TechCrunch Mobility: It doesn’t matter that people hate Ferrari Los

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If you’re a fan of electric cars or sports cars, you’ve surely seen the fight over Ferrari The first fully electric car, Los. Reaction has been swift and scathing for the five-seat electric car designed by an Apple veteran Jony Ive Its price is close to 650 thousand dollars.

Ferrari fans expressed their horror, critics compared it to the much cheaper Nissan Leaf, memes were created, and one of the car’s designers (Lucid’s Derek Jenkins) even threw some shade at the car.

Senior reporter Sean O’Kane asked a different question when the big Ferrari Lose debate blew up the Internet: Who is Lose for?

You’ll have to read the whole story to get his full details. But from my point of view, the more important question is whether the Luce is reserved for current Ferrari owners. After all, Ferrari owners often own more than one car. O’Kane points out that more than 80% of the 14,000 people who bought a Ferrari last year already own one of its cars.

According to Ferrari, there is demand for the electric car. Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna claims that the Luce is already receiving orders from old and new customers. Assuming demand outstrips the number of Luce EVs the automaker plans to build, the next question is, who will Ferrari choose? (Eekek)

Ferrari can be acquitted. Do you remember the Ferrari Purosangio, which was widely criticized when it was launched several years ago? This SUV is now considered a success. Sometimes it doesn’t matter if the product is hated. Ferrari doesn’t need global approval; It just needs enough buyers.

Let’s move from EVs to EVs.

new Texas The law allows the DMV agency to exercise more control over the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles in the state. Companies must now license AVs in the state, and the data is publicly available. Here’s what I found after spending some time using the AV tracker.

Waymo It is the leader by a large margin with 577 self-registered vehicles, followed by Afried With 317, Nuru With 47 and Tesla With 42. Self-driving truck companies Aurora, Jatic I, Kodiak AIand My father can also be found. (For all the details, you can read my story.)

Fleet size is just one metric – and it certainly doesn’t always translate into who has the most wins. After all, many of these companies have never launched commercial services in the state.

I’m most interested in the complaints feature of this new tool, which is also public record. To date, no complaints have been filed against the above-mentioned companies.

Offers!

A new single asset fund he manages Capital processing It has acquired a majority stake in the European e-scooter operator Raid technology. Goldman Sachs Alternatives is the lead investor.

Harley davidson Sub electric motorcycle Livewire Got electric start off road Moto dust. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Maternitan autonomous drone delivery company, raised $33 million in a private placement offering and completed a reverse merger with Los Altos Ventures Corp.

revelthe electric vehicle charging company that closed its passenger transportation business last August, is merging with Volterra. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the combined company will operate under the Voltera brand and be led by Revel CEO Frank Rigg, Bloomberg reported.

StarkA German drone maker is in talks to raise at least 300 million euros ($350 million), a round that could double its value to 2.5 billion euros, the Financial Times reported.

Volara Motorsport Groupa holding company focused on motorsports and performance, has acquired Lynx Motor Works, an Austin, Texas-based company that makes limited-production and re-engined classic cars.

WeRoada Milan-based group adventure travel startup, has raised $58 million in a Series C round led by Airbnb. This brings the company’s total capital raised to nearly $100 million and will fund WeRoad’s move into the United States, starting with Austin.

Notable Readings and Other Stories

American Airlines SpaceX will install Starlink on more than 500 Airbus narrowbody aircraft starting early next year, and is the latest airline to choose a SpaceX module for in-flight Wi-Fi. The deal provides a financial boost to Starlink, the space communications network and SpaceX’s only business unit with significant revenues.

Rivian It said it would begin deliveries of its new R2 SUV on June 9. Meanwhile, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating Rivian over how the electric car maker services the rear suspension components of its vehicles.

Slate Auto It is expected to announce pricing and start taking non-refundable pre-orders for its low-cost electric vehicle on June 24. Deliveries are expected to take place later this year.

Volvo cars The company has obtained a specifications permit from the Ministry of Commerce allowing the Swedish automaker, in which China’s Geely Holding Group holds a majority stake, to continue importing and selling its vehicles in the United States. The law, finalized in January 2025, effectively bans all Chinese vehicles from entering the US market as part of a crackdown on connected car technology with ties to China.

Waymo It has begun giving select riders in Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Francisco access to its newest robo-taxi: an all-electric minivan-like vehicle designed to cut costs and handle the use and abuse of hundreds of thousands of passengers. I had the opportunity to ride in the vehicle, a modified pickup truck made by Zicker called the Ojai (pronounced oh-hai). Stay tuned for my full review, which will be up this weekend. Here’s a teaser: Robotaxis has long had a magic problem. Ojai robotaxi starts to solve the problem.

Another thing…

It’s poll time! Maybe you secretly love Ferrari Luce and don’t want to be trolled. Maybe you hate it. We asked newsletter readers to share their opinions.

Sign up for the Mobility newsletter to participate in our surveys!

And now there’s something else, real this time. Last week, I asked our newsletter readers: “Will SpaceX and Tesla merge?” Here’s how they answered. More than 51% chose “yes, within two years”; 34% chose “never”; And 14.5% chose “yes this year.” This means that more than 65% believe that merger is inevitable.