Tesla is designing its own computer chip for self-driving cars: report

Tesla Enhanced AutopilotEarly last year, with promises of self-driving cars in owners' hands well before any competitor, development of the Tesla Autopilot system for the maker's electric cars was proceeding nicely. Then, in May 2016, a dedicated Tesla owner was killed in a Florida crash when his Tesla Model S, operating on Autopilot, hit a tractor-trailer rig broadside...

Apple self-driving car plans emerge: how will it play with automakers?

Liviu Tudoran's Last year, techies, auto journalists, and Apple fans spent a great deal of time debating the existence, technology, and potential prospects of an "Apple car" project that the company never officially acknowledged. The idea that Apple would move from fast-turn, high-volume, very profitable consumer electronics into long-cycle, insanely expensive...

Tesla CEO Elon Musk named to Trump’s business-leader forum

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk at Tesla Store opening in Westfield Mall, London, Oct 2013Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been appointed to a forum of business leaders being assembled by President-elect Donald Trump. The addition of Musk and two other notable business personalities was announced Wednesday by Trump's transition team, shortly before a meeting between the President-elect and several Silicon Valley executives, including Musk. The...

Tesla CEO Musk, other Silicon Valley execs, to meet Trump Wednesday

'Revenge of the Electric Car' premiere: Elon Musk arrives in a Tesla RoadsterTesla CEO Elon Musk is among a roster of chief executives from Silicon Valley set to meet with president-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday, according to news reports. Musk has suggested that climate change is among the most urgent challenges facing mankind, one reason his company makes only zero-emission electric cars. The president-elect, on the...

Atieva now Lucid Motors; plans 300-mile, 900-hp electric car

Teaser for Lucid electric carChinese-backed startup Atieva has changed its name to Lucid Motors, and revealed more details about its planned electric car. From what we know so far, that car will be a fast luxury sedan with a range of around 300 miles, putting it in competition with the Tesla Model S. The company now known as Lucid is one of several startups aiming to repeat...

Apple Car always faced insanely great odds, now apparently dead

Liviu Tudoran's For the past couple of years, rumors about a potential Apple Car have garnered as much attention as any new product from an established automaker. Which is impressive, because Apple never confirmed the existence of the car—often called "Project Titan" and thought to be an autonomous vehicle with an all-electric powertrain. Whatever plans...

Atieva Atvus electric car image emerges; is it Tesla competition?

Atvus electric car to be built by Atieva  [image: Recode, via California public-records request]There's no shortage of putative rivals to electric-car maker Tesla Motors, from German luxury makers to other California startups. Thus far, of course, none have actually put a car on sale—unlike Tesla, which has sold somewhere north of 125,000 cars since 2008. One of the least-known is Chinese-backed Atieva, located in Silicon Valley since...

Atieva Atvus electric car image emerges; is it Tesla competition?

Atvus electric car to be built by Atieva  [image: Recode, via California public-records request]There's no shortage of putative rivals to electric-car maker Tesla Motors, from German luxury makers to other California startups. Thus far, of course, none have actually put a car on sale—unlike Tesla, which has sold somewhere north of 125,000 cars since 2008. One of the least-known is Chinese-backed Atieva, located in Silicon Valley since...

Maybe Apple and Google won’t take over the car industry after all?

Google's autonomous Lexus RX450hOver the past few years, a common refrain among analysts and pundits has been that the future of the U.S. car industry lies not in Detroit, but in Silicon Valley. With their nimbleness and more aggressive attitudes, as well as expertise with emerging technologies related to autonomous driving and connectivity, tech companies will soon give...