Yasuhide Mizuno, the chairman and CEO of Sony Honda Mobility Inc., speaks during a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Oct. 13, 2022.
Kiyoshi Ota | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The Sony-Honda joint venture focused on electric vehicles plans to begin deliveries to the United States and Japan in 2026.
Sony Honda Mobility, as it’s known, aims to start taking pre-orders for its vehicle in the first half of 2025, and hopes to start sales before the end of that year. “For sales, SHM plans to focus on online sales,” a statement released Thursday said.
U.S. deliveries are slated to start in the spring of 2026, with deliveries to the Japanese market happening in the latter half of the same year.
SHM said it was aiming to develop a “Level 3 automated drive under limited conditions and to enable Level 2+ driver assistance in even more situations such as urban driving.”
Five levels of driving automation have been defined by SAE International, an association made up of technical experts and engineers. On its website, the SAE refers to Level 2 as providing “Partial Driving Automation.”
If asked to do so, drivers must take control of Level 3 vehicles. The SAE says one example of Level 3 driving would be a “traffic jam chauffer.”
SHM said it would also look to explore “new entertainment possibilities through digital innovations such as the metaverse.”
Thursday’s announcement, which confirmed that SHM had now been established, did not contain information related to the vehicle’s range or cost, but did state it would be built at a Honda factory in North America.
Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro
This week’s news builds on previous communications about the joint venture.
In March 2022, the two firms signed a memorandum of understanding centered around a “strategic alliance” in the field of mobility. In June, a joint venture agreement to set up Sony Honda Mobility was signed.
In April, Honda said it planned to roll out 30 electric vehicle models worldwide by 2030. The automotive powerhouse said it would be allocating roughly 5 trillion Japanese yen (around $33.9 billion) to electrification and what it called “software technologies.”
Honda’s electric vehicle plans put it in competition with firms such as Elon Musk’s Tesla as well as companies like Volkswagen, Ford and Stellantis. In 2020, Sony showcased a prototype electric car at a press event during CES 2020 in Las Vegas.
Tesla reported three more crashes involving its Robotaxis in Austin, Texas – now bringing the total to 7 incidents despite low mileage and in-car supervisors preventing more accidents.
Since the launch of the ‘Robotaxi’ service in Austin, Texas, where Tesla moved the supervisor from the driver’s seat to the passenger seat, it now has to report crashes to NHTSA.
The automaker reported one more Robotaxi crash last month, and this one was interesting because it coincided with Tesla announcing that the Robotaxi fleet had traveled 250,000 miles from its launch in late June to early November.
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It revealed Tesla’s current Robotaxi crash rate, which is about 2x higher than Waymo’s, despite in-car supervisors that prevent an unknown number of crashes.
Now, Tesla has reported to NHTSA three more incidents that happened with the Robotaxi fleet in Austin in September:
Report ID
Incident Date
IncidentTime(24:00)
City State
CrashWith
Highest Injury
Severity
Alleged SV
Pre-Crash Movement
CPPre-CrashMovement
Narrative
13781-1178
7 SEP-2025
13:08
Austin TX
Animal
No Injured
Reported
Stopped
NM Crossing Roadway
[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
13781-1178
6 SEP-2025
03:43
Austin TX
Non-Motorist: Cyclist
Property Damage.
No Injured
Reported
Stopped
Moving Alongside Roadway
[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
13781-1178
4 SEP-2025
20:42
Austin TX
Passenger Car
Property Damage.
No Injured
Reported
Proceeding Straight
Backing
[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
13781-1168
7 SEP-2025
01:25
Austin TX
Other Fixed Object
Property Damage.
No Injured
Reported
Making Left Turn
NaN
[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
13781-1150
7 JUL-2025
03:45
Austin TX
SUV
Property Damage.
No Injured
Reported
Stopped
Proceeding Straight
[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
13781-1145
9 JUL-2025
12:20
Austin TX
Other Fixed Object
Minor
W/O Hospit
alization
Other, see Narrative
NaN
[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
13781-1137
5 JUL-2025
15:15
Austin TX
SUV
Property Damage.
No Injured
Reported
Making Right Turn
Making Right Turn
[REDACTED, MAY CONTAIN CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION]
Unlike other companies reporting to NHTSA, Tesla abuses the right to redact data reported through the system. The automaker redacts the “narrative” for each reported crash, preventing the public from knowing how the crashes happened and who is responsible.
Based on the limited information in Tesla’s reports, we know that one of the new crashes involved a Robotaxi driving into a car backing up, another involved a cyclist, and the last one involved an unknown animal.
Electrek’s Take
My favorite thing about reporting on those is the messages from Tesla fans who say: You don’t know how many of those Robotaxi are responsible for?
It’s funny because I agree, but whose fault is that? Tesla could do like every other company and report the narratives.
Waymo does, and it’s clear that it isn’t responsible for many of the crashes they are involved in. I am sure that’s the case with some of those Tesla Robotaxi crashes.
However, Waymo has hundreds of millions of rider-only autonomous miles, and Tesla has a few hundred thousand, all with a supervisor on board, a finger on a killswitch, ready to prevent further crashes. Who knows how many more crashes Tesla would have had without them?
I expect a few because humans generally have a crash, whether they are at fault or not, every 700,000 miles. Tesla has 7 in probably ~300,000 miles, which should be worrying to anyone, whether the Robotaxis were responsible or not.
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Hyundai is bringing “something big” to the LA Auto Show this week, and the teaser points to a slick new off-road electric SUV. Here’s our first look.
What is this off-road Hyundai SUV?
The LA Auto Show is just days away, and Hyundai is gearing up to steal the spotlight once again. Last year, it was the IONIQ 9, Hyundai’s first three-row electric SUV. What will it be this year?
Hyundai gave us a sneak peek of a new “extreme off-road show vehicle,” the Crater Concept, ahead of its upcoming debut.
Although details are still pretty slim at this point, the sketch shows a high-riding, rugged SUV, clearly designed for off-roading with massive tires and aggressive wheel arches.
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Hyundai didn’t say what powertrain the off-road SUV will use, but given the closed-off grille and no visible tailpipes, all signs point to it being electric in some way. It could be a battery-electric (EV) or even a fuel-cell-electric vehicle (FCEV).
Hyundai Crater off-road SUV concept (Source: Hyundai)
The Crater Concept looks a bit like the new Nexo, Hyundai’s dedicated hydrogen fuel cell vehicle. The updated Nexo introduces Hyundai’s new “Art of Steel” design language, which was first shown on the Concept THREE electric hot hatch in September.
Hyundai said the design theme “combines resilience with artistic form,” which exudes strength and sophistication.
Hyundai Crater off-road SUV concept (Source: Hyundai)
The dour dot lamps on the Crater Concept look about the same as Hyundai’s new “HTWO” lamps, exclusive to its FCEVs.
Hyundai said the Crater Concept has been “crafted to amplify the same spirit and robustness found in Hyundai’s XRT production vehicles,” like the IONIQ 5 XRT, Santa Cruz XRT, and new Pallisade XRT Pro.
Hyundai Crater off-road SUV concept (Source: Hyundai)
The design team at Hyundai Design North America also introduced its new design and ideation studio on Monday, codenamed “The Sandbox” internally.
Hyundai’s new creative hub is exclusively dedicated to creating new outdoor adventure vehicles and rugged Xtreme Rugged Terrain (XRT) gear.
Will the Nexo be next? It sure looks like it. Hyundai will reveal the Crater Concept during a livestream press conference at the LA Auto Show on November 20 at 9:45 am PT. Check back for updates.
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Terawatt Infrastructure has switched on its newest commercial EV charging hub in Rialto, California, giving electric truck fleets a new high-speed charging stop along one of the US’s busiest freight routes.
The hub is situated on the eastbound side of I-10 and is designed for heavy-duty fleet use, particularly for trucks traveling from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach through Southern California’s industrial centers.
Neha Palmer, Terawatt CEO and cofounder, said, “Our network enables companies to reduce emissions and run a variety of routes across a number of vehicle classes with the confidence of a dependable charging solution. EV fleets can now travel further, more cleanly, without slowing down their operations.”
The Rialto site is built with high‑speed charging, security, and amenities that support daily freight operations. Here’s what it offers:
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18 pull‑through 350 kW DC fast‑charging stalls
55 bobtail parking stalls for overnight or shift‑based parking
A driver lounge with wifi, climate control, and restrooms
License plate recognition for quick entry
Solar canopies and 100% renewable‑powered charging
24/7 security with cameras and gated access
Terawatt’s first medium- and heavy-duty electric truck charging stop in California, Rancho Dominguez, opened in April.
In September 2024, Terawatt joined some of the world’s largest shippers and carriers to launch the I-10 Consortium heavy-duty EV operations pilot, described as the first-ever US over-the-road electrified corridor. As part of that effort, Terawatt is providing charging infrastructure, including software, operations, and maintenance support, at six of its owned charging hubs along the I-10 corridor.
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