The list of failed electric vehicle startups is lengthy, and the founders of Harbinger Motors have the scars to prove it, which helps explain the company's laser focus on one particular slice of the commercial truck market.

Why it matters: Business fleet owners are getting crushed by higher costs on everything from tariffs to fuel and labor. Reducing operating costs is essential in order to protect margins.

• Replacing medium-duty diesel trucks with more efficient electric ones can bring annual savings of $6,000 to $10,000 per truck, Harbinger says.

The big picture: FedEx aims to replace its entire pickup-and-delivery (PUD) fleet with electric vehicles by 2040.

• It has already deployed EVs from Brightdrop, Mercedes-Benz, BlueArc and Workhorse into its U.S. operations.
• Early analysis shows a cost savings of as much as 30% compared to their combustion-engine counterparts, according to FedEx's 2025 Corporate Responsibility Report.
• "Any vehicle that holds up to our rigorous on-road testing and offers state-of-the-art safety features with lower total cost of ownership is win-win for drivers and for our business," Paul Melander, FedEx's senior vice president of safety and transportation, said in a statement.

Catch up quick: FedEx, which has ordered 53 Harbinger trucks, was among the lead investors in the startup's recent $160 million Series C fundraising round.

• Capricorn's Technology Impact Fund, an early Tesla investor, and RV giant Thor Industries also led the round, and many existing investors participated as well.
• To date, Harbinger has raised $358 million.

Between the lines: Harbinger's leadership team, led by co-founders John Harris and Phillip Weicker, has experience from across the EV landscape, including failed or struggling companies Faraday Future, Canoo and CODA Automotive.

• Instead of aiming to be the next Tesla, they're satisfied trying to electrify the $20 billion medium-truck market, where only Freightliner and Ford compete today.
• "You can't build a $100 billion company in this market, and we're OK with that," Harris, the CEO, tells Axios.

The intrigue: Harbinger's product isn't even a truck. It's a rolling electric chassis — essentially an aluminum frame with four wheels, a battery and an electric or hybrid drive train.

• Known as a stripped chassis, it comes in three lengths, and businesses can fit whatever body style they want on top of it — even a Class A motor home.
• It's decidedly unsexy, and that's the point.

How it works: Harbinger assembles small, 35-kWh battery modules into three different-sized packs, which offer 140, 180 or 220 miles of driving range — plenty for a medium-duty truck, which travels an average of 60 miles per day.

Zoom in: Unlike most car companies, Harbinger makes most of its components in-house, which allows the company to keep costs low, says Harris.

• About 55% of Harbinger's vehicle content is made in the U.S. — "unprecedented," Harris says, in the medium truck industry, which was just hit with 25% tariffs on imports.
• Battery cells are currently imported from Japan, but by the middle of next year, Harbinger will be sourcing batteries from a new Panasonic factory in Kansas, which will bump its domestic content to 75%, Harris says.

The bottom line: "The road is littered with bodies" of failed EV ventures, Harris acknowledges.

• But by fixating on a simple, relatively low-cost product, Harbinger has a better-than-average shot at success, he argues.

Senate Democrats and Republicans are squaring off about vehicle safety requirements that are intended to save lives, but which also push up the price of new cars.

Why it matters: It's an awkward debate for lawmakers to confront when 40,000 people die each year in motor vehicle crashes — and yet the country faces an affordability crisis with broad economic consequences.

The big picture: Democrats want the Trump administration to move faster on vehicle safety mandates, while Republicans are questioning whether the technologies even work.

Driving the news: Ten Democratic senators wrote to NHTSA chief Jonathan Morrison this week, demanding an update on the overdue implementation of auto-safety requirements that Congress approved four years ago under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

• Among them: technology that would detect children left behind in hot cars, stronger seat backs and advanced alcohol-detection systems.

The other side: Republicans, meanwhile, have summoned U.S. auto executives to a hearing in January to explain why cars have become so expensive.

• Many blame technologies like automatic emergency braking systems, which will be required in new cars starting in 2029, the Wall Street Journal reported.
• The crash avoidance systems use expensive sensors, cameras and software, but studies show the tech doesn't work as well at high speeds or at night.
• Automakers say the newly implemented standards could lead to an increase in rear-end collisions.

Reality check: Advanced driver assistance systems like adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping technology are really convenience features, not safety systems.

• They're often rolled into safety and security packages that come standard on many modern vehicles, but a lot of people don't use them.
• Yet they are the necessary building blocks for fully automated self-driving cars, which could ultimately make roads safer.

🧑‍💻 GM's restructuring of its software and product engineering teams under new Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson has led to an exodus of senior tech talent. (CNBC)

🌍 Zipline will receive up to $150 million from the U.S. State Department to expand drone deliveries of blood, vaccines and other medical supplies in five African countries.

• It's an example of the Trump administration's new "America First" foreign assistance agenda, following the shutdown of the U.S. Agency for International Development. (Axios)

🚁 Joby Aviation is suing its biggest air taxi rival, Archer Aviation, claiming Archer used sensitive information stolen by a former Joby employee to interfere in its business. Archer denies the allegations. (Axios)

Check out this new personal Air Scooter from Franky Zapata, who previously invented a flying jet ski and the Flyboard Air, a jet-powered hoverboard.

• All it takes is about 20 minutes of training; no pilot's license required. The built-in AI flight assistant does most of the work.
• You can buy one for $250,000 in spring 2026, or just pre-book a ride for $350 at Zapata's flight center near Las Vegas.

Personal flight must be the latest gift idea for the person who has everything.

• Another company, Gravity Industries, is offering a "Jet Suit Experience" for prices ranging from $1,950 to $8,500 at its Bakersfield, California, training facility.

💭 My thought bubble: Uh ... hmm ... I'm keeping my feet firmly planted on the ground.