VIA Motors, a commercial electric truck manufacturer, has been acquired by global EV company Ideanomics.
Ideanomics has been on a tear over the past two years, acquiring electric vehicle startups producing motorcycles, tractors, and electric delivery vans, all part of its mission to electrify mobility globally. Now, Ideanomics has acquired VIA Motors, an American commercial electric truck manufacturer that will be working to introduce its first vehicle and potentially license its hardware in the near future.
Ideanomics has brought some relatively interesting ideas to the table in terms of EV development. It even has ideas for completely wireless charging for EVs, a strategy that could be adopted for the all-electric Tesla Semi, among others.
“Our acquisition of VIA Motors brings significant revenue generation potential to Ideanomics and its shareholders,” says Ideanomics Executive Chairman Shane McMahon. ”We cannot be more thrilled to welcome VIA to Ideanomics.” The new acquisition joins five other businesses as part of Ideanomics’ electric mobility push, including its EV charger subsidiary, which “will become the preferred charging solutions provider for VIA.”
$IDEX + @VIAMotorsInc = fast, easy and affordable fleet electrification.
Combining VIA’s #electric work trucks w/ our wireless and containerized charging tech is a game-changer! pic.twitter.com/VQuWhexOGc
— Ideanomics (@ideanomicshq) January 27, 2023
According to the VIA Motors website, the company currently sells one vehicle, its cab-chassis electric truck, which can be outfitted with any standard bed or box, much like any other commercial van. The electric truck comes in three distinct lengths and is well-fitted for delivery use, in which case a box is fitted to the back.
VIA’s truck retains the power necessary for a commercial truck with a payload of 6,900 pounds, but its AWD electric drivetrain allows owners and operators to save on fuel and repair. The system uses an 82kWh battery, capable of a range of 114 miles, and can be charged in roughly 45 minutes from 0 to 100 percent using DC fast charging.
While these specifications may not be anything to brag about yet, VIA now has a couple of tricks up its sleeves after its acquisition today. Through Ideanomics’ other partnership with Energica Motors, VIA now has access to in-house designed motors, which have already made their way into Ideanomics’ tractor business, Solectrac. Furthermore, with fresh investment from the fund, VIA may be able to do something other van startups have trouble doing; producing.
This isn’t to say VIA faces no challenge in the electric van market, far from it. Ford currently controls most of the electric van segment with its E-Transit offering. At the same time, Rivian, through investment from Amazon, continues to ramp up production of its own electric van. Even Canoo, a company on the brink of bankruptcy only a year ago, is now entering production with thousands of new orders from Walmart and the U.S. Army.
Walmart commits to purchase 4,500 Canoo all-electric delivery vans
As Ideanomics continues to grow, it is continuing to become a far more formidable force in electric mobility, leaving many to wonder which other industries the company may look to invest in next. However, with each of its investments, it faces a significant challenge from the legacy brands within each industry. The coming year will certainly be a test as each of its brands looks to grow in the electrifying market.
What do you think of the article? Do you have any comments, questions, or concerns? Shoot me an email at william@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @WilliamWritin. If you have news tips, email us at tips@teslarati.com!
Tesla Cybercab sightings are broadening far and wide, well outside of downtown Austin, Texas, with autonomy in focus as the company plans to launch the all-electric, two-seater this evening in the Lone Star State.
Tesla is set to launch Cybercab to a small group of people this evening in a dedicated event in Austin, Texas. Public details on the event are relatively slim.
However, Tesla’s focus on Cybercab falls well outside of the downtown Austin area and is expanding well across the United States as things continue to move quickly with the company’s autonomous efforts in 2026. Today, various images of Cybercab fleets in interesting locations have started to circulate.
The most notable is a fleet of at least 20 Cybercabs at Miami International Airport in Florida. Spotted last night, the fleet is expansive and is indicative of a looming release of Cybercabs once regulatory boxes are checked off.
Tesla has already been operating the Robotaxi platform in Miami for several months, but this Cybercab fleet at the airport could be joining the ride-hailing platform as approvals arrive:
20+ Cybercabs spotted near Miami international airport. pic.twitter.com/ORLsw8yFhf
— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) September 3, 2026
Another fleet of Cybercabs was spotted at the Devon, PA showroom just outside of Philadelphia. We have seen several Cybercab units testing around the Philadelphia Metro Area, which is interesting considering Tesla does not have any active Robotaxi geofence in Pennsylvania.
Cybercab at the Devon location in PA has multiplied over the weekend. Seeing a few more test vehicles in the lot 👀 pic.twitter.com/DhJT4P1EkU
— Billy (@billykyle) August 22, 2026
Philadelphia would be an ideal location to test ride-hailing due to its dense tourist population, large, sprawling city layout, and to compete with other ride-hailing companies that operate in the city.
Expansive fleets of Cybercabs will be popping up in and around major cities throughout the rest of the year, if we were betting on it. Tesla has made it obvious that the Cybercab rollout will be aggressive and fast-paced, but within reason. Tesla is still prioritizing safety, so these testing phases will likely go on for some period of time before more members of the public are able to snag a Cybercab for a personal chariot.
The Tesla Model Y L is arguably the most hyped trim of the all-electric crossover, other than the Performance configuration that comes with white-knuckle speed and sports car-level handling.
However, it is not all perfect. Tesla owners in China who took delivery of the Model Y L, denoted with an L to highlight its longer wheelbase, are experiencing what they are referring to as “collapsing” of the rear wheels, as suspension issues appear to be an issue with some of the builds.
🚨 Model Y L owners in China report rear suspension sag
• Six-seat long-wheelbase Y. Shanghai. On sale since August 2025
• Owners say the rear tire-to-arch gap shrinks after mileage or a full load. Some cases after about 9,000 km loaded. Others near 30,000 km
• Tesla service… pic.twitter.com/Lr6i5Tbi07— Joe Hansen (@joehansen) September 1, 2026
The gap between the wheel arch and tire has narrowed to the point that “not even a single finger” could fit, according to a report from Car News China. The failures are not tied to a specific mileage, as one owner said that after just 9,000 kilometers (5,600 miles), they noticed the suspension issue when their car was fully loaded.
Another one had the issue at 30,000 kilometers (18,640 miles) and noticed that the wheel gap shrank to two fingers, so not as drastic as the person who reported a similar issue at 9,000 km.
Tesla Model Y L is gaining momentum in China’s premium segment
Along with the visual recognition of the issue, others are saying the sagging is causing abnormal wear on the inside of the tires. Extra weight and instant torque already provide additional stress on the tires in electric vehicles during normal operation, so it is no surprise that this is another complaint.
There has been no recall issued by Tesla, and the company has not yet publicly acknowledged the issue.
Some are suggesting that owners use a “finger test” to self-diagnose whether there is an issue with the suspension. There should be four fingers between the tire and the wheel well; anything less than that starts to get dicey.
Tesla is starting to truly tease and hype its groundbreaking Cybercab event, which takes place tomorrow in Austin, Texas. It will be the first time members of the public will be able to ride in a Cybercab, a vehicle without any manual controls, on public roads.
Tesla has been dropping some hype on X over the past several days, but this morning, the excitement has truly started to build up for the event. Although Cybercab has been unveiled before, this is truly Tesla’s announcement that it is ready to start offering autonomous rides for public passengers in its new ride-hailing-geared vehicle for the first time.
The hype has started with a variety of different social media posts that are a true indication that Tesla is preparing for something big. Teasing so much of the potential of Cybercab, including its ability to truly revolutionize how people hail rides for local travel, is what the big idea for the event entails. The time that many Tesla owners, fans, and investors have been waiting for is potentially here:
— Tesla (@Tesla) September 2, 2026
The event has remained slim on details. Even invitees are still awaiting true details about what the event will entail, where they’ll go, and what is in store for the evening. This is pretty typical for an event run by Tesla; they keep things under wraps for the most part until the very last minute.
However, there is no secret about what the real intention of Tesla is for this event: it is going to be a huge reveal party for a vehicle that has no steering wheel and no pedals. It is a truly massive step for the company moving forward.
No steering wheel, no pedals
— Tesla Robotaxi (@robotaxi) September 2, 2026
Speculation persists as to whether this is going to be an event that simply announces that rides will begin with the Cybercab, or it will be something more substantial. Tesla has said in the past that they plan to sell the Cybercab to the general public in what could become a great way to earn passive income by adding it to a more global fleet of Robotaxi-geared vehicles.
Tomorrow, the show begins in Austin, and the Cybercab goes live at some capacity; we just don’t know exactly how quite yet.
Tesla Cybercab sightings broaden well outside of Austin with autonomy in focus
Tesla Model Y L gets suspension complaints in over odd issue China
