welcome to TechCrunch Mobility, your weekly roundup of the biggest moves in transportation and mobility.
This week, all eyes are on the September 30 expiration of the federal EV tax credit. Analysts expect automakers to respond quickly with incentives to keep demand steady once subsidies wind down.
Meanwhile, Serve Robotics has acquired Vayu Robotics, a startup specializing in AI foundation models and simulation-powered robotics. Sources estimate the deal was worth $45 million to $50 million.
Related: Waymo Secures First-Ever Permit to Test Autonomous Vehicles in New York City
On the funding front, Nuro closed a $203 million Series E round with backing from Nvidia, Baillie Gifford, Icehouse Ventures, Kindred Ventures, and Pledge Ventures. A portion of Uber’s previously announced multimillion-dollar investment went into the round.
Notable industry updates include:
- Hertz listing pre-owned vehicles on Amazon Autos.
- Tesla working on an in-car voice assistant powered by DeepSeek and ByteDance’s Doubao.
- Volkswagen facing a U.S. lawsuit over steering wheel button sensitivity.
- Waymo receiving a permit to begin autonomous testing in New York City.
- Zipline x Chipotle partnership launching drone-powered food delivery in Dallas.
And don’t miss Vanity Fair’s feature on Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana, ahead of her upcoming appearance at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 (October 27–29, San Francisco).
