Everyone needs to get around. How we do it will change more over the next decade than it has in the last century. Legacy automakers, like Ford and GM, are scrambling to become technology-savvy companies, and the tech industry is trying to cash in on the change. New players, like Rivian and Tesla, are disrupting the industry and sometimes stumbling. We look at how self-driving hardware and software make the automobile better or, in some cases, deeply flawed. We cut through the hype and empty promises to tell you what’s really happening and what we think is coming. Verge Transportation cares about all moving machines and the place they have in the future.
RJ Scaringe spent nearly half of Rivian’s earnings call hyping self-driving tech. But taking on Tesla’s FSD with custom chips and pricey lidar is an enormous gamble while the mass-market R2 is still scaling up.
Toyota will assemble Waymo-equipped bZ4X electric SUVs directly on its factory line in Japan ahead of planned robotaxi rollouts in Tokyo and the UK.
The electric motorcycle brand said issues like “recurring operating losses” and “negative cash flows” are raising concerns about its future, despite an increase in sales compared to last year. As Engadget reports, LiveWire said it “formed a special restructuring committee” to look into possible solutions, including a sale or restructuring.
It also asked airlines and retailers for detailed descriptions of how they use customer information to determine what prices to show. The non-enforcement probe is similar to one launched during the Biden administration, but the Republican-led FTC criticized the prior approach as “mistaken” because of its focus on middlemen.
[Federal Trade Commission]
The robotaxi company is adding nearly 250 square miles of service area across five cities where it currently operates: Los Angeles, Nashville, Orlando, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s a mix of new markets like Nashville and more established ones like the Bay Area.
The news comes as Waymo is reportedly looking to quintuple its current fleet of 4,000 robotaxis, bringing it to 8,000 by the end of this year.
The game, which is called Roadflip and was made by Shopify software engineer Niko Draca, allows you to drive the Roadster up the vertical ramp, and then flip around as many times as you want before using the cold-gas thrusters to land safely on the ground — which, as it turns out, is harder than it sounds! The more flips you do, the higher your score. “Think Tony Hawk... but with a Roadster,” Draca said in an email. I have yet to land without exploding.
[Roadflip]
General Motors’ product chief breaks down the company’s software evolution, the physics of multisensor vehicle safety, and why personally owned autonomous vehicles beat robotaxis.
Tesla recently showed off a new version of its Roadster. Well, a new version of its old version of the Roadster, anyway. But this one flies! The Verge’s Andy Hawkins joins the show to explain the last decade of the Roadster saga, make sense of the flying and kickflipping new vehicle, and cast out into the future of Tesla’s cars for humans. If there even is one.
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Yes, of course there are pay package incentives in play for Musk. But that’s not all.
Charging the vehicle over 80 percent “may trigger thermal propagation within the high-voltage battery,” VW says. “If thermal propagation occurs, it may result in a vehicle fire.” If owners opt out, VW may decide to limit the charging through a remote vehicle setting. The recall affects 22,524 ID.4 vehicles built between January 2023 and February 2025.
The company’s new Heritage Collection is targeted at classic car collectors wanting modern stereo features like Bluetooth and support for HD Radio and SiriusXM while also preserving the vintage look of their vehicles. The $499 SXT-C10PS head unit and matching $299 TS-X40SXT speakers are both available for preorder now.
The incredible flying Tesla Roadster may only have been for show, but it was still a pretty good show. Wired has a great breakdown of how the tricks worked, explaining the physics of static friction and vertical acceleration behind the Roadster’s many stunts.
Waymo is reportedly looking to use that $5 billion loan it acquired this month to quintuple its current fleet of 4,000 robotaxis: bringing it to 8,000 by the end of this year, and 20,000 by December 2027. The goal is to expand to more US and international locations, having recently announced it’ll launch in Toronto, Canada by 2028.
The Miles Plug adds crash detection, roadside help, location tracking, and a warning-light decoder to your car for as low as $11 a month.
It’s ultra-smooth and looks fantastic, but a few rough edges keep it from greatness.
Frustrated by federal gridlock, cities and states across the political spectrum are taking matters into their own hands to rein in autonomous vehicles.
The company is asking for $5,000 upfront for Roadster pre-orders, followed by $245,000 within 10 days. But even if you fork over the money, Tesla won’t guarantee your car will be delivered. According to the terms and conditions of the pre-order (emphasis ours):
You understand that Roadster is still under development at the time you entered into this Agreement and so we cannot guarantee when your vehicle will actually be delivered or if it will be delivered.
Turns out nothing is guaranteed in this world, not even flying cars.
Waymo announced that it’s coming to Canada — Toronto to be exact — with the goal of welcoming the first riders in 2028. The robotaxi company, flush with cash but still unprofitable, is increasingly looking at cities outside the US as it seeks to scale its operations. Waymo says it will start with data-gathering, manually driven cars before transitioning to fully autonomous ones. And once it starts its commercial service, Toronto-based Element Fleet Management will handle all the charging, cleaning, and maintenance of the vehicles.
Hagerty’s Henry Catchpool sat down with Tesla VP for Engineering Lars Moravy to talk through the details of last night’s impressive Tesla Roadster demonstration. But behind all the flipping and flying (falling?) stunt work is some impressive engineering — as well as some surprising reveals. (The Roadster is rear-wheel drive?!?)
It’s okay to marvel at the stunt — it’s pure spectacle.
What else do you need from the Tesla Roadster? I mean, it can apparently fly and do kickflips too, but this video shows what you’ll actually be seeing inside the driver’s seat, including an interactive 3D X-Ray of the car you can check out on its infotainment system.
I mean, duh. But still I’m glad they are making that explicit.
Ford is now accepting sign-ups for preorder invites for the upcoming Ford Fathom, the automaker’s $28,350 electric truck that’s coming out next year. Keep in mind, no one has seen this truck beyond a few camouflaged images. But with the average transaction price for a new vehicle over $50,562, it couldn’t hurt to get in line for Ford’s new ultra-low-cost EV.
Last Saturday, The Verge won a New York Emmy Award for our 2025 video about how electric cargo bikes are reshaping cities. It won in the “Environment / Science” category, which is fitting since e-bikes are proven tools for combating climate change.
On a personal note, it was especially gratifying to win an Emmy for a video that featured the bike bus I helped start in my town in New Jersey. Kids should be able to bike safely with their friends to school! And electric cargo bikes help make that happen.
