logo
Revel is ditching its ride-hailing business and going all in on EV charging

Revel is ditching its ride-hailing business and going all in on EV charging

The company said Monday that it is ending its ride-hailing service. Revel provided the option in the New York City metro area with a fleetofall-electric Tesla vehicles.
"After 4 years and countless electric rides, we have made the difficult decision to permanently close our rideshare service today," the company said in an email sent to customers on Monday and viewed by Business Insider.
The companysaid it is staying in the electric vehicle business, though: Revel plans to add charging stations in Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco, the email to customers said. The startup struck a partnership last year with Uber to expand EV charging stations in New York.
"If you've got an EV, we hope you'll charge up with us," the message read.
A similar message appeared on Revel's website on Monday.
Bloomberg earlier reported on Revel's plans to end its rideshare business. A Revel spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Revel launched its ride-hailing service in New York City in 2021. Back then, the company offered rides using a fleet of Tesla Model Ys and drivers who were employees, not independent contractors, like Lyft and Uber use.
Last year, Revel laid off its employee drivers and switched to a gig-work model. The service had about 1,000 drivers before it made the change, Bloomberg reported at the time.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

This startup lets you vibe code your own app on your iPhone. It just raised $9 million from Alexis Ohanian's fund.
This startup lets you vibe code your own app on your iPhone. It just raised $9 million from Alexis Ohanian's fund.

Business Insider

timean hour ago

  • Business Insider

This startup lets you vibe code your own app on your iPhone. It just raised $9 million from Alexis Ohanian's fund.

I bet you have an app idea. And if you do, you've probably asked yourself, "Could I use AI to code it into reality?" That's what Vibecode, a startup that uses AI to help you "vibe code" apps, is trying to make easier with a mobile app of its own. Vibecode exclusively told Business Insider that it recently nabbed a $9.4 million seed investment led by Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian 's Seven Seven Six, with participation from Long Journey Ventures, Neo, First Harmonic, and Afore Capital, as well as angel investors from Google, OpenAI, and Expo. "For me, it was the democratization of coding and app creation that made Vibecode stand out," Ohanian told Business Insider in a statement. "Just describe your idea in plain language, right on your phone, and that's it. The mobile interface is a massive unlock in terms of accessibility, fun, and real-world use." Ansh Nanda, CEO of Vibecode and a former engineer at Bluesky, said that after watching AI coding take off last year with tools like Cursor, he was convinced this AI use case would only grow. "How do we bring this from technical people to the masses?" Nanda said he and one of his cofounders asked themselves at the time. Vibecode has eight employees, including Nanda and his two cofounders, AI content creator Riley Brown and Kehan Zhang. In June, Vibecode launched its iOS mobile app after testing a small beta through the spring. As of Wednesday, it's ranked the 12th most popular app in the "Developer Tools" category on the Apple App Store. The app lets users explain their vision for an app using plain language, and provides examples like "note-taking app" or "Wordle clone." Then, Vibecode starts, well, vibe coding. Up until this week, Vibecode was relying on Anthropic 's Claude model to develop apps. The startup has expanded its offerings to include multiple AI models, including OpenAI's new GPT-5, Kimi K2, and Qwen 3 Coder. After you describe the app you want to build, Vibecode starts building the code, which you can then tweak and update "as many times as you want" by prompting the AI chat, Nanda said. While it's free to start using Vibecode, sending more prompts and triggering updates for the app costs money. Vibecode has subscriptions from $20 to $200 a month. Nanda told BI that more than 40,000 apps have been made with Vibecode. He did not disclose the number of users Vibecode has. Apps as content in the AI era Some early creations by Vibecode include a clone of the running app Strava, but with the slight twist of tracking what shoes the person is wearing. There are also recipe tracking apps and other personal utility tools, like one that helps someone track how many alcoholic drinks they're consuming, per Nanda. "We're also seeing a bunch of users trying to build apps that they want to get onto the app store, either for their own business or for just starting a new business," Nanda said. With tools like Loveable, Replit, Cursor, and now Vibecode, making apps is only getting easier. If Instagram made everyone a photographer, and TikTok made us video stars, will AI make us all developers? "Apps are becoming something anyone can create and share as easily as a meme or a story, which means we're fully in the 'apps as content' era," Ohanian said. "As more people look to build, remix, and distribute quick-turn ideas, our investment aligns with the belief that the next billion-dollar platforms will be those that allow people to continually 'ship' creative output as easily as posting content online." But in the AI era, with ease also comes slop. Nanda said Vibecode's goal is to make quality apps, especially as it streamlines its tools for publishing apps. "We want to make sure that we're not just creating more apps in the app store," he said.

As Elon Musk Lashes Out at Apple, How Should You Play TSLA and AAPL Stock?
As Elon Musk Lashes Out at Apple, How Should You Play TSLA and AAPL Stock?

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

As Elon Musk Lashes Out at Apple, How Should You Play TSLA and AAPL Stock?

Investors are glued to Tesla (TSLA) and Apple (AAPL) charts this morning after billionaire Elon Musk announced plans of legal action against the iPhone maker. In his recent social media post, Musk said the company is in breach of antitrust laws since it's 'behaving in a manner that makes it impossible for any AI company besides OpenAI to reach #1 in App Store.' More News from Barchart Warren Buffett Warns Investing At 'Too-High Purchase Price' Even for 'an Excellent Company' Can Undo a Decade of Smart Investing BitMine Immersion Now Holds 1.15 Million Ethereum Tokens. Should You Buy BMNR Stock Here? Why Archer Aviation's (ACHR) Post-Earnings Tailspin Looks Like a Favorably Mispriced Opportunity Stop Missing Market Moves: Get the FREE Barchart Brief – your midday dose of stock movers, trending sectors, and actionable trade ideas, delivered right to your inbox. Sign Up Now! Neither Apple nor Tesla stock has been particularly exciting for investors this year. Shares of the former are down more than 7% versus their year-to-date high at writing while the latter is down over 20%. What Musk's Legal Action Would Mean for Apple Stock Musk's legal action would be a major headwind for Apple shares as it could intensify regulatory scrutiny into the giant's App Store practices. Prolonged litigation and possible reputational damage especially given AAPL's existing EU fines and U.S. investigations could meaningfully dampen the investor sentiment moving forward. Plus, the alleged favoritism toward OpenAI may also spark backlash from developers, potentially undermining Apple's positioning in the artificial intelligence space and its ecosystem credibility. Musk's threat is concerning for AAPL investors given that Wall Street's view, even before his X post, wasn't particularly bullish. While the consensus rating on Apple stock remains at 'Moderate Buy,' the mean target of roughly $236 indicates less than 3% upside from here. Why Musk's Brawl Would Be a Negative for Tesla Stock A lawsuit against Apple will likely prove a headwind for Tesla stock as well, because it signals yet another distraction from the company's core business, reinforcing concerns about Musk's divided focus. With slowing electric vehicle (EV) demand due to rising competition already pressuring TSLA, this legal crusade could further erode confidence. In a recent CNBC interview, Wedbush senior analyst Dan Ives also called it a 'massive headache,' warning Musk's fixation on xAI and AAPL risks sidelining Tesla's strategic priorities. Against this backdrop, TSLA shares look unattractive, especially since Wall Street currently rates them at 'Hold' only, with the mean target of about $300 indicating potential downside of more than 13% from here. On the date of publication, Wajeeh Khan did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

Cracker Barrel fans are divided over its restaurant makeover — but they say the chain has a bigger problem
Cracker Barrel fans are divided over its restaurant makeover — but they say the chain has a bigger problem

Business Insider

time2 hours ago

  • Business Insider

Cracker Barrel fans are divided over its restaurant makeover — but they say the chain has a bigger problem

Some Cracker Barrel customers say they wish the chain would focus more on what it serves on its tables instead of how it decorates its walls. The restaurant chain is renovating some of its restaurants, opting for brighter paint jobs and nixing the lattice dividers mounted with antiques. The changes have drawn mixed reactions. Some on social media are lamenting the loss of Cracker Barrel's nostalgic appeal, while other longtime customers say they care more about what's on the plate. Nina Burton, who dined at a renovated Cracker Barrel location in East Ridge, Tennessee, earlier this year, told Business Insider that she didn't mind the restaurant's white walls or streamlined collection of antiques that decorated the location. "I would like the menu, however, to return to the down-home style it once was," Burton said. For her, that means Cracker Barrel should focus less on serving mimosas and other alcoholic drinks and more on dishes like Chicken Pot Pie, which she said isn't as good as it used to be. Cracker Barrel is in the midst of a turnaround effort. CEO Julie Masino said last year that the chain, which is known for its Southern-affected rural decor, is "not as relevant as we once were." Under Masino, Cracker Barrel has started renovating some of its roughly 650 stores. About 20 have undergone remodels, Masino said on a company earnings call in June. The company did not comment on this story by press time. The company has also spent the past year testing new items in what it calls the " largest menu test" in its history. On a recent trip to a location in Virginia, Business Insider tried some of the new Cracker Barrel items, including blueberry pancakes and a s'mores latte. The chain has also brought back some menu items from past years, including "campfire" meals with meat and roasted vegetables. But some of the basics also need work, Barbara, a Cracker Barrel customer who approved of the renovations, told Business Insider. She asked not to be identified by her full name for privacy reasons. During one recent visit, she said, her server brought her an order of "brown, hard biscuits." This suggested to her that the location had issues in the kitchen. Cracker Barrel's renovations themselves have become a point of contention on social media. One video posted on TikTok in March shows a renovated store, with the poster captioning it "bright and inviting." But some commenters disagreed. "Like the old nostalgia much better, it was so comforting!" one user posted. "It's now basically an IHOP," another user said.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store