The Auto Xone

By Simon Alvarez Posted on December 25, 2024 xAI has closed its Series C funding round of $6 billion. A number of companies were part of the investment round, including tech and finance giants A16Z, Blackrock, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Kingdom Holdings, Lightspeed, MGX, Morgan Stanley, OIA, QIA, Sequoia Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and Vy Capital.  Strategic investors NVIDIA and AMD also participated. The companies will continue to support xAI’s scaling infrastructure. What they’re saying:   Elon Musk has welcomed NVIDIA’s investment. In a post on X , Musk noted that “It’s an honor to have NVIDIA as an investor.” It’s an honor to have @nvidia as an investor — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 25, 2024 xAI’s Rapid Progress:   After its Series B funding round in May 2024, xAI has not slowed down. The AI startup achieved notable significant technical milestones , which include: Colossus : The world’s largest AI sup...

Construction at BYD’s new EV plant in Brazil was suddenly halted Monday after authorities found Chinese workers in “slavery-like” conditions. The workers were hired in China by another firm, and BYD has since cut ties. BYD and the firm are now saying the term “slavery” was unjustly used, and some translations may have been misunderstood. Why construction at BYD’s EV plant in Brazil is halted Updated 12/26/24 : This article has been updated with the latest information, including a statement from Jinjiang Group and comments from BYD’s general manager of public relations, Li Yunfei. Read more below. According to a statement from the Public Ministry of Labor (MPT), 163 workers at the construction site of BYD’s new EV plant in Salvador, Brazil, were “being held in conditions analogous to slavery.” Construction on the site was halted on Monday after the findings. According to the authorities, Jinjiang Group, one of the contractors BYD hired to build the new EV plant, hired the worker...

By Simon Alvarez Posted on December 24, 2024 Tesla has rolled out a new round of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) free trials to some customers in North America. The program seems to be Tesla’s latest effort to promote its FSD (Supervised) system to as many customers as possible.  Screenshots featuring the new round of FSD (Supervised) free trials were reported and shared on social media platform X. Interestingly enough, even customers who have an active FSD subscription are eligible for the new 30-day free trial program. Tesla’s message: If you have an active FSD (Supervised) subscription, 30 days of free FSD will be added to your vehicle. pic.twitter.com/SvgaYfM4yi — Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 24, 2024 Following is Tesla’s message to customers, as shared on X. Your Full Self-Driving (Supervised) Trial starts now! You’ve been granted a complimentary trial* of Full Self-Driving (Supervised) for your (vehicle) ending in XXX. Under ...

By Zachary Visconti Posted on December 22, 2024 Tesla has started deploying a unique charging solution for heavily driven U.S. highway corridors, utilizing its grid-scale energy storage units to boost the number of stations available ahead of an expected bump in travel for the holidays. In order to accommodate the increase in travel, Tesla has launched four Megapack Chargers in heavily traveled areas of the U.S., offering a mobile Megapack unit along with pre-fabricated Supercharger units. These mobile chargers have been deployed in Bakersfield, California, Primm, Nevada, El Centro, California, and Cambridge, Ohio, and can now be seen on Tesla’s Supercharger map . Credit: Tesla Charging | X Credit: Tesla Charging | X Credit: Tesla Charging | X Credit: Tesla Charging | X READ MORE ON SUPERCHARGERS: Tesla set to launch new V4 Cabinet enabling fastest Supercharging speeds yet While the Bakersfield and Primm mobile charger locations appe...

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An all-electric pickup for under $14,000? That’s right. Geely’s Radar Auto launched its new “King Kong” EV pickup in China on Monday at an ultra-affordable price. Would you drive one? Radar launches King Kong EV pickup for under $14,000 Volvo and Polestar owner Geely Auto launched Radar, a new off-road-focused sub-brand, in 2022. Deemed “China’s first electric outdoor lifestyle brand,” Radar launched its first EV, the R6 pickup , in November 2022. Although the R6 hit the market with an already low price of around $25,000 (178,800 yuan), the electric pickup is now getting significantly cheaper. In fact, priced under 100,000 yuan, the company claims its new model “has a lower electric ratio than oil and subverts the fuel price.” Radar launched the new King King EV pickup starting at 99,800 yuan, or around $13,700. The cheaper model comes after a slow sales start. Despite cutting R6 prices earlier this year to 136,800 yuan ($18,800), it wasn’t enough to drive demand. The new King...

By Zachary Visconti Posted on December 21, 2024 The U.S. state of Illinois has been granted almost $20 million to help several areas transition to electric school buses, as part of a program within President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) announced on Friday that it has been awarded $19.9 million to purchase and deploy 70 electric school buses and to construct additional electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, as detailed in a press release . The funding comes from the IRA’s Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program, allowing the state to deploy replace retired internal combustion engine (ICE) buses with electric versions across nine Illinois school districts. In addition to deploying the electric buses under the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant, the state plans to use the funding to help build charging stations for the electric vehicles (EVs), along with providing workforce training...

A coal plant in South Texas will shut down and convert to a solar + battery electricity generation facility, with the help of a $1.4 billion grant from the US Department of Agriculture meant to help clean energy while saving rural jobs. The grant will go to San Miguel Electric Cooperative Inc (SMECI) headquartered in Atascosa County, Texas, south of San Antonio, and serving 340,000 customers 47 South Texas counties. SMECI has operated a mine mouth lignite-fired coal plant (named due to its proximity to the mine that supplies it) since 1982. The plant is in the town of Christine, Texas, population 337. But that coal-fired plant is one of the dirtiest in Texas. It’s the fourth-largest mercury polluter in the state, producing around 12 times as much mercury as is allowed by a new EPA rule . It also has two coal ash ponds on site which leech into the local water table and create some of the most contaminated groundwater in the country. Here’s a passage from a 2022 Earthjustice report...

By Joey Klender Posted on December 19, 2024 Tesla uses a little-known Cybertruck Easter Egg with the massive windshield wiper to help with efficiency and aerodynamics. The Easter Egg is called “Aero Mode,” and it all has to do with the positioning of the obnoxiously large windshield wiper that Tesla installed on the Cybertruck. According to the Cybertruck’s Lead Engineer, Wes Morrill, Aero Mode positions the wiper vertically along the A Pillar of the all-electric pickup . It activates the mode automatically at higher speeds and helps decrease drag, which is a very important metric to minimize, especially for EVs, as it can greatly decrease range if it is not managed correctly. The tidbit was shared by Morrill with Matt Wallace: Learned something new about the Cybertruck from @wmorrill3 yesterday. At higher speeds the wiper will move slightly and enter what’s called “aero mode” to help with efficiency and aerodynamics. Super cool to hear it directly ...

Rivian (RIVN) has reportedly agreed to a “secret” deal with the UAW as it works toward its next growth phase. The new agreement is contingent on the EV maker reaching profitability. Here’s what you need to know. What the private UAW deal means for Rivian Under the confidential deal, Rivian would opt for a neutral stance on unionizing efforts at its Normal, Illinois, manufacturing plant. According to sources close to the matter (via Bloomberg ), the deal is based on Rivian hitting specific targets, including reaching profitability. The private agreement could pave the way for the UAW to unionize workers in Normal. Rivian has yet to post a quarterly profit on an adjusted basis. The EV maker posted a net loss of $1.1 billion in the third quarter , down from the $1.34 billion loss in Q3 2023. CFO Claire McDonough reiterated that Rivian is still on track to reach a positive gross profit in the fourth quarter. CEO RJ Scaringe said the company is seeing “meaningful progress” on reduci...

By Joey Klender Posted on December 18, 2024 Tesla’s focus on sustainable energy and its disruption in various sectors, as well as its current position as a leader in those sectors, has landed it a huge new price target bump from a Wall Street firm. Vijay Rakesh of Mizuho Securities has increased his Tesla price target by more than double, as it now lands at $515, up from $230. Rakesh also upgraded the shares to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Neutral.’ Tesla has been an industry leader and major disruptor in the automotive , energy, AI, autonomy, and robotics sectors by shaking up these sectors in various ways. The company’s focus on these sectors and its position as a leader has put it in prime position to dominate various industries moving forward, especially as other companies and competitors will be playing catchup or partially ditching their efforts altogether . Rakesh wrote in a note to investors (via  Yahoo! Finance ): “We expect TSLA’s leadership across...

The refreshed Model Y, codenamed Juniper, expected to have similar features as the refreshed “Highland” Model 3 , is will start mass production in China next month, according to local media. The news was reported by local news site LatePost, and brought to the English world by CnEVPost . The original report mostly discussed the departure of Song Gang, the former director of Tesla’s Shanghai factory, which we reported on earlier today . But in addition to that, it said that mass production will begin on the new Model Y in January. The refreshed Model Y has been expected for some time, and is expected to include many of the improvements of the 2023 Model 3 refresh. The headline features of that vehicle are a new front-end, more efficiency, and a quieter cabin. But there were a lot of other interior improvements as well (and one big de-provement, the  deletion of steering column stalks ). And we know that it’s coming soon, because there have been plenty of sightings and leaks ...

By Zachary Visconti Posted on December 16, 2024 Waymo, the self-driving arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet, has officially announced plans to bring its robotaxis to another country starting early next year. On Monday, Waymo announced in a  press release that it will start testing its self-driving Jaguar I-Pace units in Tokyo, Japan in early 2025, in partnership with the city’s largest taxi company, Nihon Kotsu. The launch will mark the first time Waymo’s robotaxis have operated outside of the U.S., following the company’s launch and expansion of paid driverless ride-hailing over the past few years. To start, the vehicles will be operated manually to map out certain areas of Tokyo, including Minato, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Chiyoda, Chūō, Shinagawa, and Kōtō. Waymo says Nihon Kotsu will be in charge of managing and servicing the vehicles, and the U.S. company is already working closely with the taxi firm to train the team on operating the autonomous ve...

Toyota’s electric SUV is getting even cheaper in 2025. Despite adding new features, 2025 Toyota bZ4 prices start at $6,000 less than the current model. For the first time, the bZ4X will also be available in a stealthy new Nightshade edition. Check out the new EV below. The bZ4X is the only all-electric Toyota model available in the US. Despite adding new features, Toyota is making the 2025 model year more affordable than ever. It’s also launching a sleek Nightshade trim. Starting at just $37,070, 2025 Toyota bZ4X prices are significantly lower than the 2024 model. That’s for the base FWD XLE model. The XLE AWD now starts at $39,150, which is also $6,000 less than the current model. If you’re looking to upgrade, the 2025 bZ4X Limited trim (FWD) starts at $41,800, a $5,380 price drop. The AWD Limited model starts at $43,880. Toyota also introduced a new Nightshade edition, its first EV available in the new trim. Built on the XLE model, the new trim is available with two-tone Wind ...