“Nowhere in the country have rents declined as much as they have in Austin — now 22% off the peak reached in August 2023, according to Redfin. The median asking rent is $1,399 per month, down $400 in less than three years.
Developers dumped almost 50,000 rental units on the city in 2023 and 2024, according to Fannie Mae data. That represented a 14% increase in the supply, the biggest on a percentage basis for any major US metro area.”
From Bloomberg.
“Volkswagen and Uber announced a long-term strategic partnership to deploy thousands of electric, autonomous ID. Buzz minivans on the ride-hailing network across multiple cities, starting in Los Angeles.
Why it matters: It’s the latest in a series of global autonomous vehicle partnerships for Uber, which aims to blend robotaxis with human-driven vehicles on its network.”
From Axios.
“The Chinese manufacturing giant CATL, the biggest supplier of batteries for the world’s electric cars, said on Monday that it had made technological advances..
The biggest surprise by CATL was an announcement about auxiliary batteries for electric cars. The batteries would share space in the underbody of cars, where there is now only one large battery.
The auxiliary battery would be the first commercially available electric vehicle battery that would not use graphite as one of its poles, CATL said.
Removing costly graphite will eventually make the batteries cheaper, after some initial costs, and will allow 60 percent more electricity to be squeezed in each cubic inch of the battery…
CATL … also said it had made more progress in the speed of charging main batteries. The company said its new system would allow an electric vehicle to be charged enough in five minutes to drive 520 kilometers, or 320 miles.”
From New York Times.
“Singer Katy Perry, CBS anchor Gayle King and other well-known women set off to space on Monday morning in Blue Origin’s 11th human spaceflight mission.
Why it matters: This is the first all-woman space crew in U.S. history.
The flight was led by Blue Origin, Jeff Bezos’ commercial space company. Minutes after taking off, the crew experienced weightlessness. Then they soon safely returned to Earth.”
From Axios.
“Alphabet’s self-driving unit Waymo said on Thursday it will start collecting data in Tokyo with test rides operated by human drivers next week, marking the first time the company will be using its cars on public roads outside the United States.
The California-based autonomous driving company will deploy 25 driver-operated electric Jaguar I-PACE to map key areas of the Japanese capital and gain insights into local infrastructure and driving patterns…
After completing the initial mapping phase, Waymo aims to advance to autonomous driving tests with a driver behind the wheel as a next step, Gavel said, declining to say by when the company hopes to complete the initial phase.”
From Reuters.
