Waymo Via, the autonomous vehicle company’s trucking and cargo transportation unit, is expanding its existing partnership with logistics company J.B. Hunt Transport Services from a pilot into a long-term strategic alliance. As part of the agreement, J.B. Hunt will be Waymo Via’s first launch customer for fully autonomous, driverless freight routes, which Waymo expects to […]
China’s robotaxis charged ahead in 2021
Autonomous driving startups in China are in an arms race to put passengers in their machine-driven vehicles. Every few weeks, news arrives that another major player has got the greenlight to launch a new pilot program or a small-scale service. These press releases, often dotted with regulatory jargon and flowery language to aggrandize the companies’ […]
Ionity lands €700 million investment from BlackRock, automakers to expand EV fast-charging network
Ionity, an electric vehicle fast-charging charging network provider whose owners include Daimler AG and Volkswagen Group, has scored a €700 million ($783 million) investment from BlackRock Global and existing shareholders to expand its footprint across Europe. The company, which was founded in 2017, installs ultra-high-speed EV charging stations. It was launched as a joint venture […]
China roundup: Meng Wanzhou’s release and Huawei’s future
Hello and welcome back to TechCrunch’s China roundup, a digest of recent events shaping the Chinese tech landscape and what they mean to people in the rest of the world. On Friday, Huawei’s chief financial executive Meng Wanzhou was released from house arrest in Vancouver after reaching a breakthrough deal with the U.S. Justice Department. Chinese […]