TechCrunch Mobility: Inside GM’s $900M EV battery gamble

TechCrunch Mobility：深入了解通用汽车 9 亿美元的电动汽车电池赌注

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! 欢迎回到 TechCrunch Mobility——您获取交通未来新闻与见解的中心枢纽。如需在收件箱中接收此内容，请点击此处免费注册——只需点击 TechCrunch Mobility！

Senior reporter (and resident battery expert) Tim De Chant traveled to General Motors’ sprawling Warren Technical Center outside Detroit to learn more about the automaker’s plans to reduce the cost of its next slate of EVs. The upshot: GM is banking on LMR batteries and a new Battery Cell Development Center that is viewed as the bridge between its R&D efforts and full-scale production. Kurt Kelty, GM’s VP of battery and sustainability, provided fresh details about the company’s $900 million initiative and how this new chemistry will preserve range while slashing costs. For instance, the Chevrolet Silverado EV could be $6,000 cheaper. Read the story here. 资深记者（兼驻站电池专家）Tim De Chant 前往底特律郊外通用汽车庞大的沃伦技术中心，深入了解这家汽车制造商降低下一代电动汽车成本的计划。结论是：通用汽车正押注于 LMR（富锂锰基）电池，并建立了一个新的电池单元开发中心，该中心被视为其研发工作与全面生产之间的桥梁。通用汽车电池与可持续发展副总裁 Kurt Kelty 提供了关于该公司 9 亿美元计划的最新细节，并解释了这种新化学技术如何在降低成本的同时保持续航里程。例如，雪佛兰 Silverado EV 的价格有望降低 6,000 美元。点击此处阅读全文。

As with most companies these days, AI also makes a cameo appearance. Although I should note that AI plays more than just a supporting role at GM. I recently interviewed Sterling Anderson, GM’s chief product officer, and Jason Fischer, who is executive director of virtual integration engineering, about some of the changes inside the company and how it’s using AI. That story is coming next week, but I’ll give you a bit of a teaser. GM is using a collection of outside AI models, as well as ones it has created in-house that can be used across large swaths of the business and that — here’s the punchline — will speed up its vehicle development cycle. I’ll have more details in my article, and don’t worry, if you miss it, I will highlight it in next week’s newsletter. 与如今大多数公司一样，人工智能也在此次报道中客串登场。不过我必须指出，人工智能在通用汽车扮演的角色远不止是辅助。我最近采访了通用汽车首席产品官 Sterling Anderson 和虚拟集成工程执行总监 Jason Fischer，探讨了公司内部的一些变革以及对人工智能的应用。相关报道将于下周发布，但我先为您透露一点：通用汽车正在使用一系列外部人工智能模型，以及内部开发、可应用于公司大范围业务的模型，最重要的是——这将加快其车辆开发周期。我将在文章中提供更多细节，别担心，如果您错过了，我会在下周的通讯中重点提及。

Finally, last week I wrote about the Ferrari Luce EV and how it doesn’t matter that it has been so widely criticized. I got some wonderful emails from you all on the topic — thanks! The poll, however, showed that as much coverage as the Luce received, many of you really don’t care about it. In the poll I asked, ‘Do you love it, hate it, or indifferent to it?’ Most of you, about 44%, are indifferent, while the remainder are equally split between love and hate. The more I think about the future of the Luce EV, the more I think this might become a ragebait purchase among those who can afford it and are deemed worthy by Ferrari to buy it. To get the Mobility newsletter directly in your inbox and to participate in our polls, sign up here. 最后，上周我写了关于法拉利 Luce 电动汽车的文章，并提到它受到广泛批评其实并不重要。我收到了大家关于这个话题的精彩邮件——谢谢！然而，民意调查显示，尽管 Luce 获得了大量报道，但你们中的许多人并不关心它。在调查中我问：“你喜欢它、讨厌它，还是对它无感？”大多数人（约 44%）表示无感，其余的人则在喜欢和讨厌之间平分秋色。我越思考 Luce 电动汽车的未来，就越觉得它可能会成为那些买得起且被法拉利认为有资格购买的人群中的一种“愤怒诱饵”式消费。如需直接在收件箱中接收 Mobility 通讯并参与我们的投票，请点击此处注册。

Deals! / 交易动态！

The looming SpaceX IPO is the deal of the decade, certainly for the bankers and for CEO Elon Musk. But it could also affect Tesla shareholders. As part of the IPO registration process, a company will often file numerous amendments before making its public markets debut. SpaceX has filed a few already. And our eagle-eyed senior reporter Sean O’Kane spotted a new sentence added to the S-1 document that has some big implications: “We may issue a significant amount of equity in connection with future transactions.” While it is certainly possible that SpaceX will use the $75 billion it is expected to raise to snap up a variety of companies, the most likely M&A target is Tesla. This sentence was included in the risk factors and appears to be preparing future investors for the possibility of a major dilution event. Read the full story. 即将到来的 SpaceX IPO 是十年一遇的交易，这对银行家和首席执行官埃隆·马斯克来说无疑是如此，但也可能影响特斯拉的股东。作为 IPO 注册过程的一部分，公司通常会在首次公开募股前提交多次修订。SpaceX 已经提交了几份。我们目光敏锐的资深记者 Sean O’Kane 在 S-1 文件中发现了一个新增加的句子，具有重大含义：“我们可能会在未来的交易中发行大量股权。”虽然 SpaceX 很有可能利用预计筹集的 750 亿美元去收购各种公司，但最可能的并购目标是特斯拉。这句话被包含在风险因素中，似乎是在为未来的投资者预警可能发生的大规模稀释事件。点击阅读全文。

There is another interesting deal spotted by O’Kane — this time involving Carvana and Slate Auto, the electric vehicle startup backed by Jeff Bezos. According to documents obtained by TechCrunch, Carvana has been granted the option to invest in Slate Auto. As O’Kane notes in his article, this could hint at a deeper partnership between the two companies. O’Kane 还发现了另一笔有趣的交易——这次涉及 Carvana 和杰夫·贝索斯支持的电动汽车初创公司 Slate Auto。根据 TechCrunch 获得的文件，Carvana 已获得投资 Slate Auto 的选择权。正如 O’Kane 在文章中所指出的，这可能暗示了两家公司之间存在更深层次的合作关系。

Other deals that got more attention… 其他受到关注的交易……

Layup Parts, a startup trying to become the Amazon of composite parts, raised $42 million in a Series A funding round led by dual-use venture fund Marlinspike, with participation from new investors Cerberus Ventures and Pinegrove Venture Partners, as well as existing backers Founders Fund and Lux Capital. Layup Parts 是一家试图成为复合材料零件领域“亚马逊”的初创公司，在由军民两用风险投资基金 Marlinspike 领投的 A 轮融资中筹集了 4200 万美元，新投资者 Cerberus Ventures 和 Pinegrove Venture Partners 以及现有支持者 Founders Fund 和 Lux Capital 参与了投资。
Mach Industries, the three-year-old defense tech startup that now has five autonomous vehicles in development, raised a $300 million Series C at a $1.8 billion valuation. The round was led by Infinite Capital and Ribbit Capital and includes backing from Bedrock Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Khosla Ventures. Mach Industries 是一家成立三年的国防科技初创公司，目前有五款自动驾驶车辆正在开发中，以 18 亿美元的估值完成了 3 亿美元的 C 轮融资。本轮融资由 Infinite Capital 和 Ribbit Capital 领投，Bedrock Capital、红杉资本和 Khosla Ventures 参投。
Molfar Defence Technologies, a Polish-Ukrainian defense startup developing anti-drone radar systems, closed the first tranche of its €2 million funding round. Swedish investor Front Ventures committed €1.5 million, Tech.Eu reported. Molfar Defence Technologies 是一家开发反无人机雷达系统的波兰-乌克兰国防初创公司，完成了其 200 万欧元融资的第一阶段。据 Tech.Eu 报道，瑞典投资者 Front Ventures 承诺投资 150 万欧元。
Spiro, the African electric mobility startup, raised $215 million in a round that pushed its valuation close to $1 billion, Bloomberg reported. 据彭博社报道，非洲电动出行初创公司 Spiro 筹集了 2.15 亿美元，使其估值接近 10 亿美元。

Notable reads and other tidbits / 值得一读及其他花絮

Avride CEO Dmitry Polishchuk shared a few stats about the autonomous vehicle startup on LinkedIn. The company has completed 60,000 trips for Uber riders in Dallas since launching in December. (Avride robotaxis show up on the Uber app in Dallas.) The company’s fleet of vehicles, which includes test cars and the Uber robotaxis, has driven more than 1.3 million miles, with a million of that covered in the first five months of 2026. Avride 首席执行官 Dmitry Polishchuk 在 LinkedIn 上分享了关于这家自动驾驶初创公司的一些数据。自 12 月推出以来，该公司已为达拉斯的 Uber 用户完成了 6 万次行程。（Avride 自动驾驶出租车会出现在达拉斯的 Uber 应用中。）该公司的车队（包括测试车和 Uber 自动驾驶出租车）行驶里程已超过 130 万英里，其中 100 万英里是在 2026 年的前五个月内完成的。

Lectric eBikes launched its third brand in six months — an initiative the company has sunk about $10 million into. How is this seven-year-old company expanding while so many others tanked? I dug into the company a bit and interviewed its co-founder to find out. Read the full story. Lectric eBikes 在六个月内推出了第三个品牌——该公司为此投入了约 1000 万美元。这家成立七年的公司是如何在许多同行倒闭的情况下实现扩张的？我深入研究了该公司并采访了其联合创始人以寻找答案。点击阅读全文。

Uber’s annual Lost & Found Index has provided a rather quirky anthropological snapshot of its riders over the past decade. This year, the company also released a list of items left in robotaxis that are available via the Uber app. There are some odd items on the list! It also got me thinking about how Uber is clearly finding every way possible to push into — and make money from — the nascent autonomous vehicle industry. To my point: Uber is planning to put 500 data-collection vehicles on the road this year as part of its new AV Labs division. Waymo had a couple of interesting news item. Uber 的年度失物招领指数为过去十年其乘客提供了一份相当奇特的人类学快照。今年，该公司还发布了一份通过 Uber 应用可找回的、遗落在自动驾驶出租车上的物品清单。清单上有一些奇怪的东西！这也让我思考 Uber 是如何想尽一切办法打入并从新兴的自动驾驶行业中获利的。我的观点是：Uber 计划今年在其新的 AV Labs 部门下投放 500 辆数据采集车辆。Waymo 也有几条有趣的新闻。