TechCrunch Mobility: Inside GM’s $900 Million EV Battery Gamble

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Chief Correspondent (and resident battery expert) Tim singing Travel to GM Visit the sprawling Warren Technical Center outside Detroit to learn more about the automaker’s plans to reduce the cost of its next slate of electric vehicles. The result: GM is relying on LMR batteries and a new battery cell development center that is seen as the bridge between R&D efforts and full-scale production.

Kurt KeltyGM’s vice president of battery and sustainability provided new details about the company’s $900 million initiative and how this new chemistry will preserve range while lowering costs. For example, a Chevrolet Silverado EV can be $6,000 cheaper. Read the story here.

As with most companies these days, AI is also making a cameo appearance. Although I should point out that the AI ​​plays more than just a supporting role in GM. I recently had an interview Sterling Andersonchief product officer at General Motors, and Jason Fisherwho is the Executive Director of Virtual Integration Engineering, about some of the changes within the company and how it uses AI. That story will be coming next week, but I’ll give you a little teaser.

GM is using a combination of external AI models, as well as models it has built internally that can be used across large swaths of the business, and which – here is the key point – will accelerate the development cycle of its vehicles. I’ll have more details in my article, and don’t worry, if you missed it, I’ll highlight it in next week’s newsletter.

Finally, last week I wrote about Ferrari Los EV How could it not matter that it was widely criticized. I’ve received some great emails from all of you about this – thanks! However, the survey showed that as much coverage as Los has received, many of you don’t really care about it.

I asked in the poll: Do you love it, hate it, or don’t care about it? Most of you, about 44%, are indifferent, while the rest are evenly divided between love and hate.

The more I thought about the future of the Luce EV, the more I thought this might become a rage buy among those who can afford it and who Ferrari deems worthy of purchasing it.

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Offers!

looming on the horizon SpaceX An IPO is the deal of the decade, certainly for bankers and CEO Elon Musk. But it could also impact Tesla shareholders.

As part of the registration process for an IPO, a company often files several amendments before its public market debut. SpaceX has already offered a few. Our senior reporter Sean O’Kane has spotted a new sentence added to the S-1 document that has some big implications: “We may issue a significant amount of stock in connection with future transactions.”

While it’s certainly possible that SpaceX could use the $75 billion it’s expected to raise to snap up a variety of companies, the most likely target for M&A is Tesla. This sentence is included in the risk factors and appears to prepare future investors for the possibility of a significant dilution event. Read the full story.

There’s another interesting deal spotted by O’Kane – this time involving convoy and Slate Autothe electric car startup backed by Jeff Bezos. According to documents obtained by TechCrunch, it was Carvana Grant investment option In Slate Auto. As O’Kane points out in his article, this may indicate a deeper partnership between the two companies.

Other deals received more attention.

Layup partsa startup trying to become the Amazon of composite parts, It raised $42 million In a Series A funding round led by dual-use venture fund Marlinspike, with participation from new investors Cerberus Ventures and Pinegrove Venture Partners, in addition to existing backers Founders Fund and Lux ​​Capital.

Mach Industriesa three-year-old defense technology startup that now has five autonomous vehicles in development, Raised $300 million Series C at $1.8 billion valuation. The round was led by Infinite Capital and Ribbit Capital and includes support from Bedrock Capital, Sequoia Capital and Khosla Ventures.

Molvar Defense TechnologiesA Polish-Ukrainian defense startup developing anti-drone radar systems has closed the first tranche of its €2 million funding round. Swedish investor Front Ventures has pledged €1.5 million. Tech.Eu I mentioned.

Spiroan African electric mobility startup, raised $215 million in a round that pushed its value to nearly $1 billion. Bloomberg reported.

Notable Readings and Other Stories

Afried CEO Dmitry Polishchuk Share some stats About self-driving vehicle startups on LinkedIn. The company has completed 60,000 trips for Uber passengers in Dallas since its launch in December. (Avride robotaxis appears on the Uber app in Dallas.) The company’s fleet of vehicles, which includes concept cars and an Uber robo-taxi, has traveled more than 1.3 million miles, with 1 million of them covered in the first five months of 2026.

Electric e-bikes It launched its third brand in six months, an initiative into which the company has pumped about $10 million. How is this company, which was founded seven years ago, expanding while many other companies have faltered? I researched the company a bit and interviewed its co-founder to find out. Read the full story.

Uber The annual Lost & Found Index has provided a somewhat quirky anthropological snapshot of its riders over the past decade. This year, the company also released a list of items Left in robots Available through the Uber app. There are some strange items on the menu! It also got me thinking about how Uber is clearly finding every possible way to get into the emerging self-driving car industry and make money from it. To my point: Uber is planning to put… 500 vehicles to collect data On the road this year as part of the new AV Labs division.

Waymo He had some interesting news this week. It was one of her robots Used in robbery The case sheds some light on how Waymo handles all the rider footage it collects. The Alphabet-owned company announced a deal with B2U to use batteries from retired electric robotaxis Supporting electricity networks In California and Texas.

Woven capitalToyota Growth Fund has promoted Jarek Khoylian and Manas Bonhanni as lead managers. Reminder: Woven Capital has launched its website The second fund is worth $800 million In September 2025.

Another thing…

with Subaru When some new electric cars come out, I thought it would be a good idea to remind myself of what the original looked like. I’m talking about Solterra, which was born out of a partnership between Toyota and Subaru to develop a dedicated platform for battery electric vehicles.

I spent a week with Pearl White 2026 Subaru Solterra The Premium trim model starts at $38,495. Setting aside for a moment that my friend’s Ring camera identified the Solterra as a mini golf cart, this electric vehicle has something to offer. Yes, it’s basic. It certainly won’t roll off the line like a Tesla, Lucid, or Porsche Taycan. But she doesn’t need to.

The headline here is that Solterra has improved, and it really needed it.

The 2026 model has a host of notable updates that improve power, range and ease of use.

The front and rear motors have been updated—along with a new control unit that improves power distribution and control—and together they produce an improved 233 horsepower (the XT model pushes it up to 388 horsepower). Like most other electric cars, the Solterra now has an integrated NACS charging port, a system developed by Tesla. Range is also improved to an EPA-estimated 288 miles, which is notable considering Subaru only increased battery capacity by 2 kWh and was able to increase range by more than 50 miles. There is also a preset to prepare the battery for charging, which greatly improves charging time.

Subaru revamped the technology inside as well, adding a 14-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and making 15-watt wireless smartphone chargers standard.

Subaru doesn’t offer true one-pedal driving in the Solterra, which is the standard bearer for electric vehicles. Instead, Subaru has paddles located at the back of the steering wheel that allow you to increase regenerative braking if you want. But it won’t stop completely like other popular electric cars that feature one-pedal driving. While this may be put off by longtime EV owners, it may be more attractive to car buyers who want their EVs to perform like their old gas-powered cars.