Waymo founder and former CEO John Krafcik is a critic of Tesla’s approach to self-driving, and he has so far accurately predicted the rollout of the “Robotaxi” service.

He is now taking another dig at Tesla.

Krafcik is a highly respected leader in the auto industry. He began his career as a mechanical engineer at the NUMMI plant, which was then a joint GM-Toyota factory, but is now owned by Tesla.

He spent 14 years at Ford, where he was chief engineer of the Ford Expedition and Lincoln Navigator, a very successful vehicle program. He then moved to Hyundai America, where he served as President for five years.

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However, Krafcik is best known for leading Waymo from 2015 to 2021, helping it become the consensus leader in self-driving technology.

Ahead of Tesla’s rollout of its so-called “Robotaxi” service in Austin in June, Krafcik suggested that Tesla could fake the service:

“There are many ways to fake a robotaxi service.”

He wasn’t exactly wrong.

There’s a Tesla employee in the front seat of every “Robotaxi” in the fleet, which is only about a dozen vehicles, based on crowdsource data, which is the only data available, as Tesla doesn’t release any.

Those supervisors in the front seat have their fingers on a kill switch ready to stop the vehicle at all times, and there are many examples of them intervening to prevent accidents or traffic violations.

In new comments (via Business Insider), Krafcik makes it clear that he doesn’t consider this to be a “robotaxi” service:

“Please let me know when Tesla launches a robotaxi — I’m still waiting. It’s (rather obviously) not a robotaxi if there’s an employee inside the car.”

More recently, Tesla expanded its “Robotaxi” service area to the Bay Area in California, but it again has an employee in the car, this time in the driver’s seat.

Krafcik commented:

“If they were striving to re-create today’s Bay Area Uber experience, looks like they’ve absolutely nailed it.”

He continued:

“I think the AV industry would be delighted if Tesla followed Waymo’s approach to launch a robotaxi service, but they are not doing that.”

Furthermore, Tesla has been limiting access to “invite-only” and the invites have been primarily going to Tesla influencers and investors who are rarely critical of the company.

CEO Elon Musk has been discussing “opening up” the service in Austin to the public next month, but it appears that Tesla will need to retain the in-car supervisor for the foreseeable future.

Electrek’s Take

It must be a bit frustrating for Waymo, which has deployed an actual robotaxi service for years, to see Tesla calling this a robotaxi.

When Waymo was using in-car “safety drivers’, it didn’t call its service “robotaxi.” It was obviously in the testing phase.

If Tesla were to remove the safety drivers, which I suggest they don’t, based on the current disengagement rate of FSD and the interventions we have seen from supervisors in the currently minimal “Robotaxi” service in Austin, it would officially be about 5 years behind Waymo.

The argument that Tesla will magically scale faster because they don’t use lidar should be retired, as the goal should be the safest, not the fastest, at scaling.

And when it comes to scaling, Tesla’s current bottleneck is safety. It needs to be safe enough to remove the safety supervisor, and it’s clearly not there yet.

I really don’t like Tesla’s approach. It seems to be more about optics than adopting a safe and transparent approach.

The EV5 is about the size of the Tesla Model Y and is already a hot seller in some markets. A new EV5 variant was caught towing a trailer in the US for the first time, but will Kia bring it to the states?

Is the new Kia EV5 launching in the US?

After launching the EV5 in 2023, Kia’s new electric SUV turned out to be a huge success in China. The EV5 helped Kia’s joint venture in China, Yueda Kia, turn its first profit in seven years in 2024.

It’s not only proven itself in the world’s biggest and most competitive electric vehicle market, with top dogs like BYD and Geely; it’s also top-selling EV in other markets too.

In Australia, the Kia EV5 is the fourth-best-selling EV this year, behind only the Tesla Model Y, BYD Sealion 7, and the Model 3.

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Now, Kia is preparing to launch it in Europe later this year and in North America in early 2026. Although the company specifically said the EV5 would be “exclusive to the Canadian market in North America” earlier this year, we’ve seen it testing in the US a few times now, sparking rumors (or perhaps, hope) that Kia may have changed its mind.

The latest sighting from KindelAuto reveals a new variant, the new Kia EV5 GT. The EV5 is set to receive the GT treatment like Kia’s other electric models, including the EV6 GT and EV9 GT.

Although it’s covered, you can still see a few design elements pulled from other GT models, like the neon green brake calipers and sporty wheels that suggest this is the flagship variant.

The fact that it was also spotted towing a trailer hints that Kia is testing out its towing capacity, power, and performance.

Kia will launch the EV5 GT in early 2026, following the standard version later this year. In Europe, the electric SUV is powered by an 81.4 kWh battery, providing 329 miles WLTP range. Kia will offer 60.3 kWh and 81.4 kWh battery options in Canada with a range of up to 310 miles (500 km).

The EV5 is about slightly smaller than the Tesla Model Y, measuring 4,610 mm in length, 1,875 mm in width, and 1,675 mm in height.

Although specs for the GT variant have yet to be revealed, you can expect it to arrive with a dual-motor AWD powertrain setup. Like the EV6 GT, it’s expected to pack over 600 horsepower and 77 Nm of torque, which should be good for a 0 to 62 mph (0 to 100 km/h) acceleration time in about 3.5 seconds.

It will also pull fun features from the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N, like drift optimization, a Virtual Gear Shift (VGS), and launch control.

Kia will reveal official prices, range, specs, and more closer to launch. Those in the US will have to wait to learn more. Until then, don’t get too excited, the last official statement from Kia said the EV5 would be exclusive to Canada in the North American market.

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Global EV charging is about to see a massive buildout. According to Wood Mackenzie’s recent Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Forecast, the number of global EV charging ports is expected to climb at a 12.3% compound annual growth rate between 2026 and 2040, hitting 206.6 million by the end of that period.

Home charging leads the way

Residential charging will continue to be the backbone of the market, with 133 million ports installed globally by 2040. To support that growth, annual spending on EV charging infrastructure will rise steadily at 8% a year, reaching $300 billion by 2040.

“Residential Level 2 charging dominates the global market and will make up about 2 out of every 3 charging ports worldwide through 2050,” said Emil Koenig, senior research analyst at Wood Mackenzie. “Its appeal comes from the balance of convenience, performance, and value that resonates most strongly with EV owners.”

Public charging will also expand, but at a more measured pace compared to home setups. “As utilization in public charging increases and infrastructure efficiency improves, we expect the ratio of EVs to public chargers to rise from 7.5 battery electric vehicles per charger in 2025 to 14.2 in 2040,” said Oliver McHugh, Wood Mackenzie’s senior EV charging research analyst.

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Asia-Pacific dominates, with India rising fast

China continues to lead the global pack in public charging infrastructure, and Asia-Pacific overall is forecast to see around 10% annual growth in DC fast charging from 2025 through 2040. By then, public Level 3 and residential Level 2 charging will represent the largest annual capital spending in the region, at $54 billion and $33 billion, respectively.

India is emerging as a fast-growing market. The country’s DC fast charger network is projected to skyrocket from just 14,000 today to 1.1 million by 2040, thanks to strong government policies and rapid EV adoption.

The Americas keep pace

Despite challenges, the US public fast-charging market is expected to grow at a healthy 14% annual clip, reaching 475,000 ports by 2040 and generating $3.3 billion in annual market value. South America will also ramp up quickly – residential charging in the region is projected to grow at 22% annually as EV adoption accelerates. Residential Level 2 charging will dominate, with $11.2 billion in spending by 2040.

Europe and the Middle East surge

Europe’s public charging infrastructure is on track for 11.3% annual growth through 2040, with DC fast chargers expanding even faster at 13.7%. Residential charging will hit 57 million AC chargers, while commercial charging grows at 12% annually.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is positioning itself as a standout player in the Middle East. The kingdom’s public DC charging segment is forecast to soar at 29% annual growth, supported by aggressive government targets. By 2040, the entire EMEA region will be spending $14 billion each year on public charging and $30 billion on residential charging.

Read more: The US added 4,200 new DC fast charging ports, and that’s just Q2

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