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Greater than a month in the past, I requested you, pricey reader, the way you thought EV gross sales would play out as soon as the $7,500 federal tax credit score expired on September 30. The vast majority of those that responded to the ballot predicted that EV gross sales would fall off a cliff.
Now, it’s too early to inform but; we’re only a few days previous the top of the quarter. However the expiring tax credit score did give many automakers a little bit of a gross sales bump as customers raced to purchase EVs earlier than the deadline.
Tesla, which has seen gross sales development diminish, simply registered its greatest quarter of deliveries ever at 497,099 automobiles. That’s an enormous 29% leap from the second quarter, a few 7% improve over the identical interval final yr, and greater than it has ever delivered in a single quarter.
Ford Motor, Common Motors, and Hyundai additionally reported report quarterly gross sales of EVs. Rivian noticed deliveries leap to 13,201 automobiles, up from 10,661 and eight,640 within the second and first quarters, respectively.
The looming query is how will automakers navigate a potential slowdown in EV gross sales on this post-tax credit score period? Rivian has already adjusted its steering down for 2025. Others might observe.
The crux for automakers is methods to eliminate stock as the brand new 2026 fashions are available in with out decreasing or eliminating revenue margins (and in some circumstances deepening the losses)?
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October 27-29, 2025
Just a little hen
The Division of Power canceled 321 clear vitality initiatives however wasn’t sharing the main points with TechCrunch or the general public. Fortunately, just a little hen shared the entire listing of awards the Trump administration had canceled, and the outcomes have been revealing.
Altogether, the canceled awards totaled $7.56 billion, with California bearing the brunt, shedding $2.2 billion value of grants, together with a $630 million grid-modernization program that might have turn out to be a template for the nation. Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Oregon rounded out the highest eight, shedding between $300 million and $600 million every.
It wasn’t till farther down the listing {that a} crimson state popped up. Certainly, nearly all of initiatives have been sited in states that had voted for Kamala Harris within the final presidential election, one thing many media retailers reported after Workplace of Administration and Price range chief Russell Vought tweeted as a lot.
However even in blue states, some awards caught, probably attributable to political connections with the Trump administration or aligned pursuits. Regardless of the case, the transfer by the DOE suggests the federal government could be a much less dependable companion for companies, particularly small startups.
Acquired a tip for us? E mail Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Sign at kkorosec.07, or e mail Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.
Offers!
Toyota might not be the primary firm that springs to thoughts when one thinks about startups. However maybe it ought to be.
The Japanese automaker is committing $1.5 billion in new capital to concentrate on, and put money into, the life cycle of startups — from the primary seeds of an invention by way of its development stage and ultimately to mature firms.
Toyota has created a strategic funding subsidiary known as Toyota Invention Companions Co. with about $670 million in capital, whereas its growth-stage enterprise arm Woven Capital launched a second $800 million fund.
I spoke to Woven Capital normal companion George Kellerman about Toyota’s capital dedication and its funding technique. He described Toyota Invention Companions as a bookend of kinds to the corporate’s different funding organizations. Try my article to study why.
Different offers that obtained my consideration …
Keep in mind Einride, the Swedish startup recognized for its unusual-looking electrical and autonomous pods? The corporate continues to be plugging alongside and has now raised $100 million from a number of new and current buyers, together with its largest shareholder, EQT Ventures. The increase included an undisclosed strategic funding from quantum computing firm IonQ. It’s value noting that whereas $100 million is a whole lot of coin, it’s far decrease than the $500 million in fairness and debt it raised a couple of years in the past.
Electroflow, a startup creating a less expensive LFP battery, raised $10 million in a seed spherical led by Union Sq. Ventures and Voyager with participation from Fifty Years and Harpoon Ventures.
Flai, a San Francisco-based AI-for-car-dealerships startup, raised a $4.5 million seed spherical led by Liz Wessel at First Spherical Capital. YC, RedBlue Capital, Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures, and Innovation Endeavors additionally joined.
This extremely uncommon deal is changing into extra frequent below the Trump administration. The Division of Power took a 5% fairness stake in Canadian firm Lithium Americas and a 5% stake in its Nevada mining three way partnership with Common Motors as a part of a renegotiation of a $2.26 billion federal mortgage. This follows the federal authorities taking fairness stakes in Intel and MP Supplies.
The U.Ok. authorities will assure a industrial financial institution mortgage of £1.5 billion ($2 billion) for carmaking big Jaguar Land Rover after a hack pressured the corporate to close down its manufacturing traces and left downstream suppliers prone to chapter.
Early-stage deep tech fund Wave Operate Ventures closed its first fund of $15.1 million. Senior reporter Sean O’Kane profiles its founder Jamie Gull and his path from aerospace engineer to VC.
Notable reads and different tidbits
Two Amazon Prime Air supply drones collided with the increase of a crane close to its same-day website in Tolleson, Arizona — the corporate’s one industrial location. Federal businesses are investigating, and after a short lived pause, Amazon has restarted the service.
DoorDash has spent years engaged on an autonomous supply robotic that may navigate roads, bike lanes, and sidewalks. Senior AI reporter Max Zeff hung out with “Dot” and Ashu Rege, a former govt on the Amazon-owned AV firm Zoox, who now leads DoorDash’s autonomy division.
Faraday Future nonetheless exists and we all know this as a result of one of many troubled EV startup’s electrical SUVs caught hearth at its Los Angeles headquarters, resulting in an explosion that blew out a part of a wall.
The Trump administration’s crackdown in Chicago is affecting the gig economic system, the founding father of e-bike subscription startup Whizz tells TechCrunch.
Waymo scored a regulatory win in New York Metropolis and obtained an extension for its testing allow.
WestJet, Canada’s second largest airline, stated the non-public data of 1.2 million passengers was stolen in a cyberattack and knowledge breach.
Zoox will begin mapping the streets of Washington, D.C., because it ramps as much as start testing its self-driving automobiles within the nation’s capital this yr.
Another factor …
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025is only a few weeks away. I hope you come and say hello! And sure, there are some noteworthy transportation people who will likely be on our stage, together with Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana, Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun, Wayve co-founder and CEO Alex Kendall, and Slate CEO Chris Barman.
Within the weeks main as much as the occasion, we’ve been showcasing among the Startup Battlefield 200 firms, together with Hance, a startup engaged on low energy-consuming, on-device processing that’s already attracted the likes of Intel.