Shifting Gears: Keeping up with the Ghosn's

All the cool — and weird — things we saw at CES

From a new eVTOL (that's electric, vertical take-off and landing, for the uninitiated) concept to eventually power Uber's flying car service, to a mobility egg, CES had no shortage of transportation innovations on display.

Rivian, which showed off its R1T electric pickup, was easily the star of the show. The model combines capabilities of a sports car, truck, and … a tank? Yes. Tank.

One car accessory in particular impressed Mark the most. Here's why.

I talked to 10 auto industry execs and saw over 20 cars at CES 2020. It's clear that companies are now shunning pipe dreams for more practical approaches to the future of mobility.

Another plane crash

Not everything this week was as fun as CES, unfortunately. Here's everything we know so far about the Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737 crash in Iran.

Officials in multiple countries have said in the days since that the plane appeared to have been downed by missile fire coming from Iran. US intelligence says the fire was likely a mistake. There's also video appearing to show the shot — and the moment of impact.

Boeing, meanwhile, was facing more scrutiny on Friday after it released internal employee emails in which workers openly mocked the FAA, and said they'd never send their families on a 737 Max.

Keeping up with the Ghosn's

Carlos Ghosn held a press conference in Lebanon this week where he offered plenty of rambling accusations about Japanese prosecutors — from whom he dramatically escaped in late December 2019 — but he offered few details about his escape.

Japan and Nissan, meanwhile, remain concrete in their accusations of his financial wrongdoing and other crimes.

Mary Meisenzahl took a deep dive into the Ghosn's marriage. Here's the story of the couple's intense relationship.

Micromobility speed bumps

It's been a cold winter for micromobility operators.

Uber's Jump Bikes subsidiary saw a handful of its founding team depart in December — including the founder, we reported exclusively this week. And Lime, under a big push to turn a profit, announced it would lay off 100 employees and exit 12 cities.

Everything else:

• Another 3,500 truck drivers lost their jobs in December — and it's a troubling sign of the recession that's slamming the $800 billion trucking industry
• How Elon Musk's 'UFO on a stick' devices may turn SpaceX internet subscribers into the Starlink satellite network's secret weapon
• I drove the Ford F-150, Chevy Silverado, RAM 1500, Toyota Tundra, and Nissan Titan to find out which full-size pickup truck was the best — here's the verdict
• Uber has stopped showing prices upfront in response to California's new gig-work law
• Meet the Israeli startup powering Uber's new public-transit option that's backed by BMW and Ashton Kutcher
• This list of the 10 most on-time airlines in 2019 includes only one US carrier