Local Street Regulations
Waymo cannot make streets safer (or not). City and state policies make streets safer (or not). Waymo will act within whatever street-safety regime cities and states decide to adopt, for better or for worse. If SF penalized the company for...
Chinese EV Giant Sends a Bold Message Straight to the US
At the Beijing Auto Show BYD, now the world’s largest EV maker, declared it can thrive without the U.S. market, underscoring a rapid overseas expansion and new flash‑charging battery technology. European sales surged 270% in 2025 and the firm sold...
Tesla Launches Solution to End Supercharger Fights Once and for All
Tesla is rolling out a Virtual Supercharger Queue that uses the Tesla app to inform drivers of real‑time wait times and their position in line. When a station is full, the app sends a location‑based prompt asking whether the driver...
Hyundai Launches IONIQ V, Puts $1.1B Into China EV Supply Chain
Hyundai Motor unveiled the all‑new IONIQ V at Auto China 2026 and announced an 8 billion‑yuan ($1.1 billion) investment in its Beijing Hyundai JV. The move anchors a five‑year plan for 20 new EV models and a goal of 500,000 units sold...
Republic Services Orders 150 Electric Garbage Trucks, Highlighting Heavy‑Duty EV Niche
Republic Services announced a purchase of 150 battery‑electric garbage trucks, a deal that represents roughly 0.08% of the U.S. refuse‑truck fleet. The order underscores the growing practicality of electrifying heavy‑duty municipal vehicles, even as overall penetration remains low.
Tesla Delays Robotaxi Rollout in Five U.S. Cities
Tesla seems to say Robotaxi launch will be pushed back in 5 US cities https://t.co/r3NdTI4249 via @YouTube #tesla #robotaxi #automobile #tech #autonomoustaxi @lexfridman @KirkDBorne @Ronald_vanLoon @erikbryn @antgrasso @sallyeaves @Nicochan33 @HaroldSinnott @mvollmer1 @marcusborba @CatherineAdenle @vinod1975 @YuHelenYu @ingliguori @fogoros @ylecun @TerenceLeungSF @SourabhSKatoch @wil_bielert @HsrYueli...
Ford to China: Let’s Roll!
Ford is reportedly exploring a deal to license Chinese automaker Geely's electric‑vehicle and hybrid technology for the U.S. market. The talks, initially focused on sharing manufacturing capacity in Europe, could evolve into the first joint venture between a Detroit automaker...
Honda Postpones Self-Driving Goal to 2028 as EV Retreat Takes Toll
Honda Motor announced it will push back its AI‑driven autonomous‑driving rollout to 2028, a year later than originally planned. The delay follows a recent retreat from an aggressive electric‑vehicle (EV) strategy that forced the cancellation of several upcoming models, including...
Robotaxi Services Put the 'Auto' In Autonomous
Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous‑vehicle unit, now runs more than 800 robotaxis across a 260‑square‑mile zone in San Francisco and is expanding to five U.S. markets covering roughly 700 square miles. Competitors Zoox and Tesla are also scaling, with Zoox fielding purpose‑built, steering‑wheel‑less...
Tesla Starts Cybercab Production at Giga Texas, Warns Slow Ramp
Tesla confirmed that its purpose‑built Cybercab has entered production at the Austin Gigafactory, but CEO Elon Musk cautioned that volume will be limited early in the year. The announcement comes as the company lifts 2026 capital spending to over $25 billion...
China’s Li Auto Targets BMW and Mercedes with Premium SUVs in Middle East, Asia-Pacific
Li Auto, the Chinese EV maker known for its extended‑range premium SUVs, announced distribution deals in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as part of a broader push into the Middle East and Asia‑Pacific. President Ma Donghui said the...
Porsche Sells Bugatti Rimac Stake to HOF‑BlueFive Consortium in $1B‑plus Deal
Porsche agreed to sell its 45% share in Bugatti Rimac and its 20.6% holding in Rimac Group to a consortium led by New York‑based HOF Capital, with Abu Dhabi‑based BlueFive Capital as the largest investor. Valuations suggest the transaction exceeds...
Geely Unveils China’s First Purpose‑Built Robotaxi, EVA Cab, at Auto China 2026
Geely Auto Group, together with AFARI Technology and CaoCao Mobility, revealed the EVA Cab robotaxi prototype at the Beijing Auto Show on April 24, 2026. The vehicle features a quantum‑grade AI electronic architecture, a 2,160‑line digital LiDAR and over 3,000 TOPS of in‑vehicle...
Noida to Roll Out 50 E-Buses to Boost Connectivity and Cut Congestion
Noida Authority and Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) will launch 50 electric buses next month, targeting four key routes that link the Botanical Garden bus stand with Greater Noida West, the international airport, Sector 62 and Surajpur Collectorate. The...
NIO Unveils ES9 Flagship SUV and Expands EV Ecosystem at Auto China 2026
At Auto China 2026, NIO unveiled its flagship ES9 executive SUV, touting more than 40 industry‑first technologies and a 10,000 km endurance challenge set for May. The company also refreshed its premium ES8 with a Mirrorblack Edition and updated the ET5,...
What Makes a Tyre EV-Ready? Trends to Watch at the Upcoming ET Auto Tech Summit
At the upcoming ET Auto Tech Summit, industry leaders will spotlight tyres as a critical component of electric vehicle performance. EV‑ready tyres must combine low rolling resistance, higher load capacity, noise‑reduction tread patterns, and enhanced grip to handle the torque...
PURPLE BUS Drives Maharashtra's First Private EV Revolution
Purple Bus has introduced Maharashtra’s first private electric intercity service, deploying 14 Switch Mobility‑built electric buses on the high‑traffic Pune‑Mumbai‑Pune corridor. The launch, flagged off by the state’s Urban Development minister, marks a milestone in the region’s shift toward zero‑emission transport....
Peugeot Reveals Bold Electric Vision at Beijing Auto Show 2026
Peugeot used the 2026 Beijing International Auto Show to unveil its next‑generation electric vision, spotlighting two concept vehicles – the sleek Concept 6 sedan and the aerodynamic Concept 8 SUV. The French brand positioned China as the centerpiece of its global EV...
Self‑Driving Cars Fail Where Human Negotiation Matters
A few self-driving taxis in San Francisco just demonstrated the real problem with autonomy. They were too rational. For a brief moment, several robotaxis aligned at an intersection and created a perfectly polite deadlock. No aggression. No improvisation. No human-style “you go, I’ll go.” Just algorithms...
Alipay Launches AI Voice Payments for Cars
🇨🇳 Alipay brings mobile #payments to the car: Chinese tech firm Banma Intelligence and #fintech giant @Alipay unveiled a new AI-powered in-car system that allows drivers to make purchases using only their voice at the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition 2026. @finews_asia. https://t.co/S3ihuRsaq4
Nissan Is Betting on ‘China Speed’ to Get Back on Its Feet
Nissan is turning to China to revive its global fortunes after sales slumped in the United States and Japan. The automaker aims to sell one million cars annually in China by 2030 and to export up to 300,000 China‑built vehicles...
Germany's ICE Legacy Becomes Anchor; Dragon Bypasses with SDV
"article strikes a somber tone regarding German "Mittelstand" & automotive. It's a warning: the very things that made Germany successful (incremental improvement of ICE) are now anchors. Dragon is leveraging the transition to SDV to bypass a century of mechanical expertise"...
Ford Ramps up US Production yet Still Hemorrhages Billions
"Ford Is Building More Cars in the U.S. Than Ever—But Still Losing Billions" https://t.co/6FpXn1NHjv https://t.co/dX4BPjDl07
Yaskawa Deploys Fully Automated Multi‑Stage Injection Moulding Line for 1.4M Radomes in Germany
Yaskawa has delivered a fully automated, multi‑stage injection moulding system to Weißer + Grießhaber in Germany, capable of producing about 1.4 million radar‑protecting radomes each year. The line integrates six‑axis and SCARA robots, vacuum grippers and in‑line inspection to ensure precision,...
Dedicated AV Lanes Boost Traffic Flow and Cut Latency
Once self-driving cars are sufficiently deployed, we can create dedicated lanes for them with higher speed limits and closer following distances between cars. This will both improve throughput and reduce latency.
Waymo Robotaxi Experience Convinces Miami Rider of Future
Just had my first @Waymo experience… it was magical… not sure I’ll never use Uber again in Miami… robotaxis are the future… no doubt about it. https://t.co/W11WEipjBr
This Fleet Is Going Electric, and Sharing Their Real-World Results (and Savings) Online
A small construction firm posted a detailed year‑long cost analysis of its mixed fleet, highlighting the stark contrast between its diesel and gasoline trucks and a 2022 Ford E‑Transit electric van. The electric van incurred only $698 in electricity costs...
Tesla Autopilot Makes Coast‑to‑Coast Trips Seamless
Lots of talk recently about using Tesla Self-Driving for long distance trips. Strongly recommend people try it, it's an amazing way to travel. Here's Tesla Self-Driving 14.3.1 taking me from Downtown San Francisco to Downtown Los Angeles with just a tap...
EV Ownership Hits Tipping Point Across Many Nations
"EV ownership at ‘tipping point’ in many parts of the world, experts say" "EVs are dominating new car sales in some countries, while others are slower to transition" #alwaysbecharging ⚡️⚡️⚡️ https://t.co/JYNG4MoYGR
EU and US Sign Critical Minerals Partnership to Cut China Dependence
The European Union and the United States signed a memorandum of understanding and a joint Action Plan on April 24‑25, 2026, creating a strategic partnership to secure critical minerals. The pact covers the entire value chain—from exploration to recycling—and aims...
Xiaomi's Premium Push Targets Volume Cars, Not German Brands
“The rite of passage to enter the premium market is extremely long,” said Schmidt’s founder, Matthias Schmidt. “Xiaomi can still be a success in Europe, but more likely at the expense of volume carmakers rather than German premiums.” Kinda greatly ignores...
Xiaomi Outspeeds VW
“At the Xiaomi plant, 2,000 workers produce up to 300,000 cars a year. At its similarly sized electric car factory in Hefei, VW produces only a third of that volume with half the workforce. This is because the VW plant is...
Nickel Futures Near $19,200/Tonne as Supply Tightens and Costs Rise
Nickel futures rose to $19,125 per tonne on April 24, 2026, marking a near three‑month high. The rally reflects tighter global supply, a new Indonesian nickel ore pricing framework, and the International Nickel Study Group’s forecast of a 2026 deficit....
Australia’s 2030 EV Surge Amid No Domestic Production
Here's our @FSS_Au vehicle sales projection for ICE, hybrids, PHEVs and BEVs projection for Australia to 2030 from Jan 2026, assumption is Australia doesn't build cars, so we buy what the world makes Four more years... Fruitloop? https://t.co/dkJ2U9AyOG https://t.co/pv6IT3SlLK
Tesla's Full Self-Driving Handles Rainy Garage Navigation
Tesla Self-Driving 14.3.2 can drive you from parking garage to parking garage in the rain with zero human intervention. Don't believe me? Here's a video of the Model 3 doing just that. https://t.co/610Ei0dI3J
AI Driving Transforms Lives Beyond Tesla Enthusiasts
I’m really excited to see FSD gaining so much traction every day I talk to people — and not just your typical Tesla nerds — who gush about how AI driving has changed their life
Tesla Autopark Finds Nearby Spots When Destination Lacks Lot
i’ve noticed something interesting in Tesla self driving 14.3.2 a lot of times it will go to a parking lot that is near the destination, but not at the destination the result is it can actually find a place to park...