Transportation Weekly: Polestar CEO speaks, Tesla terminology, and a tribute

Welcome back to Transportation Weekly; I’m your host Kirsten Korosec, senior transportation reporter at TechCrunch . This is the fourth edition of our newsletter, a weekly jaunt into the wonderful world of transportation and how we (and our packages) move. This week we chat with Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath, dig into Lyft’s S-1, take note […]

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UK moves towards driverless car tests without safety drivers

The UK government has announced it’s working on a process to support so-called ‘advanced trials’ of autonomous vehicles — i.e. trials without human safety drivers. It also says it will be beefing up the existing Code of Practice for testing driverless cars to provide a framework to support the evolution of the tech, saying it’s on […]

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Argo.AI acquires permit to test autonomous vehicles in California

Argo.AI, the self-driving car startup that burst onto the scene in 2017 with $1 billion in backing from Ford, has obtained a permit to test its autonomous vehicles in California. The permit, issued by the California Department of Motor Vehicles, is for one vehicle and two drivers. Unlike other self-driving car companies, California isn’t the […]

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EVs and online marketplaces thrive despite slump in Chinese car sales

China’s massive auto market hit the brakes last year as trade tensions and a softening economy dampened consumer confidence, but one segment soared on account of increasing internet penetration — used car sales. New passenger car sales fell to 23.7 million last year, representing a 4.1 year-over-year drop according to a new report by China’s Association of […]

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Mobileye is using its sensors to create detailed maps of the UK

Mobileye, the Israeli-based automotive sensor company acquired by Intel in 2017, is leveraging the huge amounts of data it can collect to help build precise maps of the UK’s roads and infrastructure. The company announced at CES 2019 that it has reached an agreement with Ordnance Survey to help the UK mapping agency bring high-precision […]

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Auto marketplace CarDekho grabs $110M to double down on insurance and financial services

CarDekho, an online marketplace for car sales in India, has pulled in a new $110 million Series C funding round from a clutch of existing investors to push deeper into financial services and insurance. Sequoia India, Hillhouse and Alphabet’s CapitalG led the round which also saw participation from Axis Bank, one of CarDekho’s financing partners. […]

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The quintessential cool car of the early-2000s, the VW Beetle, will be no more

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The car of our teenage dreams will be no more.

Volkswagen announced that it will end production of the Beetle in 2019, finishing with the last ever models to the carry the name, the Final Edition SE and Final Edition SEL.

“The loss of the Beetle after three generations, over nearly seven decades, will evoke a host of emotions from the Beetle’s many devoted fans,” Hinrich J. Woebcken, President and CEO of Volkswagen America, said in a statement.

The VW Beetle Final Edition SE and Final Edition SEL.

The VW Beetle Final Edition SE and Final Edition SEL.

Image: Volkswagen

Debuting in 1998, the New Beetle was heavily inspired by the original Beetle, which went on to be the best-selling cars in history. Read more…

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Russian arms manufacturer Kalashnikov unveils its answer to Tesla

The Russian weapons manufacturer Kalahsnikov, best known for making the AK-47 machine gun, has unveiled a fleet of electric and hybrid cars, buggies and motorcycles this week — including an electric vehicle that the company says will rival Tesla. While it’s a noble goal to take competitive aim at the world’s most famous electric vehicle […]

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