Last updated on February 9th, 2026 at 05:05 pm
Autolane is building ‘air traffic control’ for autonomous vehicles
SEAN O’KANE | Tech Crunch | 12/3/2025
Autolane is building what it calls “air traffic control for autonomous vehicles,” a new infrastructure layer to coordinate the arrivals, departures, and curbside handoffs of robotaxis and delivery vehicles. The Palo Alto-based startup recently secured $7.4 million in funding and inked a deal with Simon Property Group, which will deploy Autolane’s system at shopping centers in Austin, Texas and San Francisco, California. Rather than building cars, Autolane focuses on the end of autonomous journeys, where vehicles need to pick up passengers or drop off goods. Its platform aims to manage curb usage with a combination of signage, sensor-equipped poles, and cloud software that schedules and authenticates vehicle access, preventing double-parking and reducing pickup times.
Tesla is gearing to sell its electric semi truck, poaches key sales executives from rivals
FRED LAMBERT | Electrek | 12/2/2025
Tesla is expanding its sales team for the Tesla Semi by hiring two experienced professionals from the electric trucking industry, Mac Burns and Jason Gies. This move comes as Tesla prepares for increased production at Gigafactory Nevada, despite delays pushing production to 2026. The hires indicate a shift toward building a stronger sales team, moving from pilot programs to a more traditional sales approach.
US Postal Service using 2,600 EVs for mail deliveries
DAVID SHEPARDSON | Reuters | 12/2/2025
The U.S. Postal Service says it is now using more than 2,600 electric vehicles (EVs) for mail deliveries, marking a major step in its fleet modernization efforts. Under a 2023 congressional allocation that provided $1.2 billion for EVs, USPS has purchased 8,700 Ford E‑Transit vans, of which 2,010 are already in service at 65 locations, plus 612 specially built electric delivery trucks from Oshkosh Defense, currently deployed across 15 sites. The agency says it’s deploying EVs on routes where battery-powered vans can deliver cost savings compared with older internal-combustion vehicles, part of a broader effort to modernize a delivery fleet that had long relied on aging trucks.
Driving American battery innovation forward
CHARLOTTE WHITTLE | MIT News | 12/1/2025
Kurt Kelty from General Motors discussed advancements in battery technology at the MIT Energy Initiative’s Fall Colloquium. His team focuses on making electric vehicles more affordable by reducing battery costs, improving performance, and localizing the supply chain. They are developing lithium manganese-rich (LMR) batteries to lower costs while maintaining range. GM aims to introduce these batteries in EVs by 2028. Kelty expressed optimism about future innovations, including vehicle-to-grid technologies and grid-scale energy storage.
Tensor Wants to Sell You a Private, Waymo-Style Self-Driving Car
SCOTT EVANS | Motortrend | 11/28/2025
The promise of self-driving cars is advancing, particularly with autonomous taxis like Waymo and Tesla in the U. S. A company named Tensor, previously AutoX, has created the Robocar, a private autonomous vehicle. It features a 112-kWh battery, fast charging, and automated doors. Tensor claims it is SAE Level 4 autonomous, requiring no human driver. It includes over 100 sensors for navigation, along with features to keep them clean.
