Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility<\/strong>, your go-to source for the latest news and insights on the transportation industry’s future. Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter here<\/a> to stay updated.<\/p>\n Before diving into this week’s transportation news, we’d like to bring to your attention a couple of articles featuring Elon Musk<\/strong>, CEO of Tesla and founder of SpaceX and Neuralink, among other companies.<\/p>\n You might recall our February investigation into the individuals involved in Elon Musk’s DOGE universe<\/a>. The article, which is continuously updated, focuses on those working for the Department of Government Efficiency<\/strong>, established via President Trump’s executive order. A new report by our team explores the founders and VCs collaborating with DOGE<\/a>. Be sure to check it out!<\/p>\n Speaking of Musk, his close ally Trump<\/strong> has imposed a 25% tariff on all cars imported to the United States, including those from Mexico and Canada. Additionally, a 25% tariff has been placed on specific car parts. As reported by Sean O’Kane, this decision is likely to significantly increase the cost of new and used cars. However, it’s also a boon for Tesla<\/a>, the company led by Musk, who is Trump’s largest financial backer in the presidential election.<\/p>\n In other news, Trevor Milton<\/strong>, the founder of bankrupt hydrogen trucking startup Nikola, who was convicted of fraud, has been pardoned by Trump<\/a>, as confirmed by the White House to TechCrunch. Notably, we waited for several hours before receiving confirmation from the White House.<\/p>\n Now, let’s move on to the rest of the week’s news.<\/p>\n A little bird recently shared with us that Lucid<\/strong> is exploring partnerships to achieve higher levels of autonomy, particularly with its new Gravity SUV. Could we see a collaboration with Mobileye or another unexpected automated driving technology provider?<\/p>\n Do you have a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at <\/em>kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com<\/em><\/a>, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com<\/a>, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com<\/a>. Alternatively, check out <\/em>these instructions<\/em><\/a> to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.<\/em><\/p>\n Here’s a deal that, while not directly related to transportation, is worth mentioning: TechCrunch<\/strong> has been acquired by private investment firm Regent<\/a>. Although the financial terms were not disclosed, our soon-to-be former owner Yahoo Holdings will maintain a small stake in the company. The acquisition, which has yet to be finalized, comes shortly after Regent purchased Foundry, the publisher of tech publications like PCWorld, Macworld, InfoWorld, and CIO.<\/p>\n Other notable deals include:<\/strong><\/p>\n BetterFleet<\/strong>, a Michigan-based company developing EV charging fleet management software, secured $15 million<\/a> in a Series A funding round led by Aligned Climate Capital, Ecosystem Integrity Fund (EIF), and Remarkable Ventures Climate (RVC).<\/p>\n The Bot Company<\/strong>, a robotics startup founded by former Cruise co-founder and CEO Kyle Vogt<\/strong>, has raised $150 million in a round led by Greenoaks, according to Reuters<\/a>, citing unnamed sources.<\/p>\n DeCharge<\/strong>, an EV charging infrastructure startup, raised $2.5 million<\/a> in a round led by Lemniscap, with participation from other investors including Colosseum, Daedalus Angels, EV3 Labs, Echo Fundraiser Chainyoda Jedis, and Levitate Labs.<\/p>\n Fleetio<\/strong>, a vehicle fleet software management company, secured $450 million<\/a> in a round co-led by Elephant VC and Goldman Sachs Alternatives, which will be used to finance the acquisition of maintenance-authorization platform Auto Integrate.<\/p>\n Manna<\/strong>, a Dublin-based drone delivery company, raised $30 million<\/a> in a round led by Tapestry VC and Molten Ventures, with participation from Coca-Cola and Dynama Venture.<\/p>\n Waymo<\/strong> will launch its robotaxi service in Washington, D.C.<\/a> via the Waymo One app in 2026. However, there’s a significant caveat: before Waymo can launch commercially, the company must enhance its lobbying efforts in the capital, where autonomous vehicle permits currently require a human driver, as reported by Rebecca Bellan.<\/p>\n BYD<\/strong>‘s recent breakthrough EV-charging announcement prompted Tim De Chant to delve deeper<\/a> into the story.<\/p>\n Cadillac<\/strong> has unveiled another EV, the Optiq SUV. Emme Hall had the opportunity to test drive the Optiq and the new Escalade IQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n Revel<\/strong>, a Brooklyn-based electric vehicle charging infrastructure startup, has launched its first fast-charging station<\/a> in San Francisco.<\/p>\n Rivian<\/strong> operated a skunkworks program focused on electric micromobility for years, according to founder and CEO RJ Scaringe<\/strong>. Now, Rivian is spinning out the startup<\/a>, known as Also, with $105 million in funding from Eclipse Ventures. Rivian holds a minority stake in Also, and Scaringe will serve on its board, with Chris Yu, Rivian’s VP of future programs, as its president.<\/p>\n Waze has removed Google Assistant<\/a> from iOS due to ongoing issues, with plans to introduce an enhanced voice interaction solution in the near future as a replacement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n Here’s the rewritten content without changing its meaning, retaining the original length, and keeping proper headings and titles: Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your go-to source for the latest news…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":12313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[176,262,263,121],"class_list":["post-12312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-elon-musk","tag-rivian","tag-techcrunch-mobility","tag-trump"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/03\/TechCrunch-Disrupt-Haje-Kamps-536.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A little bird<\/h2>\n
![\"blinky](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/blinky-cat-bird-green.gif?w=680\")
Deals!<\/h2>\n
![\"money](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/money-the-station.png?w=680\")
Notable reads and other tidbits<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/the-station-ride-hailing1.png?w=680\")
Autonomous vehicles<\/h3>\n
Electric vehicles, charging, & batteries<\/h3>\n
I<\/strong>n-car tech<\/h3>\n
Source Link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"