Transpo

Tesla is selling a cooler sized to fit perfectly in the weirdly-shallow Cybertruck frunk. And yes, it’s made of stainless steel. And yes, you can fill it full of Cyberbeer that I initially mistook for an IPA made by the Zodiac Killer because I forgot that Tesla makes its own beer now. But the real kick in the crotch is the price. Because why is god’s name would anyone shell out $700 for a cooler? Of course the answer is the same people who would pay $100,000 for an electric truck made by the guy who thinks people are being too mean to oil and gas executives. Now that’s cool.

The Alphabet-owned company is taking its robotaxis to snowier climes, namely “Truckee, CA; Upstate New York; and across Michigan–from the Upper Peninsula to the metro Detroit area,” according to a post on X. So far, most driverless companies have avoided locations with messy weather, as rain and snow can really mess with the vehicle’s perception systems. But you can’t operate in dry, desert conditions forever and have a successful business.

Of course, this isn’t the first time that Waymo has ventured onto snowy roads.

Autoblog was once an institution, but nothing good can survive the private equity disaster pipeline. (In this case, Autoblog’s new owner is Arena Group, the company which took over Sports Illustrated and immediately caused various scandals, including an AI content scandal, that led to their SI contract being terminated.)

The staff has been told the last day will be September 13th, according to a LinkedIn post from former Autoblog editor Sam Abuelsamid. Car media is messy and getting messier every day.

Waymo spokesperson Chris Bonelli explains why the problem started and why its autonomous cars are quieter now (shown in the livestream below):

We recently introduced a useful feature to help avoid low speed collisions by honking if other cars get too close while reversing toward us. It has been working great in the city, but we didn’t quite anticipate it would happen so often in our own parking lots. We’ve updated the software, so our electric vehicles should keep the noise down for our neighbors moving forward.

DoorDash is bundling Max’s $9.99 / month ad-supported plan with its annual DashPash membership in the US, which costs $96 / year. Uber One offers a similar bundle with Disney Plus in the UK.

Fort Worth, Texas Judge Reed O’Connor, who is presiding over Elon Musk-owned X’s antitrust lawsuit against advertisers and one against Media Matters, has invested as much as $50,000 in Tesla stock, NPR reports.

O’Connor is known for conservative-friendly rulings, such as one calling Obamacare unconstitutional (later overturned because he didn’t have jurisdiction).

During Monterey Car Week, which started yesterday and runs until August 18th, the company will show a “dynamically styled concept” that it says is a preview of a next-generation, all-electric SUV built on its new EV platform.

Acura teased the reveal with the picture below.

The aviation startup said it would launch an “air mobility network” in Los Angeles to combat the city’s notorious congestion. Vertiports, where Archer’s Midnight eVTOL aircraft will takeoff and land, are being planned for LAX, Orange County, Santa Monica, Hollywood Burbank, Long Beach, Van Nuys, and the University of California. If the company can get the proper approvals from the FAA, service will launch in early 2026.

Today was supposed to be the day we got our first glimpse of Tesla’s much-hyped (but probably not fully operational) robotaxi. Instead, the event was pushed to October after Tesla CEO Elon Musk ordered some design changes to the prototype. Of course, as many theorized, the event was likely little more than a distraction from the company’s declining sales. And reports from the field of Tesla owners using Full Self-Driving don’t inspire much hope about the robotaxi’s near term viability.

After introducing the Arc brand a few years ago, Intel announced in China that cars with the GPUs could arrive “as soon as 2025.”

While it hasn’t specified which cars, a demo showed it running AAA games and a “new generation cockpit user interface (UI) that transforms vehicles into immersive mobile hubs supporting seven high-definition screens rendering 3D graphics and six-in vehicle cameras and interactive features.”

$1.5 billion to be exact, and only five months since the last major cash infusion of $1 billion. The money comes in the form of “$750 million of convertible preferred stock via private placement” and “a $750 million unsecured delayed draw term loan facility,” both from Ayar Third Investment, an affiliate of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. The money has helped the cash-losing EV maker from heading down a similar path as some of its less financially stable peers.