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Your usual host Kirsten is out on vacation, but she didn’t leave without writing up This Week’s Wheels. But for the rest, you’ve got me, Rebecca Bellan, to guide you through the mobility news of this week. 

And what a week it’s been — and not just because of the Tesla Robotaxi event on Thursday. Although I will be liveblogging that, fueled with plenty of coffee to keep me up past my bedtime since it starts at *checks X* 7 p.m. PT.  And knowing Elon, it’ll probably start late. 

Here’s how to watch it, by the way.

The big question on everyone’s minds, or at least ours, is whether Tesla will actually reveal a full product roadmap for its Robotaxi (or Cybercab), complete with commercialization plans, or whether this will be all smoke and mirrors. Because after all, the reveal is taking place at a Hollywood studio. 

Musk has been hyping up the Robotaxi, and Tesla’s almost-autonomous capabilities, for years. Now that it’s showtime, investors who are attracted by the billionaire’s vision to drive Tesla’s valuation to $5 trillion, up from the $750 billion valuation today, will want to see an actual vehicle in action and learn how fast Tesla can mass-produce it at a profit. (Reminder: Musk had previously said Tesla would be mass-producing robotaxis by 2024 …)

We’re also interested in whether whatever mass-produced vehicle Tesla lands on for the Robotaxi will be built without steering wheels or pedals, something that could delay production due to federal safety regulations that require a way for humans to take over. No doubt a hurdle that Tesla might use as a reason for delaying its Robotaxi rollout. 

A little bird

Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or check out these instructions to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.

Deals!

Just one deal today.

Lithios raised $10 million in seed funding to recover valuable minerals, namely lithium, locked in water from reservoirs deep underground. The startup is one of many trying to feed the growing need for lithium batteries, even though EV purchases have slowed down. Clean Energy Ventures led the round, with participation from GS Futures, Lowercarbon Capital, and others.   

Notable reads and other tidbits

ADAS

Kirsten got the scoop that General Motors is working on an automated driving system that not only lets you take your hands off the wheel, but also your eyes off the road! If GM pulls this off, it would put the automaker ahead of almost every other ADAS on the market today. Yes, even Tesla’s FSD. 

Autonomous vehicles

Baidu plans to expand its Apollo Go ride-hailing service outside of China, and word is the company is looking at Hong Kong, Singapore, and the Middle East. 

Tesla’s chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen, sat down with Kirsten to discuss broad design themes around the upcoming Robotaxi, which he said he had started doing in his head 12 years ago. “I just think it felt inevitable we would get there,” he said. 

Electric vehicles, charging, & batteries

Honda has been teasing the Series 0 EVs since CES in 2023, but we finally got a sneak peek after visiting the company’s HQ in Japan. The plan is to release seven Honda 0 Series models by 2030 globally, each with a respectable range of 300 miles.  

Lucid Motors has sold more EVs this year than it did all of last year. Lucid delivered 2,781 units in the third quarter, which is a third straight record. That’s great news for the EV maker as it gears up to launch its Gravity SUV. 

Palantir, the data-mining company founded by Peter Thiel, now owns 8.7% of struggling EV startup Faraday Future. Palantir was granted more than 800,000 shares as “payment for certain outstanding receivables.” 

TezLab is an app that TC’s Sean O’Kane described as “essentially like Strava for EVs.” The startup has recently launched a car report that allows EV owners (starting with Tesla and Rivian cars) to nerd out on visualized data about how they use their cars. 

FiskerCrunch

This section is dedicated to Fisker since we’ve been keeping tabs on all the downs and downs over the past week. Here we go. 

American Lease, the leasing company that was on the hook to buy Fisker’s remaining fleet of electric SUVs, says it might not complete the purchase because there may not be a way to transfer the information connected to each vehicle to a new server not owned by the bankrupt EV startup. 

The DOJ says Fisker can’t make owners pay for the labor costs related to its multiple recalls because that’s very much illegal. The agency thus objects to Fisker’s proposed bankruptcy liquidation plan.

The SEC is investigating Fisker, but it’s not saying why exactly. The agency has sent multiple subpoenas to Fisker and may send more as it looks into whether Fisker violated federal securities laws. 

Shamrock Properties II, the landlord on Fisker’s headquarters, submitted a filing to Fisker’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy docket saying the startup abandoned the space and left it in “complete disarray,” with literal drums of hazardous waste and vehicles lying about. 

Future of flight

Odysee is the first startup born out of an aviation-focused venture lab formed by Alaska Airlines and UP.Labs, and its goal is to use AI-powered software that can analyze reams of data to help commercial airlines get the most out of complex flight schedules.

Micromobility

Ola Electric’s customers are complaining about its service and scooters, and the company’s stock price is taking a hit. And now India’s consumer rights regulator has issued a notice to the struggling startup to boot. 

The electric two-wheeler manufacturer, one of the buzziest Indian IPOs this year, seems to be falling prey to the same issues that VanMoof had: too much hype and not enough investment into servicing capacity.  

Miscellaneous 

The Boring Company’s 2.4-mile underground Loop in Las Vegas is not just home to slow-moving Teslas with automated driving features. At least 67 trespassing occurrences have happened since 2022 as people are lured like moths to a flame by that smooth, colorful tunnel. 

SpotHero will integrate its extremely helpful parking tool with Google Maps and Google Search, allowing users in the U.S. and Canada to reserve parking spots at over 8,000 locations.  

People

Waymo has a new program director, Daniel Ho, and he’s come straight from leading Tesla’s vehicle programs and new product integrations. The shakeup comes just a few days before Tesla reveals its Robotaxi. 

Ride-hail

Uber will launch an integration with OpenAI’s GPT-4o early next year as part of a push to bring more electric vehicles onto its platform. What do EVs have to do with OpenAI? Well, the AI assistant will be there to help drivers learn more about EVs, like which to buy and where to charge.

This week’s wheels

I (Kirsten) spent a week in the 2025 Mazda CX-70 Premium Plus — with the soul-red crystal metallic paint and a list price of $59,420 — and I was struck immediately by how similar (identical even?) it is to the CX-90. As far as I could tell, the primary difference is that the CX-70 Premium Plus doesn’t have a third row. 

The CX-70 and CX-90 even have the same plug-in hybrid guts, which includes a 173-horsepower electric motor, a 14.8-kilowatt-hour battery, an eight-speed transmission, and a 189-hp 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine. Together, this produces 323 horsepower and 369 pounds of torque. In EV mode, the vehicle has a 26-mile range. The total range (when pairing gas and electric) is 490 miles. 

That 26 miles of EV range didn’t last long as I tooled around town, although Mazda does give drivers the option of getting some extra regen juice by hitting a small button in the center console (and right next to the gear selector). 

One word of meh-ness: The hybrid powertrain in this vehicle produces what I describe as less-than-fantastic performance off the line and felt clunky as the automatic transmission moved through the gears. 

The interior in the Premium Plus feels, well, premium. It’s filled with nice, higher-end details, including cooled and heated seats, and I generally liked the mix of real buttons and touchscreen. What I did not like was the gear selector in the center console, which requires the driver to remember to make that extra step and push it to the left to park. If you forget, you’re in reverse. And yeah, I forgot once. 

What is “This week’s wheels”? It’s a chance to learn about the different transportation products we’re testing, whether it’s an electric or hybrid car, an e-bike, or even a ride in an autonomous vehicle.