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News
I won’t spend too much time rehashing the SpaceX IPO — every media outlet, including TechCrunch, has spilled enormous amounts of digital ink on the company’s first day of trading. But there are two important data points to note for anyone who closely watches the “future of transportation” industry.
As of market close Friday, SpaceX has a market cap of $2.1 trillion, rocketing past Musk’s other publicly traded company, Tesla. SpaceX is currently the sixth most valuable U.S.-listed company, behind Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon. Tesla’s market cap was $1.52 trillion as of market close.
These two companies could soon become one. There have been plenty of hints and speculation. Last week, senior reporter Sean O’Kane spotted new language in SpaceX’s S-1 document that warns investors of future dilution. The additional sentence reads, “We may issue a significant amount of equity in connection with future transactions.” This isn’t a forecast of some small-scale deal; it likely means Tesla.
Details
On opening day, SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell added fuel to the speculative fire. During an interview with CNBC, Shotwell seemed open to the idea and said a merger “might make Elon’s life a little easier.”
And if you do want to read more, we have conveniently packed everything together in a single spot, including stories on who wins (Elon Musk) and who might not (lower-tier SPV investors).
Senior reporter Tim De Chant heard from a little bird who is familiar with GM and its inner workings that a “foreign supplier” is providing lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cells for the 2027 Chevrolet Bolt — and that the automaker currently has no plans to make LFPs for its EVs.
Analysis
Previously, a Wall Street Journal report said the arrangement with the foreign supplier — identified as Chinese battery manufacturer CATL — was a temporary stopgap. De Chant heard that GM is starting production of LFP at an Ultium plant in the coming weeks, but those cells are destined for energy-storage systems made by LG Energy Solution. The automaker hasn’t yet decided whether LFP has a future in an EV beyond the Bolt.
Meanwhile, EV maker Lucid Motors is going through a bit of executive-level disruption. Emad Dlala, a top executive at Lucid, has left the company just months after being promoted to a leading role, TechCrunch has learned. Dlala’s exit is the first major executive departure since Lucid Motors named Silvio Napoli as its new CEO in April. And we hear there may be more coming.
Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at [email protected] or my Signal at kkorosec.07, or email Sean O’Kane at [email protected].
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