Maryland Won't Require Uber, Lyft To Conduct Fingerprint-Based Background Checks

Maryland residents who rely on ride-sharing apps to get around town can still use Lyft and Uber, after a state commission Thursday exempted the companies from a fingerprint-based background check that taxicab drivers must submit to. The regulatory stand by Uber and Lyft rivaled a fight earlier this year in...

Sep 10, 2025

Google Mishap Traps California Limo Driver in 'Lyft Hell'

“Hello? Hold on one second ...” “Uh, hi, yeah, one second ...” “Sorry, I have to take this ...” “You need a ri—sorry I’ll be right back.” Earlier this month, this was the life of Matthais Leul, who is a limo driver in California. He is not Lyft HQ, though...

Sep 10, 2025

Uber Has Had A No-Good Very Bad Month

A driver , reports of , losing what’s essentially a with California regulators. For a year that’s basically been the equivalent of bad performance art, Uber is finding numerous ways to end 2016 on a sour note. In Michigan, there was Jacob Allemon, a 23-year-old Uber driver who was charged...

Sep 10, 2025

Obama Trying To Make Life Hell for Trump on Auto Regulations: Report

During his campaign, Donald Trump pledged to reduce regulations on U.S. businesses in ways that could . But as a parting gift to Trump, President Barack Obama is pushing through various last-minute initiatives that could make it harder for him to do that. That’s according to , which reported that...

Sep 10, 2025

The Biggest Car Technology Stories Of The Year And What's Next

As this whirlwind pile-of-shit year comes to a close, it’s probably best to remember that, if you squint hard enough, a silver lining can appear and make you forget momentarily the imminent doom that lays ahead. 2016 was all about the continued convergence of the auto and tech sectors, and...

Sep 10, 2025

Here’s How Much More Advanced Ford’s New Driverless Fusion Is Than The Old One

Ford announced on Wednesday that it will debut the second generation self-driving Fusion Hybrid at next month’s CES conference, and the vehicle it’s touting comes equipped with a load of new technology to push the company along toward its goal of selling an autonomous vehicle by 2021. The company also...

Sep 10, 2025

Lyft Driver Charged In Stabbing Shouldn't Have Been Eligible To Even Work

In a month where ride-sharing companies almost considered leaving a state entirely over background check policies, this latest incident is likely to reignite questions about the companies’ own efforts: A Boston Lyft driver who’s accused of stabbing a passenger on Christmas Day had a prior conviction that, according to Lyft’s...

Sep 10, 2025

LeEco Breaks Ground On Chinese Factory Despite The Fact It Can't Legally Produce Cars Yet: Report

, the Chinese billionaire bolstering Faraday Future’s operations has no money. But , whose owner Jia Yuentig is behind the Silicon Valley car startup, reportedly received $1.44 billion from an unidentified investor on the same day it broke ground on a new electric car factory in China. The South China...

Sep 10, 2025

Tesla's Ability To Sell Cars In Missouri In Limbo After Local Court Ruling

This year marked Tesla’s foray into to win the right to sell vehicles using the direct sales model the company prefers. Until that’s settled, however, roadblocks for the company remain: In Missouri this week, Tesla’s license to sell cars in its Missouri showroom expired, following a local judge’s decision —...

Sep 10, 2025

Watch The Faraday Future FF 91’s Embarrassing Self-Parking Fail Onstage

Oy. During a seemingly interminable presentation for the big reveal of its data-point named first production car, the FF 91, the company’s senior vice president of R&D and engineering, Nick Sampson, appeared on stage with the company’s main financier, Jia Yueting. Sampson asked it to park itself. It did not....

Sep 10, 2025

Tesla's Gigafactory Is Now Actively Cranking Out Batteries

For a company that’s , Tesla hit the mark on Wednesday with its enormous plans for the : production has begun inside the currently-1.9 million square foot facility on Tesla’s first battery cells, which will power everything from its energy storage products to the Model 3 sedan. “With the Gigafactory...

Sep 10, 2025

Faraday Future Exec: 1400 Employees Dependent On Us Securing Financing For Factory

Bill Strickland had a long career at Ford and Fiat Chrysler before jumping ship last fall to Silicon Valley electric vehicle startup . And before Tuesday night’s extravagant but reveal for FF’s production vehicle, he chatted with us about his experience so far and why he feels the company is...

Sep 10, 2025

Reddit AMA Reveals The Feds Are Working On Advisory Committee To Figure Out Self-Driving Car Problems

In a session with outgoing US Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx, it was revealed that an advisory committee is being formed to of software-driven autonomous cars under our nation’s laws. The formation of an “advisory committee on automation” was mentioned by Secretary Foxx in a response to a Reddit user...

Sep 10, 2025

Toyota Concept-I Is A Self-Aware Car That Might Be C-3PO’s Cousin

Automakers rebranding cars as “mobility products” that make driving more like surfing the internet was the story of last year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Doesn’t look like that’s changed in 2017, but the Toyota Concept-I takes the idea of a car as a “companion” a little further. It’s... conversational. At first...

Sep 10, 2025

Riding In Faraday Future's FF 91 Prototype Looks Terrifyingly Quick

Faraday Future showed up to CES this year with a real car that seemingly actually exists, claiming some absolutely absurd performance figures during its hour-and-a-half long presentation. Riding along in such a quick car looks pretty terrifying. Our friend over at got to go for a ride, and they streamed...

Sep 10, 2025