Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! It might have been a short week, but there was still plenty of news, including another Zoox recall, an update on the Stellantis-Amazon partnership, and a few startup-funding deals.  One item of note: This week, I wrote about Carma Technology and its patent infringement lawsuit against Uber. This isn’t a patent troll situation, and the IP attorneys I have spoken with say it will be a challenging case for Uber.  The gist? Carma, which was formed in 2007 by serial entrepreneur and SOSV Ventures founder Sean O’Sullivan, filed a lawsuit earlier this year against Uber, alleging the company infringed on five of its patents that are related to the system of matching riders (or packages) with capacity in vehicles. In other words, ride-sharing. IP attorney Larry Ashery provided the money quote that explains why this is such a complicated and challenging case.  “What’s important to understand here is, Carma isn’t just asserting five patents. They have had a very sophisticated strategy of patent procurement that they’ve been working on for the past 18 years.” Carma’s five patents are part of a 30-patent family that are all related and connected to the original filing date. That matters because each of the five asserted patents contains multiple patent claims, which define the legal boundaries of the invention. These individual claims — not just the patents as a whole — are what Carma is asserting against Uber.That means Uber will have to address and defend against each asserted claim, making the litigation more complex and difficult to defeat, Ashery noted.  Techcrunch event Save now through June 4 for TechCrunch Sessions: AI Save $300 on your ticket to TC Sessions: AI—and get 50% off a second. Hear from leaders at OpenAI, Anthropic, Khosla Ventures, and more during a full day of expert insights, hands-on workshops, and high-impact networking. These low-rate deals disappear when the doors open on June 5. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW Let’s get into the rest of the news.  A little bird Image Credits:Bryce Durbin A few little birds have been chirping at us for months now about a new autonomous vehicle technology startup that has been quietly plugging along for a year. The interesting nugget about this startup — which is called Bedrock Robotics — is who is behind it: Boris Sofman, who led Waymo’s self-driving trucks program and previously co-founded and led the popular consumer robotics company Anki.  The San Francisco-based startup is still in stealth, but my sources tell me it has raised considerable venture funds. Bedrock Robotics is working on a self-driving kit that retrofits onto construction equipment and other heavy machinery, according to a filing with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Signal at kkorosec.07, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or check out these instructions to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop. Deals! Image Credits:Bryce Durbin Firefly Aerospace received a $50 million investment from Northrop Grumman as part of its Series D round. This investment will further advance production of the startup’s  co-developed medium launch vehicle, now known as Eclipse. Pallet, a warehouse logistics software startup based in Fremont, California, raised $27 million in a Series B funding round led by General Catalyst. Bain Capital Ventures, Activant Capital, and Bessemer Venture Partners also participated. Volteras, a London-based startup building virtual connective tissue that will allow plugged-in EVs to offer their batteries to support the grid, closed an $11.1 million Series A led by Union Square Ventures, with participation from Edenred, Exor, Long Journey Ventures, and Wex. Way Data Technologies, a fleet management startup founded by veterans of Lucid Motors and Wolt, raised €2.6 million ($2.95 million) in pre-seed funding led by Pale Blue Dot, with participation from 10x Founders and Greens Ventures.  Notable reads and other tidbits Image Credits:Bryce Durbin Autonomous vehicles Rivr’s four-wheeled, stair-climbing delivery robot — which its CEO and founder, Marko Bjelonic, describes as a dog on roller skates — will ferry packages from Veho vans directly to customers’ front doors as part of a pilot program in Austin, Texas. Both companies see this small pilot as a critical step toward solving a unique slice of the end-to-end autonomous delivery journey.   TuSimple (now CreateAI) sent a trove of sensitive data — effectively the blueprint of an American-made autonomous vehicle system — to a Beijing-owned firm after committing to the U.S. government that it would cease such transfers under a national security agreement. The revelation, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, prompted numerous “not surprised” responses from several readers and sources within the industry. Zoox issued its second voluntary software recall in a month, following a collision between one of its robotaxis and an e-scooter rider in San Francisco on May 8. The incident is notable, largely for what happened after the unoccupied Zoox vehicle operating at low speed was struck by the e-scooter after braking to yield at an intersection.  According to Zoox, the e-scooterist fell to the ground directly next to the vehicle and the “robotaxi began to move and stopped after completing the turn, but did not make further contact with the e-scooterist.” In other Zoox news, the company announced it was the “official robotaxi partner of Resorts World Las Vegas.” As part of the deal, there will be a dedicated and Zoox-branded robotaxi pickup and drop-off location at Resorts World Las Vegas.  Electric vehicles, charging, & batteries The Tesla Cybertruck is having a rough time. Dozens of unsold Tesla Cybertrucks are piling up at a Detroit shopping center parking lot. And while Cybertruck owners are now allowed by Tesla to trade in their vehicles for the first time since they hit the market, they’ll face a steep depreciation hit. CarGurus recently showed depreciation rates of up to 45%. Meanwhile, Tesla sales in Europe and the U.K. have fallen by nearly half, according to data released by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association.  The Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal of 2015 rippled through the automotive sector and prompted the company (and later followed by others) to shift away from diesel and toward hybrids and electric vehicles. Now, four former Volkswagen executives have received prison sentences for their role. In-car tech Amazon is no longer working with Stellantis to create in-car software for the automaker’s vehicles. The partnership, first announced in January 2022, was part of Stellantis’ plan to generate $22.5 billion annually from software. Stellantis told TechCrunch it would be pivoting to an Android-based system.

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.“Its “almost there” quality — the feeling we’re just one prompt away from the perfect solution — is what makes it so addicting. Vibe coding operates on the principle of variable-ratio reinforcement, a powerful form of operant conditioning where rewards come unpredictably. Unlike fixed rewards, this intermittent success pattern (“the code works! it’s brilliant! it just broke! wtf!”), triggers stronger dopamine responses in our brain’s reward pathways, similar to gambling behaviors.”The perverse incentives of Vibe Coding →By fred benensonIs your research repository holding back the impact of your insights? →[Sponsored] Join UX research experts Jake Burghardt and Emily DiLeo as they share the 6 red flags to look out for in failing repositories. Plus, get practical tips on how to build a repository that ensures your UX research delivers business value.Editor picksFigma uses nostalgia for their future in IPO →What happens when design tools grow up — and grow corporate.By Darren YeoDo people really want AI friends? →Zuckerberg seems to think so.By Daley WilhelmDesign for trust, then for possibility →From horseless carriages to robotaxis.By Sarah CordivanoThe UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices and helps designers think more critically about their work.Nordic design gallery →Make me thinkThere should be no AI button →“It’s often unclear what the button will actually do. You may have a small text box to add a user prompt, but you’re at the mercy of the quality of an opaque system prompt.”Products need soul but markets reward scale →“Uber is the clearest example of a company that let go of the original story and embraced what the market wanted. It started out as a premium ride experience. Nice cars, polite drivers, smooth UX. Then it went public. Growth expectations took over. Fleet owners stepped in. Car quality dropped. The experience became inconsistent. And then came the ads.”About showing the “open to work” badge →“The reason might be that I do use LinkedIn professionally and that I’ve been both recruiting and being hired by large corporations. I’ve also been part of reorganisations, companies going bust and was on the wrong spreadsheet when mass layoffs happened. So I know how it feels to not have a job even when your performance was great.”Little gems this weekIs your creative character being sacrificed to Algorithm, Inc? →By Ian BatterbeeNo country for junior designers →By Patrick MorganThe next design trend should start with your hands, not a computer →By Michael F. BuckleyTools and resources20+ GenAI UX patterns →AI beyond the model.By Sharang SharmaUsing simulation models in UX research →Why it’s time we take behavior seriously.By Talieh KazemiDesign in the age of vibes →What the new wave of tools means for the future.By John MoriartySupport the newsletterIf you find our content helpful, here’s how you can support us:Check out this week’s sponsor to support their work tooForward this email to a friend and invite them to subscribeSponsor an editionPerverse vibes, Figma’s future IPO, 20+ GenAI UX patterns was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Lloyd Lee/BI 2025-05-25T10:37:01Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? This post originally appeared in the BI Today newsletter. You can sign up for Business Insider's daily newsletter here. Welcome back to our Sunday edition, where we round up some of our top stories and take you inside our newsroom. This week, BI's Polly Thompson took an inside look at how artificial intelligence is set to upend a pillar of the white-collar world: the Big Four.On the agenda today:Many millennials face a cursed inheritance with their parents' homes.Internal memos reveal how an ex-Facebook exec leads Microsoft's new AI unit.Losing faith in the ROI of college, Gen Z is pivoting to blue-collar jobs.Wall Street bigwigs are questioning the safety of government bonds. Now what?But first: Tesla's robotaxis are taking the wheel.If this was forwarded to you, sign up here. Download Business Insider's app here.This week's dispatch Robin Marchant/Getty, Sean Gallup/Getty, Tyler Le/BI Tesla's big betI remain in awe of self-driving cars.I took my first Waymo earlier this year in San Francisco. Like any newbie, I immediately pulled out my phone, recorded the ride, and then gleefully shared videos with friends and family.The market for robotaxis is well beyond the shock and awe phase. For Tesla, the stakes are high to get it right.The EV maker's long-awaited autonomous ride-hailing service is expected to debut next month in Austin. It will join Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, which is already entrenched in San Francisco and expanding into other cities.My BI colleagues Lloyd Lee and Alistair Barr tried to see which company offers the better self-driving experience: Tesla or Waymo. They test drove both, expecting the results of their not-so-scientific test to come down to minute details. (They couldn't compare the robotaxi services because Tesla hasn't launched its yet).The results surprised them.While the rides were mostly similar, the differentiator was Tesla running a red light at a complex intersection. It was an error too big to overlook. Waymo won the test.Lloyd and Alistair's story ricocheted around the internet and social media. On Tuesday, CNBC's David Faber pressed Tesla CEO Elon Musk about it, particularly the Tesla running a red light.Musk didn't address specific details in BI's reporting. Instead, he said Tesla's robotaxis will be "geo-fenced" — meaning they will avoid some intersections and certain parts of Austin.Waymo already uses geo-fencing. Its car avoided the intersection where the Tesla ran the red light, instead taking a route that was farther away and less time-efficient but perhaps safer to navigate, according to the BI story.Tesla's robotaxi plans come at a critical time for a brand that's taken a hit from Musk's work with the Trump administration. Overseas competition is also ramping up, and prices for used Teslas, including Cybertrucks, are falling.The excitement around the robotaxis is helping, though. Tesla's stock has risen about 40% since Musk talked up the robotaxi last month and signaled he was re-committing to Tesla and stepping back from DOGE.We'll stay all over this coverage for you, including the big debut.The new millennial home dilemmaMillennials are set to benefit from a massive wealth transfer from their boomer parents, most of which is held up in real estate.But because boomers tend to stay in their homes for decades, many children will inherit properties in need of some serious TLC.Microsoft's "age of AI agents" Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently tapped Jay Parikh, formerly Facebook's global head of engineering, to spearhead Microsoft's new AI unit, CoreAI. BI viewed internal memos to get a glimpse of Parikh's vision and progress.Parikh is focusing on cultural shifts, operational improvements, and customer experience as he leads Microsoft into a new era.He has plans for an AI "agent factory."From PowerPoint to plumbing Peter Dazeley/Getty Images AI is decimating jobs, and the cost of college is ever-rising. Gen Zers are losing faith in the ROI of a degree, but they've got another option: the trades.White-collar jobs are stagnating, but fields like plumbing, construction, and electrical work are projected to grow. Blue-collar jobs offer a work-life balance and a path to becoming your own boss.The shaky bond market Mario Tama/Getty Images Bonds have always been viewed as a safe haven, especially ones backed by the US government. But concerns over the growing deficit are changing investors' perspective on the asset.KKR has cast doubt over bonds, and JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has been vocal about US credit being a "bad risk." Here's what investors have to think about amid the turmoil.Also read:This week's quote:"But if you want one of these jobs, you've got to play the game."— A recent graduate who moved to New York City early to be in a good position for the private-equity recruiting process.More of this week's top reads:Duolingo drama underscores the new corporate balancing act on AI hype.Elon Musk went on a media blitz. Here are five takeaways from his interviews.See inside the luxurious Boeing 747 Qatar is giving to Trump to serve as Air Force One.Instagram head Adam Mosseri on the "paradigm shift" from posting in public to sharing in private.Four reasons Walmart is raising prices and Home Depot isn't.Please, Jony Ive, I beg you not to make a voice device.Meet the Yale student and hacker moonlighting as a cybersecurity watchdog.Inside the little-known perks that come from a stock exchange "bake-off."Why these Americans agree with the DOGE firings: "Welcome to the real world."The BI Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Grace Lett, editor, in Chicago. Amanda Yen, associate editor, in New York. Lisa Ryan, executive editor, in New York. Elizabeth Casolo, fellow, in Chicago.

The Amazon-owned robotaxi company Zoox has issued its second recall in a month following a collision that occurred in San Francisco. It has already submitted a voluntary software recall notice to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) after an internal review of the incident and has already deployed the software update to its fleet of 270 vehicles. According to the company's announcement, an unoccupied Zoox robotaxi was struck by an electric scooter after braking at an intersection to give right-of-way to other motorists.  The person on the scooter fell, and the robotaxi continued moving and only stopped after completing the turn. Zoox's robotaxi didn't hit the rider, but a company personnel met them and offered medical attention for minor injuries. The incident in San Francisco took place on May 8, shortly after the company announced a voluntary software recall following a separate incident in April wherein a Zoox robotaxi and a passenger car collided in Las Vegas.  Despite the recall, Zoox said that its vehicle was stopped and wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary when it was struck. Still, it rolled out a software update to improve its vehicles' perception tracking capabilities and to prevent them from moving forward again when a road user is in a vulnerable position nearby. While the robotaxi didn't make contact with the rider after they fell on the road, the company most likely realized that it could have, which could lead to more serious accidents in the future. Zoox rolled out its autonomous vehicles for testing on the streets of San Francisco in late 2024. Only company employees can catch a ride at the moment, but Zoox is planning to start offering rides to the public sometime later this year.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/transportation/zoox-issues-another-software-recall-for-its-robotaxis-after-a-san-francisco-collision-160026593.html?src=rss

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! For those U.S.-based readers out there, enjoy the long Memorial Day weekend, and if you’re on the road, expect it to be crowded. AAA projects 45.1 million people will travel at least 50 miles from home over the Memorial Day holiday period, from Thursday to Monday. About 39.4 million of those folks will use a car. Let’s get to it! This edition has news on loads of companies, including Aurora, Uber, Tesla, and Waymo. Plus, a number of startups you may be interested in. A little bird Image Credits:Bryce Durbin Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Signal at kkorosec.07, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or check out these instructions to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop. Deals! Image Credits:Bryce Durbin Luminar, the lidar startup turned SPAC, appears to be grasping for capital. Why else would the company make a deal with Yorkville Advisors Global that could bring another $200 million into its coffers through the sale of convertible preferred stock over an 18-month period? Under the terms, Luminar will issue $35 million in convertible preferred stock to the investors. Luminar may issue additional tranches in amounts of up to $35 million no more than every 60 days at a purchase price equal to 96% of the stated value of the convertible preferred stock. You might recall Luminar’s board recently replaced founder Austin Russell as its CEO. The company is also going through another restructuring — its third in a year. Other deals that got my attention … Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW SparkCharge, which offers what it calls “charging-as-a-service” for fleets, raised $15.5 million in a Series A-1 round led by Monte’s Fam, with participation from Cleveland Avenue, Collab Capital, Elemental Impact, MarcyPen, and non sibi ventures. Alongside the equity round, SparkCharge also secured a $15 million venture loan from Horizon Technology Finance Corp. Sylndr, a Cairo-based online used car sales startup that is expanding into auto financing, servicing, and tools for dealers, raised $15.7 million. The round was led by Development Partners International’s Nclude Fund. The startup also raised nearly $10 million in debt financing from local banks in the past year. Is an auction a deal? Perhaps for someone. Nikola’s hydrogen trucks, which have a value of about $114 million, are up for auction — one of the company’s last steps in unloading all of its assets after filing for bankruptcy in February. Notable reads and other tidbits Image Credits:Bryce Durbin Autonomous vehicles Aurora has put human “observers” in its self-driving trucks at the request of its partner PACCAR, a disclosure that has some scratching their heads about the move. To be clear, these “observers” are not human safety operators, meaning they can’t intervene. An Aurora spokesperson confirmed and noted they have a different role than the human safety operators in the company’s supervised hauls.  This news prompted folks to send me a slew of messages with questions like “Why?” and “What’s the point?”  Einride founder Robert Falck is stepping down from the role of CEO. Einride’s CFO, Roozbeh Charli, will take over the role of chief executive effective immediately. Reliable Robotics, the autonomous aviation company, appointed Marc Stoll as its new CFO. Stoll is the former VP of Finance at Apple and partner at Eclipse Ventures. Zoox has completed the “initial mapping phase” and will begin testing its self-driving vehicles in Atlanta later this summer. The California Public Utilities Commission approved Waymo’s request to expand its commercial robotaxi service area into more communities south of San Francisco. Meanwhile, Waymo and Uber plan to start offering robotaxi rides in Atlanta to select customers who signed onto a waitlist earlier this year. Tesla plans to limit where its robotaxis operate in Austin, Texas, to specific areas the company deems “the safest,” according to Elon Musk. Using a geofence represents a major strategy shift for Musk, who spent years claiming his company would be able to create a general-purpose self-driving solution that could be dropped into any location and work without human supervision.  Electric vehicles, charging, & batteries Arc unveiled a new electric boat called the Arc Coast, a $168,000 watercraft with a center console design. Senate Republicans have voted to overturn a waiver that allowed California to set stricter air pollution standards for vehicles. The state has received waivers more than 100 times since federal laws granted the right some 50 years ago. Gig economy Uber plans to launch a B2B logistics service in India through a partnership with a government-backed nonprofit that aims to break the domination of Flipkart, the e-commerce giant backed by Amazon and Walmart. AI Uber Freight recently launched a suite of AI features to shippers around the world as part of its existing supply chain software. That includes an expansion of Insights AI, which Uber Freight quietly launched in 2023, as well as more than 30 AI agents built to “execute key logistics tasks throughout the freight lifecycle.” Senior reporter Sean O’Kane interviewed CEO Lior Ron about the company’s dive into AI — including the how, why, and what’s next. This week’s wheels Image Credits:Rebecca Bellan Yup, “This week’s wheels” is back with Rebecca Bellan, who writes about her time on the new Heybike Alpha, a sturdy, fat-tire, all-terrain e-bike with a $1,699 price tag.  The entire review can be read here.  For those who want the highlights: The Alpha ticked a lot of boxes for Bellan — notably the mid-drive motor with torque sensor and long-lasting battery. There were some frustrations, though, too. Putting the bike together, the app, and outsized horn were disappointments. But generally, Rebecca felt the Alpha was an excellent all-around e-bike, whether you want to take it on off-road adventures or use it in the city to do your weekly Trader Joe’s shopping.

Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company Zoox has issued its second voluntary software recall in a month, following a collision between one of its robotaxis and an e-scooter rider in San Francisco on May 8. The latest incident involved an unoccupied Zoox vehicle operating at low speed, which the company says was struck by the e-scooter after braking to yield at an intersection.  Just weeks earlier, the company recalled about 270 vehicles after a Las Vegas crash between a Zoox robotaxi and a passenger car that raised concerns over the self-driving software’s ability to predict the movement of other road users.  That issue still seems to be a concern. “The Zoox vehicle was stopped at the time of contact,” the company’s statement on the May 8 crash reads. “The e-scooterist fell to the ground directly next to the vehicle. The robotaxi then began to move and stopped after completing the turn, but did not make further contact with the e-scooterist.” The e-scooterist declined an offer of medical attention for minor injuries, according to Zoox. Zoox said it shared relevant information and video with regulators, and has already issued a software update to “improve perception tracking and further prevent vehicle movement when a vulnerable road user may be very near the vehicle.” Techcrunch event Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot for our leading AI industry event with speakers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Cohere. For a limited time, tickets are just $292 for an entire day of expert talks, workshops, and potent networking. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you’ve built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | June 5 REGISTER NOW A robotaxi that continues to move after a collision could risk harming other road users that were involved in the crash. Just look at what happened to Cruise, Zoox’s erstwhile competitor. The GM-backed company saw its business crumble after one of its robotaxis struck a pedestrian that was flung into its path by a human-driven vehicle, and then dragged that pedestrian some 20 feet while attempting a pullover maneuver. TechCrunch has reached out to learn if this was a top-of-mind concern for Zoox when it issued its software recall, or whether there were other factors at play, like unexpected hard braking. In March, Zoox recalled 258 vehicles due to issues with its autonomous driving system that could cause unexpected hard braking, following two reports of incidents in which motorcyclists collided into the back of Zoox test vehicles.  Zoox did not respond in time to TechCrunch to confirm more details about its latest software recall, including how many vehicles were affected, and how this update is different from the update issued several weeks ago.  TechCrunch has reached out to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for more information on the recall. 

If you’ve ever wondered how the Internet Archive uploads all the physical documents on its site, now you can get a behind-the-scenes look at the process. The Internet Archive launched a new YouTube livestream that shows the digitization of microfiche in real time — complete with some relaxing, lo-fi beats. Microfiche is a sheet of film that contains multiple images of miniaturized documents. It’s an old form of storing newspapers, court documents, government records, and other important documents. The Internet Archive uses these microfiche cards to digitize and upload documents to its online library. The livestream shows a close-up look at one of the five microfiche digitization stations at the organization’s Richmond, California location, along with a look at the document that it’s working on. App maker Sophia Tung, who created a LoFi music livestream showing Waymo’s robotaxis returning to their parking lot, also set up the microfiche livestream for the Internet Archive. “Operators feed microfiche cards beneath a high-resolution camera, which captures multiple detailed images of each sheet,” Chris Freeland, the Internet Archive’s director of library services, writes in a post on the site. “Software stitches these images together, after which other team members use automated tools to identify and crop up to 100 individual pages per card.” From there, the Internet Archive processes the pages, makes them text-searchable, and then uploads them to its public collections. The livestream runs from Monday through Friday from 10:30AM ET to 6:30PM ET. “During the day, you’ll see scanners working on custom machines to digitize all the microfiche in the world,” Tung says. “During the off hours, you can also see everything else that the Archive has to offer, like silent films in the public domain or historical pictures from NASA.”

At last month’s rapturously received Slate debut, it took an executive’s quip that “Slate” and “Tesla” use the same 5 letters to shift my brain into high gear. I’ve covered the EV world for 15-plus years, and I virtually never spend time on counterfactuals. There’s quite enough to cover in the real world.But … I’m of the opinion Tesla could, and should, have launched a small, simple, cheap compact pickup truck—in other words, what Slate debuted—rather than the pickup it did produce, the Cybertruck. That expensive and polarizing vehicle has been, to put it bluntly, a sales disaster. Over 18 months, Tesla has sold only about 50,000, versus projections of many times that volume. Worse, while EV crossover utilities sell tens of thousands a month, the more expensive EV pickup trucks to date have not. The path not takenThe company that led the world in EV production for more than a decade could have launched an inexpensive small pickup that would have democratized EVs to a whole new class of buyers. Tesla likely could have offered more range at the same price due to its in-house battery cell production. And it would have been a global product, likely to be sold in Europe and China from launch.Most important, it would have given Tesla the $25,000 EV that CEO Elon Musk had promised since 2020—and simultaneously pioneered a new vehicle in a “white space” in the market where no other entry existed. Now, Tesla is no longer targeting a $25,000 EV: Musk abruptly said in October 2024 the company had walked away from the ”$25,000 Tesla” idea entirely. He went on to suggest the idea of selling any $25,000 Tesla that wasn’t a robotaxi was both “pointless” and “silly.”Why exactly should Tesla have done a Slate? I see four factors: first and foremost, the hugely appealing idea of a truly affordable EV. Tesla could well have made a small, cheap EV pickup a huge hit, given its existing assembly plants, lower-cost batteries, plus the chance to sell globally right out of the box.A “$25,000 EV” to catapult Tesla into the major leaguesThe excitement over an unexpected product from an unknown maker likely reflects intense market desire for truly affordable EVs. That was historically what Tesla intended to do, over time: grow its volume by producing higher numbers of less costly EVs via economies of scale.In 2024, Tesla delivered roughly 1.789 million cars globally—20,000 fewer than its 2023 total of 1.808 million. That makes the company larger than Mitsubishi (945,000) Subaru (976,000), and Mazda (1.170 million), but smaller than BMW (2.45 million) and BYD (4 million-plus).Tesla likely could have offered more range at the same price due to its in-house battery cell production.With Musk’s hopes to sell hundreds of thousands of Cybertruck a year dashed for good, Tesla’s volume mainstays are now in their sixth and ninth model years (the Model Y and Model 3 respectively). Those vehicles now face competitors in all their main markets, which certainly wasn’t the case in 2020 or 2017 when those cars launched. More than 20 new EVs, both from existing automakers and startups like Lucid and Rivian, have hit the market since those yearsThe classic way to boost volume is to offer new products in new segments—and from 2020, the long-promised “$25,000 Tesla” was to be that product. Even before tariffs, the U.S. vehicle market suffered from an affordability crisis: the sales-weighted average transaction price of a new vehicle has stayed at $47,000 to $48,000 since the pandemic. If EVs are to take off, their prices have to be equal to—or cheaper than—their nearest gasoline counterparts. A truly affordable EV could sell like gangbusters. And if any company were well-placed to deliver it, it would be Tesla.Instead, Musk has doubled down on his vision of Tesla becoming a company whose products are robotaxis and humanoid robots. Soon we’ll know more about the substitutes for that $25,000 model, the promised “lower-cost Teslas.” They’re widely expected to be “decontented” (stripped-down) versions of today’s compact Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover. They probably won’t start at $25,000, but we’ll find out soon enough. And, to be honest, they hardly seem likely to generate the same excitement and buzz as the Slate unveiling produced.Existing assembly plantsSlate is now where Tesla was in 2011 and 2012, as it struggled to get the Model S into production in its newly-acquired former GM-Toyota plant in Fremont, California. More than a decade later, Tesla has learned a great deal about building vehicles in volume. The company now has four plants: Fremont; Austin; Shanghai, China; and outside Berlin in Germany. That experience is something Slate’s production execs, with experience all over the auto industry, will have to impart to the new employees they hire to build cars in its own factory, a 1.4-million-square-foot former printing plant in Warsaw, Indiana.A truly affordable EV could sell like gangbusters. And if any company were well-placed to deliver it, it would be Tesla.With that experience, a Tesla Slate might have used conventional stamped-steel construction. Slate chose a nonstandard construction technique: molded grey polypropylene panels bolted onto a metal substructure. That saves Slate several hundred million dollars on the steel-stamping presses and paint shop it doesn’t have to build. Want a Slate in a different color? Simply wrap it—just as Tesla used to offer to do for the Cybertruck.To be fair, the Cybertruck too uses nonstandard materials, which contributed to some of the significant production delays before deliveries started in late November 2023. They were due not only to its brand-new assembly plant in Austin, Texas, but also the special tooling for its flat, angular stainless-steel design and the extraordinary challenges of reaching acceptable levels of quality in a vehicle built in that metal. We’ll see how Slate does in turn.Image: SlateLower-cost batteriesElon Musk identified the need for what he dubbed a “gigafactory” to produce huge volumes of battery cells as early as 2013. Tesla brought its cell partner, Panasonic, into the Reno gigafactory while every other automaker was still buying cells shipped from battery suppliers. Reno started supplying 2170 cells for Model 3 production in January 2017.Tesla is now rumored to have the lowest battery cost per kilowatt-hour of any non-Chinese maker. Globally, it produces cells for roughly 1.8 million EVs a year as well as more for its growing energy-storage business. (Though it’s worth noting that last year, GM produced cells with higher total energy through its Ultium Cells joint venture than Tesla did— at least in North America.)Slate, on the other hand, will buy assembled battery modules from Korean maker SK-On, which also supplies batteries to Ford for its F-150 Lightning electric pickup, and assemble them into battery packs in its factory. Are they the same module? A spokesperson for Slate did not respond to a request for comment.We’d bet Slate’s cost-per-kWh is higher than Tesla’s. So Tesla could have done a Slate-style pickup with either more range (from more battery capacity at the same price) or an even lower price if it stuck with Slate’s projected ranges. Tesla may have offered only the higher-range (240-mile) model, of course; from the start it has said its EVs had to have 200 miles.Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty ImagesGlobal sales potentialOne of the biggest drawbacks of the Tesla Cybertruck is that, at least for the moment, it remains a North America-only vehicle. It is a few inches short of 19 feet long—more than 2 feet longer than a Model S—and weighs 6,600 pounds. That’s just too large to use comfortably on many European and U.K. roads. Analysts express doubts over the stainless-steel truck’s ability to comply with European Union pedestrian-protection impact and crush standards.As for China, Tesla said in December it had no plans to sell the truck there “for now”. So the Cybertruck now appears limited to North America. For a much-touted new product that supposedly received 1 million or more reservations from across the globe, that can only be a missed opportunity.A Slate-alike compact or C-segment two-door pickup from Tesla, on the other hand, could be designed from scratch to sell in all three major markets — just like every Tesla model was before the Cybertruck. Small pickups are a known and accepted quantity there, and the news that Slate has a cargo-box accessory kit under development for use as a small van would put such a vehicle directly into competition with the European makers now launching electric compact vans. Except this one would have had the cachet Tesla enjoyed until quite recently.Reasons this idea is idioticThere are, of course, lots of reasons why a Slate-like vehicle might have been exactly the wrong thing for Tesla to launch instead of the Cybertruck. The first and most important is that, in the words of the old industry saying, “Low price equals low profits.” After 2020, when the company became profitable for the first time, its margins on Model 3 and Model Y sales grew to impressive percentages. Even at high volumes, a lower-priced vehicle with a battery of 80 kWh is likely to have slim margins despite Tesla’s low cell costs. The Cybertruck, sold in the volumes claimed, may not have posed that challenge.Second, any Tesla virtually has to have a central touchscreen and advanced telematics. It’s part of the brand DNA. That clearly adds cost, as would a camera suite to let Tesla continue to aggregate visual data for its hopes of a self-driving future.There are, of course, lots of reasons why a Slate-like vehicle might have been exactly the wrong thing for Tesla.Third, again to the brand image, a small, cheap, square, very basic pickup is hardly what we would envision as a “Tesla.” It would require expanding the concept of what a Tesla is—though so did the Cybertruck. Side note: a Slate-like pickup might not do well in China, where a small pickup is viewed as a commercial vehicle for low-wage laborers.Finally, a Slatelike truck–or any two-door vehicle–is an impractical vehicle to turn into a robotaxi, even assuming it were fitted with the appropriate camera and sensor suite. As long as five years ago, that was clearly the direction in which Musk was driving the company. As noted, I almost never deal in counterfactuals. I made an exception here, considering the road not taken, because it seems to me more in line with what the world expected of Tesla from 2012 to 2020. Not to mention a lot more aligned with The Secret Tesla Motors Master Plan of 2006, specifically its third point: “Use that money [from building affordable cars] to build an even more affordable car.”Still, affordable cars have to be desirable to make a difference; the Cybertruck is neither, as the market has shown. But a Slate-like Tesla small pickup could have been. Sic transit gloria mundi.See More: