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TechCrunch Mobility: Ford’s big bet

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Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda

Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise.

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TechCrunch Mobility: Ford’s big bet Kirsten Korosec AM PDT · August 19, 2025 Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility!

Ford made its big EV announcement early this week — a plan to invest $2 billion to transform its Louisville Assembly Plant into a factory capable of making a new generation of affordable EVs, starting with a midsize pickup truck with a base price of $30,000 that is slated to launch in 2027.

Amid the presentations from various executives, union leaders, and employees, CEO Jim Farley said something I couldn’t quite shake:

“There are no guarantees with this project. We’re doing so many new things, I can’t tell you with 100% uncertainty that this will all go just right; it is a bet. There is risk.”

The bet? The company put together a skunkworks team, which worked for a couple of years to find a way to build a line of affordable electric vehicles that could be made in the United States faster, more efficiently, and with fewer parts, all while preserving profit margins. To do that, the company has scrapped the century-old system that made Ford a household name and developed a new three-pronged assembly line that uses more automation and unicastings.

Ford, like many other automakers, is being squeezed

Ford can’t really use this manufacturing technique at other factories, since it is pinned to how the vehicle is designed and then split into three unicastings — a major departure from the method used to assemble its other vehicles. What this means is we’re witnessing a $5 billion experiment ($3 billion for the LFP battery factory and $2 billion for Louisville) to keep jobs in the United States.

Techcrunch event Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $600+ before prices rise. Tech and VC heavyweights join the Disrupt 2025 agenda Netflix, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Sequoia Capital — just a few of the heavy hitters joining the Disrupt 2025 agenda. They’re here to deliver the insights that fuel startup growth and sharpen your edge. Don’t miss the 20th anniversary of TechCrunch Disrupt, and a chance to learn from the top voices in tech — grab your ticket now and save up to $675 before prices rise. San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025 REGISTER NOW A little bird A few little birds told us that rental car startup Kyte, which once billed itself as the “best alternative to Hertz,” is no longer operating.

The startup was already in trouble late last year after slashing

That has apparently left a number of customers in the lurch who had already booked rentals through Kyte; Turo told TechCrunch it is only responsible for the assets it purchased — not any financial claims against the now-defunct Kyte.

Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec.com or my Signal at kkorosec.07, or Sean O’Kane at sean.okane.com.

Bumper, a U.K.-based buy now, pay later platform for car servicing and repairs, raised $10.8 million in a Series B extension funding led

Chowdeck, a Lagos-based food delivery startup, raised $9 million in Series A funding led

Eve Air Mobility — the urban air mobility company, announced a $230 million capital raise and dual listing in the U.S. and Brazil. The company has raised $1 billion to date.

Ultraviolette, the Indian electric motorcycle startup, raised $21 million in an all-equity round led

Via has filed its S-1 paperwork on its road to IPO. The transit software company has not yet determined the number of shares to be offered or the price range. This dropped just as I was sending out this newsletter, so I haven’t read through the entire doc yet. A couple of items worth noting, though: The company’s revenue grew 35% to $337 million from 2023 to 2024. Its net loss narrowed to $90 million over the same time period. And CEO Daniel Ramot’s 2024 compensation package, which includes stock grants, is $9.5 million. Per the footnotes, the company is issuing him an additional grant package for 2025 and a cash bonus program.

WeRide, the Chinese autonomous vehicle company, has secured an investment from Grab. The companies did not disclose the investment amount. WeRide said the funds will help speed deployment and commercialization of Level 4 robotaxis and shuttles in Southeast Asia.

Foxconn will no longer build electric tractors for California startup Monarch Tractor after the Taiwanese tech giant recently sold its Ohio factory to SoftBank. History lesson: Foxconn had planned to establish an electric vehicle contract manufacturing operation at the factory and Monarch was one of four companies it was working with. The other three (Lordstown Motors, Fisker, and IndiEV) have all gone bankrupt.

Some high-profile executive shuffling is underway. Self-driving truck maker Waabi hired Uber Freight CEO Lior Ron (who has a long and interesting history in the AV world) as chief operating officer. Rebecca Tinucci, who previously spent six years building Tesla’s charging network, has taken over as head of Uber Freight. Ron will stay on as Uber Freight’s chairman.

A spending freeze on the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program has thawed after months of uncertainty. The Trump administration has finally issued new guidance that states can use to dole out $5 billion in funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, after spending months withholding the money.

Rapido, a popular ride-hailing platform in India, is beta-testing its food delivery service in Bengaluru in a challenge to market leaders Swiggy and Zomato.

How many pivots can one company make in its lifetime? Revel is testing the bounds of that question. The company, which started out as an electric scooter rental service, has shut down its ride-hailing service in New York City. Revel will instead focus on its nascent EV charging business.

A bit more on the “Tesla Dojo is dead” news that I wrote about last week. Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla has disbanded the team working on its Dojo AI training supercomputer, just weeks after announcing he expected to have Tesla’s second cluster operating “at scale” in 2026. Tesla is shifting its focus to its AI5 and AI6 chips, which are being manufactured

Riding in a Waymo robotaxi is a modern, even futuristic, experience for customers. With one exception: the music.

The Autonocast, the other podcast I co-host (I’m also on TechCrunch Equity) that is focused on the future of transportation, had another episode that I think you’ll be keen to listen to. This time, we interview Nuro co-founder and president Dave Ferguson.

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Kirsten Korosec Transportation Editor

October 27-29, 2025 San Francisco Put your brand in front of 10,000+ tech and VC leaders across all three days of Disrupt 2025. Amplify your reach, spark real connections, and lead the innovation charge. Secure your exhibit space before your competitor does.

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