Today's Automotive Pulse
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Rivian Unveils R2 EV to Chase Tesla-Level Household Fame
Rivian’s upcoming R2, slated for a 2026 launch, comes with detailed specifications, pricing and availability plans. Industry analysts say the model is a strategic push to elevate Rivian into a mainstream name comparable to Tesla, while reviewers highlight its engaging autonomous driving experience.
Pony AI Posts 145% Revenue Surge, Expands Robotaxi Fleet Goal to 3,500 Vehicles
Pony AI announced Q1 2026 revenue of $34.3 million, up 145% year‑over‑year, and raised its robotaxi fleet target to 3,500 vehicles. The autonomous‑driving startup highlighted quadrupled robotaxi revenue, a 246% jump in intelligent‑solutions sales, and a cash pile of $1.4 billion.
Astemo, Hitachi to Build AI Platform for SDVs
Automotive supplier Astemo and technology giant Hitachi have announced a joint effort to build an artificial‑intelligence development platform for software‑defined vehicles, with a target rollout by the end of fiscal 2026. The platform will fuse AI, data, and digital‑twin capabilities...
Stellantis to Build Next-Generation Electric Vehicles in Mulhouse
President Emmanuel Macron announced that Stellantis will pour more than €1 billion (about $1.08 billion) into a next‑generation electric‑vehicle line at its Mulhouse plant starting in 2029. The investment is part of France’s broader electrification strategy, which aims to halve the nation’s...
Ola Electric Gets Regulatory Approval for Commercial E-Scooter Launch
Ola Electric has secured homologation from the Automotive Research Association of India for a new L1‑category electric scooter aimed at the commercial mobility market. The 4‑kilowatt, 70 km/h scooter is built on the company’s existing S1 platform but re‑engineered for delivery,...
Overview of Test Permits for Autonomous Vehicles in Germany
As of February 11 2026, Germany’s Federal Motor Transport Authority has granted 236 test permits for autonomous‑vehicle trials, each covering a single vehicle. Of those, 153 permits apply to Level 3 driver‑assistance systems and 83 to Level 4 fully autonomous prototypes. The permits are...
Energy Storage Surge Powers Clean Transport, Subsidy Reliance
In the latest Current Climate newsletter: 🔋 Boom times for energy storage batteries 🚛 Tesla’s ongoing reliance on California subsidies ⚡️ A deal to supply clean hydrogen, generated underground, to power buses and trucks https://www.forbes.com/sites/current-climate/2026/05/26/boom-times-for-energy-storage-batteries/
Swedish Transport Operator Orders 91 Scania Battery-Electric Buses
Swedish transport operator VR has placed an order for 91 Scania Fencer f1 battery‑electric buses, slated for service beginning June 2027 in the Södertälje region. The fleet comprises 32 four‑axle (4×2) and 59 six‑axle (6×2) models, each equipped with a 445 kWh battery...
Toyota's U.K. GR Corolla Production Plan Could Increase Tariffs on All British-Made Cars in the U.S.
Toyota is relocating production of its performance‑oriented GR Corolla from Japan to its Burnaston plant in the United Kingdom, adding up to 10,000 units a year. The move trims the model’s import tariff from 15% to 10% under the current...
California Rolls Out $1 Billion Electric‑Truck Rebate to Speed Zero‑Emission Freight
California announced a $1 billion Clean Fuel Reward program that offers up to $120,000 per vehicle for battery‑electric medium‑ and heavy‑duty trucks. The incentive, the largest utility‑led effort of its kind, is designed to accelerate fleet electrification and reduce air‑pollution‑related health...
Ferrari Launches the Luce, Its First Fully Electric Supercar with 1,036 Bhp
Ferrari unveiled the Luce, its first all‑electric production model, at Rome’s Vela di Calatrava. The quad‑motor grand tourer packs a 122 kWh battery, 1,036 bhp and a five‑seat layout, signalling a major shift for the luxury automaker. The launch pits tradition against...
Pouch Cells: Innovative Battery Tech Links Mk1 Leaf and Cayenne EV
Porsche’s new Cayenne EV adopts a pouch‑cell battery architecture identical in cell count to the original Nissan Leaf, but with dramatically larger cells that deliver 113 kWh of energy. The pack comprises 192 pouch cells arranged in six modules, each assembled...
VinFast Founder's Son Takes over as EV Maker Recalibrates Global Expansion
VinFast announced that Pham Nhat Quan Anh, the eldest son of founder Pham Nhat Vuong, will assume the role of chairman as the company re‑tools its global expansion strategy. The move comes amid mounting losses, with the 2025 financials showing...
Lotus Dumps EV-Only Strategy, Teases 1,000+ Hp Hybrid
British sports car maker Lotus has scrapped its Vision80 plan to become an all‑electric brand and introduced the Focus 2030 strategy, which emphasizes a hybrid‑dominant lineup. The new roadmap projects a short‑term production mix of roughly 60% plug‑in hybrids and 40%...
New Driving Assistant From Mercedes Available in Germany From Late 2026
Mercedes‑Benz will roll out its new MB.Drive Assist Pro driver‑assistance system in Stuttgart and Munich by the end of 2026, with a nationwide German launch slated for early 2027. The Level 2 solution lets the vehicle steer, brake and accelerate autonomously...
Xiaomi's EV Business Posts Q1 Operating Loss Despite Delivery Growth
Xiaomi’s electric‑vehicle unit recorded a 3.1 billion‑yuan operating loss (about $460 million) in Q1 2026, even as vehicle deliveries rose 6.6% year‑on‑year to 80,856 units. The loss stems from the Spring Festival slowdown and a short‑term dip while the facelifted SU7 sedan...
Pony AI Raises 2026 Robotaxi Revenue Target to 3.5 Times of 2025 Level
Chinese autonomous‑driving firm Pony AI announced it will aim for robotaxi revenue in 2026 that is more than 3.5 times its 2025 level, after reporting a 395% year‑on‑year jump to $8.6 million in the first quarter. The company also lifted its...
Jatco Scraps Plans to Produce BEV Powertrains in the UK – Reports
Japan Automatic Transmission Company (Jatco), Nissan’s powertrain subsidiary, has scrapped its plan to build battery‑electric vehicle (BEV) powertrains in Sunderland, UK. The £49 million (£≈$62 million) investment, backed by a UK government grant, will be redirected to supply Nissan’s British plant from...
Xiaomi EV Introduces World Model to Advance Autonomous Driving Tech
Xiaomi EV unveiled the Xiaomi Auto World Model, a unified 3D reconstruction and video‑generation framework for autonomous driving. The system combines the WorldRec reconstruction module and WorldGen generation engine, cutting scene‑reconstruction time to about 10 seconds for a 10‑second clip...
Volvo Drivers to Access Tesla Superchargers in Europe
Volvo Cars will enable its European drivers to use Tesla's Supercharger network, covering more than 20,000 stations across 29 countries, starting in the fourth quarter of 2026. Access will be managed through the Volvo Cars app for six models, including...
Why Hybrids Are 'Having Their Moment'
Automakers have poured billions into battery‑electric vehicles, but recent market dynamics are boosting hybrid demand. With federal EV tax credits expired, gasoline prices rising and car prices remaining high, consumers are gravitating toward hybrids as a cost‑effective alternative. Cox Automotive’s...
Ferrari Unveils Luce, Its First Fully Electric Hypercar, Signaling EV Shift
Ferrari has unveiled the Luce, its first fully electric hypercar, designed by Jony Ive and Marc Newson. The launch marks a historic pivot for the luxury automaker, which posted €7 bn (≈$7.6 bn) in annual revenue and a 6% Q1 growth. Industry...
Kodiak AI and Roehl Transport Launch Driverless Freight Service Between Dallas and Houston
Kodiak AI and Roehl Transport have started a four‑times‑per‑week autonomous truck service on the Dallas‑Houston corridor, marking the first large‑scale driverless freight operation on a major U.S. highway. The rollout aims to boost safety and efficiency while testing long‑haul automation...
April 2026 Passenger Car Chinese Brand Sales Ranking: Galaxy Enters Top Three, Leapmotor Hits Record High with 71,000 Units |...
Chinese‑brand passenger car sales rose 1.6% YoY to 1.59 million units in April 2026, with BYD cementing its lead at 270,899 deliveries. Chery held second place with 158,363 units, while Galaxy surged into third, posting 91,001 sales and edging out Geely....
![[Gasgoo Express] Tesla China Renames FSD to Tesla Assisted Driving; Yu Hao Says Dreame Auto to Achieve Mass Production in...](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://imagecn.gasgoo.com/moblogo/News/UEditor/image/20250610/6388517001938359565414136.jpg)
[Gasgoo Express] Tesla China Renames FSD to Tesla Assisted Driving; Yu Hao Says Dreame Auto to Achieve Mass Production in...
Tesla China has stripped the "FSD" label from its driver‑assist suite, renaming it "Tesla Assisted Driving" while keeping the 64,000‑yuan (~$8,800) price unchanged. The change reflects strict Chinese regulations that forbid L2 systems from using autonomous terminology. At the same...
Honda’s Affordable EV Hot Hatch Is ‘Selling Like Hotcakes,’ Priced at $21,000
Honda launched the Super‑One, an affordable electric hot hatch priced at ¥3,390,200 (about $21,300), and recorded more than 7,000 pre‑orders within a month of opening reservations in Japan. The model builds on the N‑ONE e platform, offering 63 hp standard output and...
Nissan Cancels £48.7 Million UK EV Powertrain Plant, Cuts Global Production Sites
Nissan Motor announced that its JATCO subsidiary will abandon a £48.7 million (≈ $62 million) investment to build an EV power‑train plant in Sunderland. The move follows weaker‑than‑expected EV sales in Europe and is part of a broader plan to shrink Nissan’s global...
Rivian R2 Launch Skips LiDAR, Early Buyers Face Hardware Trade‑Offs
Rivian has begun shipping its R2 crossover without a LiDAR sensor, prompting early customers to decide between getting the vehicle now or waiting for a future, more sensor‑rich version. The company says the omission will not materially affect current driver‑assist...
Rising Fuel Prices Drive Car Buyers Towards EVs and Hybrids
Petrol prices in Delhi have surged past ₹100 per litre (about $1.20), the highest in a decade. The spike is prompting Indian car and two‑wheeler buyers to reconsider running costs, with dealers reporting a noticeable uptick in inquiries for electric...
Ola Electric Set for Sharp Q1 Rebound as Registrations Cross Q4 Levels
Ola Electric is on track to almost double its quarterly volume in Q1 FY27, with 22,600 registrations recorded so far—already exceeding the 22,221 units logged in Q4 FY26. The company guided 40,000‑45,000 orders and projected consolidated revenue of Rs 500‑550 crore (approximately...
XPeng Starts Mass Production of L4 GX Robotaxi in Guangzhou
XPeng has begun mass production of its GX robotaxi, a Level‑4 autonomous vehicle built in Guangzhou, featuring a 3,000‑TOPS vision‑only computing stack and four Turing AI chips. The move makes XPeng the first Chinese automaker to launch series production of...
Waymo Suspends Rider Service in Six Cities After Flooded‑road Recall
Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous‑vehicle unit, halted rider service in Atlanta, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Nashville and San Antonio and paused freeway rides after a software recall following a robotaxi incident on a flooded road. The pause underscores the technical hurdles facing robotaxi...
How Tariffs and Slumping EV Sales Are Crippling the 'Backbone' Of Canada's Economy
The Canadian government has allocated roughly $340 million USD to Ford to revive its Oakville plant for Super Duty pickups, marking a pivot back to internal‑combustion production as EV demand collapses. EV sales fell 34.7% to 9.5% of new registrations, prompting...
EVs to Drive ₹3.5 Lakh Crore Capex in India's PV Sector: Report
India’s passenger‑vehicle (PV) industry is entering a massive investment cycle, with capex projected at ₹3.2‑₹3.5 lakh crore (approximately $39‑$42 billion) between FY26 and FY30. About 60‑70% of this spending will fund electric‑vehicle platforms, battery technology and related ecosystem upgrades. The top five OEMs...
GAC Enters Pakistan with EV Lineup, Long-Term Localization Strategy
GAC Group partnered with Lucky Motor Corporation to launch its entry into Pakistan on May 20, unveiling four electric models—HYPTEC HT, AION V, AION UT and AION ES—under the "Quietly Ahead" theme. The automaker announced a five‑year "Pakistan Action" plan that emphasizes right‑hand‑drive production, local...
Xiaomi Widens YU7 Lineup to Take on More of China’s EV Market
Xiaomi added two YU7 variants – a standard model at RMB 233,500 (≈$34,330) and a GT model at RMB 389,900 (≈$57,325) – expanding its lineup to five. The standard version re‑enters to directly challenge Tesla Model Y’s rear‑wheel‑drive offering, priced about $4,400 below...
Automakers Now Competing with AI Infra Developers for Memory Supply
In 2026 automakers are confronting a severe DRAM and NAND flash shortage as AI data‑center developers prioritize high‑bandwidth memory. The scarcity forces OEMs to compete directly with AI infrastructure firms, reshaping procurement and slowing autonomous‑driving rollouts. New EU safety regulations...
Mercedes‑AMG Unveils All‑Electric GT 4‑Door Coupe with V8‑Sound Experience
Mercedes‑AMG has introduced an all‑electric GT 4‑door coupe that delivers more than 1,000 horsepower. The model features axial‑flux motors, a high‑capacity battery pack and a proprietary V8‑mode that recreates the sound and tactile cues of a traditional V8, signaling a...
India's EV Cell Makers See First Real Shot at Closing China Price Gap
India’s lithium‑ion cell manufacturers are intensifying talks with the Union government to secure raw‑material incentives and develop a domestic supplier ecosystem. A projected 9% rise in Chinese cell prices, driven by expiring tax exemptions, creates a window to narrow the...
Tesla Deploys 18 Model Y Robotaxis in Florida with New Sensor‑Cleaning Hardware
Tesla has positioned a fleet of 18 Model Y vehicles fitted with rear‑camera washers—hardware exclusive to its commercial robotaxi service—at a Clermont, Florida service center. The sighting confirms that Tesla is moving from planning to tangible deployment in the Orlando...
Nissan Drops Plan to Build Drive Units for EVs in Britain
Nissan Motor Co has scrapped its plan to build electric‑vehicle drive units at a new Sunderland factory, originally slated for 2026. The decision affects its subsidiary Jacto Ltd, which was developing powertrains for the Leaf and the upcoming Juke EV...
Carziqo Scales Autonomous Mobility Platform to Power Sustainable Smart Fleets
Carziqo announced the rollout of an autonomous mobility platform that links driverless electric vehicles, cloud‑based fleet management and real‑time transport demand. The move targets higher utilization of autonomous assets and lower emissions in the Philippines' urban logistics market.
1 In 4 Cars Sold Globally Is An Electric Vehicle
Global electric‑vehicle (EV) sales reached 21 million units in 2025, more than doubling the 2022 figure. This surge lifted EVs to 25 percent of all passenger‑car sales worldwide, up from just 2 percent in 2018. China drove the trend, delivering over 13 million EVs...
Are Overseas Markets Becoming More Profitable for Chinese Auto Parts Suppliers?
Chinese auto parts suppliers are seeing higher profitability overseas in 2025, with top firms like CATL, Fuyao Glass and Minth Group posting gross margins well above their domestic rates. CATL’s overseas margin reached 31.44% versus 24% at home, Fuyao’s overseas...
The Great Pivot to L2++
The bipartisan BUILD America 250 Act was introduced to establish the first unified federal framework for autonomous trucks, replacing a patchwork of state rules. Tesla’s Full Self‑Driving (FSD) subscriptions jumped 44% quarter‑over‑quarter, now generating roughly $47 million a month and a...
Tesla Rolls Out Full Self‑Driving Beta in China, Pricing It at ¥64,000
Tesla announced that its Full Self‑Driving (Supervised) system is now offered in China, listed at a one‑time fee of 64,000 yuan ($9,400). The launch arrives as Chinese manufacturers already provide Level 3 autonomous features and operate driverless robotaxi fleets, raising questions...
Waymo Suspends Service in 4 Cities After Robotaxi Drives Into Floodwaters
Waymo suspended its driverless‑car service in Atlanta, San Antonio, Houston and Dallas after a robotaxi was filmed driving into floodwaters in Atlanta. The incident occurred despite a software update released the previous week to prevent such behavior. The vehicle remained...
US EV Market Stalls While Global Sales Surge
Global EV market goes K-shaped as the US gets left behind https://t.co/WgCB8lUDPm "EV sales surpassed 20 million units last year, capturing 25% of the global market. Growth was highest in China, and market share in other regions has also been...
Nuro Leverages Uber Investment to Play Second‑Mover in Robotaxi Race
Nuro announced a multi‑year deal with Uber and Lucid that will fund the deployment of tens of thousands of robotaxis across the United States. The company says being a second‑mover lets it learn from Waymo’s early challenges as it prepares...
Nissan Unit Scraps Plan to Make EV Powertrains in UK: Nikkei
Nissan subsidiary Jatco has cancelled its £48.7 million (≈$62 million) Sunderland project that was slated to produce up to 340,000 electric‑vehicle powertrains a year. The move follows Nissan’s broader decision to cut its global assembly footprint from 17 plants to 10 after...
Tesla Robotaxi Trials in Austin Hit Navigation Glitches, Low‑Speed Crashes
Tesla's robotaxi pilot in Austin experienced navigation errors that forced remote operator takeovers and resulted in two low‑speed collisions. The incidents highlight execution risk for the company's autonomous‑driving ambitions even as investors remain cautiously optimistic.