Product Management Confabulation
What Product Managers are talking about.
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We have a lot to cover so let’s jump in. But wait! One note to share: These days, I’m a semi-regular guest on TechCrunch’s Equity Podcast, including an episode that aired Friday that covers robotaxis, Nvidia’s earning, plus Better.com and startups that are full of shit (you’ll get the joke if you listen).
Vamos.
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The battery business keeps attracting capital.
Just take a look at Swedish lithium-ion battery producer Northvolt. The company raised around $1.2 billion in a convertible notes from BlackRock and various Canadian pension plans. Participants in the round included Goldman Sachs, Volkswagen, Baillie Gifford, Swedbank Robur, Singapore’s GIC and Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Enterprises.
That cash will be used to build new factories in North America and Europe.
Northvolt has been on a bit of tear the past few years — even before the big battery boom really took off. The company has raised $9 billion in debt and equity since 2017, including $1.1 billion in convertible notes last year. The company has also secured more than $55 billion in orders from customers like BMW, Fluence, Scania, Volvo and Volkswagen.
The Northvolt deal gives me another chance to plug a collection of articles we put together earlier this month on the one-year anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, including a look at how startups have benefited and a map that tracks all the battery factories in North America. Once Northvolt picks a location for this next factory, we’ll update the map.
Other deals that caught my attention …
Accure, a startup that uses AI to predict lithium-ion battery failures, raised $7.8 million in a Series A2 round led by Blue Bear Capital and HSBC Asset Management with participation from Riverstone Holdings and Capnamic Ventures.
Channel19, a startup that developed software for refrigerated trucking companies, raised $2.7 million in pre-seed and seed funding round led by Augment Ventures with participation by Accion Venture Lab, TMV, Overton Venture Capital and Refashiond Ventures. Several Silicon Valley and freight tech industry angels also participated, according to the company.
Electric Era, a startup founded by former SpaceX engineers that developed software and hardware to make EV charging stations faster and more reliable, raised $11.5 million in a Series A round led by HSBC’s asset management arm. Climate-tech fund Blackhorn, lithium-mining giant SQM and mobility-focused investor Proeza also participated.
NaaS Technology Inc., an EV charging service company in China, said it plans to acquire Charge Amps AB in a deal valued at $66.4 million.
Nickelytics, an advertising tech startup focused on rideshare, has been acquired by Texas-based venture capital group T72 Club Inc. Terms were not disclosed.
Zeekr, the Chinese EV maker under Geely Holdings, is kicking off its roadshow with investors ahead of its initial public offering, Reuters reported citing unnamed sources. Zeekr’s aim is a share sale that will push its valuation over $13 billion. Zeekr filed confidentially for an IPO back in December and raised $750 million in February. If Zeekr is successful and actually lists, this could be one of the largest Chinese IPOs in the past two years.
Chinese companies listing on U.S. exchanges haven’t had the smoothest of rides. Didi, which raised $4.4 billion in its June 2021 IPO, ran up against Chinese regulators. The company delisted later that year. A few other Chinese companies, including Hesai are dipping their toes back in the U.S. IPO waters now that there is more regulatory clarity in both countries. Last year, the U.S. and China struck a deal that allows American officials to review audit documents of Chinese businesses that trade in the United States, an agreement expected to lower the likelihood of Chinese companies on U.S. exchanges delisting.
Polestar plans to make Mobileye’s hands-off, eyes-off automated driving technology (called Chauffeur) available to owners of the upcoming Polestar 4 electric SUV coupe. The vehicle, which launched in China and will hit global markets in 2024, comes standard with Mobileye’s SuperVision advanced driver assistance system. Polestar plans to add Chauffeur at a later date, but did not specify when.
Tesla shareholders who sued the company for financial losses stemming from Elon Musk’s “funding secured” tweet in 2018 are set to receive compensation now that the case has been settled. The SEC said 3,350 eligible claimants will share in the $42.3 million payout.
Speaking of Tesla, CEO Elon Musk livestreamed a test drive of FSD Beta v12 — a yet-to-be-released version of its automated driving software (the video has since been posted on YouTube by a number of people). To be clear, this is not a self-driving car; it is ADAS that requires a human to be ready to intervene at any time. The 40-minute video showed the vehicle handling roundabouts and intersections and even some construction. At about the 19-minute mark Musk had to intervene and take control of the vehicle when it misread the traffic signal and tried to go through a busy intersection at the wrong time.
Baidu expanded its Apollo Go driverless ride-hailing service to cover trips to and from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport. The company now operates Apollo Go robotaxis in five cities in China.
Beep has partnered with self-driving software company Oxa (previously known as Oxbotica) to deploy autonomous vehicles in the United States.
Jaguar Land Rover has found a use for its second-life Jaguar I-Pace batteries.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating whether Ford‘s 2022 recall of nearly 49,000 Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles sufficiently addressed issues and whether more vehicles should be included in the recall.
Uber is blaming high insurance rates for its decision to raise the minimum age requirement for new drivers in California to 25 years old. There are some caveats though.
General Motors’ Ultium Cells, the joint venture with LG Energy Solutions, reached an agreement with the United Auto Workers to increase pay for workers at its Ohio battery factory by an average of 25%.
Wu Xinzhou, the former vice president of autonomous driving at Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng, posted on social media site Weibo that he’s taken a job at Nvidia.
Vroom vroom! TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, taking place in San Francisco on September 19–21, is where you’ll get the inside scoop on the future of mobility. Come and hear from today’s leading mobility entrepreneurs on what it takes to build and innovate for a more sustainable future. Save up to $400 when you buy your pass now through September 18, and save 15% on top of that with promo code STATION. Learn more.
The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free.
Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.
A year ago, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act, a law loaded with incentives for climate tech and designed to encourage companies like automakers to bring manufacturing back to the United States. We looked into what the effect of the law has had on the automotive industry, relations with Europe and whether startups — a world we pay attention to — have benefited.
The upshot? The battery factory trend might have started before the IRA was signed, but the law has helped accelerate the ramp. And while most funds are headed to infrastructure projects, startups are starting to see more deal flow. Check out our coverage!
For climate tech startups, the IRA is starting to pay off
Tracking the EV battery factory construction boom across North America
The White House’s effort to combat climate change have sparked a tech arms race with the EU
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ElectraMeccanica, previously the maker of the three-wheeled Solo EV, is merging with an electric truck startup Tevva, and the whole deal makes me wonder if there’s a place for such tiny autocycles in the U.S.
The Solo could have been a neat way to get around cities, for both commuters and delivery drivers. But ElectraMeccanica struggled to produce its vehicles in a way that was cost-effective. The company faced adoption issues since three-wheelers were excluded from government rebates and it was too difficult to insure the vehicles. Back in March, ElectraMeccanica dropped the three-wheeled pursuit in favor of a more mainstream form of transport.
I understand why ElectraMeccanica went with electric trucks. Incentives abound, and going for commercial customers is always a good idea. But it’s sad to see such a green and interesting form of transport fail to make it off the ground. Especially when Arcimoto, probably the only other maker of tiny three-wheeled EVs, is also struggling to stay afloat.
Perhaps it’s only the three-wheeled aspect that makes such vehicles difficult for America to love. Electric golf cars appear to be on the rise, with some American families (particularly ones in warm climates like Florida) viewing the vehicles as a “second car.”
— Rebecca Bellan
Talk about a wild ride!
Vietnamese EV maker Vinfast made its debut on the Nasdaq exchange with a bang. The company, which went public via a merger with special purpose acquisition company Black Spade Acquisition, saw shares shoot up 68% to close at $37.06 and a valuation of $86 billion. To put that into perspective, GM, Ford and Stellantis have market caps that are in the $45 billion to $50 billion range.
The celebrations didn’t last long. VinFast’s stock has plummeted in the days since. VinFast shares closed Friday at $15.40, which perhaps isn’t suprising considering the young EV upstart delivered just 11,300 vehicles in the first half of 2023 — not to mention its fundamentals show a company with costly ambitions that far outweigh revenue.
Other deals that got my attention …
Assembly Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in mobility technologies, closed its inaugural $76 million Assembly Ventures Fund I. Some of investors in the fund include strategic corporates such as Arbor Bancorp Inc. and Stellantis Ventures. A number of automotive, AV tech and VC veterans also invested in the fund, including Wolfgang Bernhart, Matt Cullen, Calvin Ford, Dan Gilbert (DVP), Philipp von Hagen, Joe Hinrichs, Karl Iagnemma, Jody Kelman, Tim Lalonde, Kathleen Ligocki, John Moavenzadeh, Stephen Polk, Tony Posawatz and Dug Song .
General Motors led a $60 million Series B round into battery materials startup Mitra Chem.
Helm.ai, startup that developed software for autonomous driving and automation of robotics, raised $55 million in its Series C round led by Freeman Group. Venture capital firms ACVC Partners and Amplo as well as strategic investors Honda Motor, Goodyear Ventures and Sungwoo Hitech also participated. Helm.ai has now raised $102 million to date.
JetZero, a commercial aerospace startup, was awarded a $235 million contract from the U.S. Air Force to build a jet with a blended wing body.
Pono Capital Three, a special purpose acquisition company, agreed to merge with Robinson Aircraft Ltd., Canadian company doing business as Horizon Aircraft that is developing an electric hybrid eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft).
When the California Public Utilities Commission voted to approve final permits allowing Cruise and Waymo to expand robotaxi operations and charge for driverless rides, I made a comment that not all newsletter readers appreciated. I wrote: “Cruise and Waymo may have won this battle, but the war to win over the public is hardly over.”
The past week has proven my point. Cruise experienced several embarrassing snafus in the few days following the vote, including videos showing vehicles blocking traffic and one driving into wet cement. It was enough to prompt the San Francisco City Attorney’s office to file motions with the CPUC to rollback that approval.
And that was before Thursday night, when Cruise collided with a fire truck that was responding to an emergency. A day after that crash, the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the agency that regulates the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles in the state, asked Cruise to immediately reduce its robotaxi fleet in San Francisco by 50% while it investigates the incident.
Cruise has complied with the request.
A 75MW solar farm backed by Electrify America is up and running.
Ford partnered with South Korean battery manufacturers SK On and EcoPro BM to build a cathode manufacturing facility in Quebec, Canada. The CAD $1.2 billion (USD $890 million) joint investment will provide battery materials to supply future Ford electric vehicles.
Tesla launched cheaper Model X and Model S options with less range.
Ford will make its hands-free driving hardware — BlueCruise — standard in many of its future vehicles and charge owners a subscription, which can be activated any time, to access the tech.
Monterey Car Week typically centers on giving homage to the past. But a number of companies at the events scattered around the area had their sights very much set on the future of high-end motoring, including speed, tech and electrification. Check out our roundup from contributor Tim Stevens.
Ford hired former Apple executive Peter Stern to lead its newly formed Ford Integrated Services unit. The unit will create and market software-enabled customer experiences across the automaker’s three business units: Ford Blue, for gas and hybrid vehicles, Model e for connected EVs, and Ford Pro for commercial products.
Vroom vroom! TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, taking place in San Francisco on September 19–21, is where you’ll get the inside scoop on the future of mobility. Come and hear from today’s leading mobility entrepreneurs on what it takes to build and innovate for a more sustainable future. Save up to $400 when you buy your pass now through September 18, and save 15% on top of that with promo code STATION. Learn more.
Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.
All eyes were on San Francisco this week as critics and supporters of deploying self-driving cars on public roads awaited a vote from the California Public Utilities Commission. Tl;dr: it was a win for the autonomous vehicle industry.
If you haven’t been following, the CPUC approved the last remaining permits to Cruise and Waymo, giving the two companies the green light to offer commercial robotaxi services across San Francisco 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In the lead up to the vote, the commission listened to hundreds of public comments, which were pretty evenly split for and against. My take: Cruise and Waymo may have won this battle, but the war to win over the public is hardly over.
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You remember Veo, right? It’s the shared micromobility operator that has gained a rep for growing at a steady, sustainable pace, rather than moving fast and breaking things? Well, now the company is moving into the retail space<.
Candice Xie, co-founder and CEO, told TechCrunch that its Cosmo seated scooter was so popular, the company decided to pursue D2C sales of it.
When a company adds a business unit, I wonder if it’s in trouble and looking for new ways to secure revenue. Xie says that Veo is still operating profitably and sees moving into retail as a good way to expand into new markets. The company is starting with limited sales this year and will grow its capacity in 2024 if all goes well.
The Cosmo X starts at $3,499.
In other news . . .
Bird has another new CEO. Not even a year after the struggling company fired its founder Travis VanderZanden and replaced him with Shane Torchiana, it appears the company is facing yet another executive shakeup. Torchiana is jumping ship (as many execs at Bird have already done), to be replaced by the company’s rather new CFO. Michael Washinushi has officially taken over as interim CEO.
Boston mayor Michelle Wu is offering free cycling lessons for kids.
London-based HumanForest is now just Forest. And it’s doubling its bike-share numbers in the English city.
NABSA’s fourth annual state of shared micromobility report shows that ridership in North America has returned to pre-pandemic levels. The number of cities with shared micromobility has hit an all-time high with 401 cities, and shared e-bikes and e-scooters have offset about 74 million pounds of CO2 emissions by replacing auto trips.
Tier and Voi are reportedly in talks over a merger.
— Rebecca Bellan
The deal of the week took me by surprise!
Serve Robotics, the autonomous sidewalk delivery robot startup that spun out of Uber’s acquisition of Postmates, is going public via a reverse merger with a blank-check company.
Ahead of the merger, Serve raised $30 million in a round led by existing investors Uber, Nvidia and Wavemaker Partners. New investors Mark Tompkins and Republic Deal Room also participated. The startup/soon-to-be-public company has raised a total of $56 million.
Upon the closing of the merger, Uber held a 16.2% stake and Nvidia an 11% stake in Serve, according to regulatory filings. Sarfraz Maredia, Uber’s vice president of delivery and head of its Americas region, has joined Serve’s board.
Other deals that got my attention this week . . .
Archer Aviation raised $215 million in new capital from its manufacturing partner Stellantis, Boeing, United Airlines, Ark Investment Management LLC and others, to accelerate its path to commercialization. Boeing’s portion of that new investment is going to support the collaboration between Wisk and Archer on autonomy, a source told TechCrunch.
There was some other big Archer news this week as well that I suppose could be considered a deal, or at least an agreement. I’m talking about Archer Aviation and its rival Wisk settling their trade secret legal dispute more than two years after the lawsuit was originally filed.
In a somewhat surprise twist — given how bitterly the legal battle had become — the two companies have agreed to collaborate, TechCrunch reported. Archer also agreed to make Wisk its exclusive provider of autonomy technology to be integrated into a future autonomous variant of Archer’s Midnight aircraft, in addition to the collaboration, according to a source familiar with the settlement.
Inrix, the transportation analytics and connected car services, raised $70 million in a financing round from investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and Morgan Stanley Tactical Value.
Proterra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. I dug into Proterra’s day one declaration and while some parallels can be drawn between Proterra and other failing or defunct EV companies, this company faces specific headwinds that took it down a rocky financial path. I break down what led to Proterra’s bankruptcy.
Treehouse, a home EV charging startup, raised $10 million in a funding round led by Montage Ventures and Trucks Venture Capital, with participation from CarMax, Assurant Ventures, Acrew Capital, Gutter Capital, Detroit Venture Partners, Holman and Automotive Ventures.
Yellow, a Nashville-based trucking company, filed for bankruptcy and has plans to shutter. The company had received a $700 million loan from the Trump administration in 2020.
Cruise has started testing its self-driving vehicles in Atlanta.
There were loads of earnings this week, but maybe you missed these two.
Two-wheeler battery-swapping company Gogoro reported revenue of $87.2 million in Q2, down 3.8% YoY and up 0.2% on a constant currency basis. Of that revenue, $33.3 million came from its battery-swapping service, predominantly active in Taiwan, which is up 9.5% YoY.
Gogoro recorded a net loss of just $5.6 million, which is way down from a net loss of $121.1 million last year, which was primarily due to a one-time $178.8 million listing expense for its SPAC merger in 2022. In adjusted terms, Gogoro recorded $12.9 million, which is up from $9.3 million in Q2 2022.
Shared micromobility operator Bird recorded revenue of $48.3 million, down from the $66.8 million reported in Q2 2022. Bird says this is because it is operating in fewer markets than last year. That said, ride profit also went down to $26.6 million, compared to $28.4 million last year.
Bird has been trying to bring down costs, and it seems to be working. The company recorded a net loss of $9.3 million in Q2 2023, compared to $320.3 million in the same period of 2022. But it might not be enough to keep the company afloat. Bird has just –$1.8 million in free cash flow, and its total operating expenses in Q2 were $36.1 million. Maybe the company’s new CEO will be able to turn the ship around.
BrightDrop, GM’s commercial EV delivery business unit, plans to expand sales of its flagship electric vans to Mexico.
Cadillac revealed the Escalade IQ — an absolutely massive EV, laden with screens, luxury features, an estimated 450 miles of range and the option to upgrade the automaker’s standard advanced driver assistance system, known as Super Cruise, to the next-level Ultra Cruise.
Lucid said during its Q2 earnings call that it will reveal its long-awaited, all-electric Gravity SUV in November with production not kicking off until late 2024.
Motiv Power Systems said it plans to launch a medium-duty chassis with a cab that can be used in various sizes of box trucks, step vans, shuttle buses, refrigerated vehicles and vocational vehicles.
Rivian gained positive momentum in the second quarter as it ramped up EV sales, narrowed losses, reduced costs and shored up its supply chain. The company also raised its production guidance for the year from 50,000 to 52,000 vehicles and said it expects its adjusted earnings guidance for the year to improve to a loss of $4.2 billion. While still a massive number, it is better than it expected.
Arrival‘s board of directors appointed Igor Torgov as an executive director.
Verge Motorcycles appointed Mark Wilson as its new CFO. Wilson was most recently CFO for Aston Martin Lagonda Plc and before that McLaren Automotive.
Vroom vroom! TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, taking place in San Francisco on September 19–21, is where you’ll get the inside scoop on the future of mobility. Come and hear from today’s leading mobility entrepreneurs on what it takes to build and innovate for a more sustainable future. Save up to $400 when you buy your pass now through September 18, and save 15% on top of that with promo code STATION. Learn more.
The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free.
Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.
We might be in the dog days of summer, when news typically slows to a crawl, but this week was still busy thanks to earnings season, an autonomous vehicle scene that continues to heat up and even an EV reveal.
Before we jump into the news, let me direct your attention to a feature on the Volvo EX30. Contributor Patrick George explores why the diminutive EX30 is such a big deal. It’s worth the read.
Want to reach out with a tip, comment or complaint? Email Kirsten at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com.
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Rebecca Bellan is out this week, but wanted to share one micromobility story that we’ve all been following. I’m talking about Van Moof — and specifically what company might buy the bankrupt ebike maker. There are already a few suiters out there, according to Bright.
One we know that is exploring an acquisition of Van Moof — because it issued a press release — is Micromobility.com, a company with its own financial struggles. There is speculation that KKR as well as bike companies Trek and Giant might have submitted a bid, but none are talking.
Wow surely there were others deals that happened this week, right? It is scant and likely the result of the summer slow season. Let’s see if it picks up soon.
Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the VC firm founded with backing from Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Vinod Khosla, Jack Ma, John Doerr and 15 other high-profile investors, is raising its third fund. (I mention this fund because there is overlap with transportation!)
Tesla officially acquired Wiferion, the Germany-based wireless charging startup.
TruckLabs, a Phoenix-based startup that developed hardware and software to improve fuel economy and battery range for fleets, raised an undisclosed amount in a Series B round led by Blue Bear Capital. The funding round also included an investment from Calibrate Ventures.
ZOOZ Power, an EV charging infrastructure company listed on the public exchange in Tel Aviv, has agreed to merge with special purposed acquisition company Keyarch Acquisition Corp.
Pony.ai and Toyota say they’re teaming up with the goal of one day cranking out a bunch of “fully driverless robotaxis.” The two companies intend to kick off their partnership sometime this year with around $139 million in capital from GAC Toyota Motor Co. — a joint venture between Toyota China and GAC, a Chinese state-owned automaker.
The San Francisco Giants will wear big Cruise ads through 2025. No really, the badges are huge.
Waymo announced plans to launch a robotaxi service in Austin — putting the company once again in direct competition with rival Cruise. Austin will be the company’s fourth commercial market following Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The company will kick off the initial phase of its operations in the city this fall; the ride-hailing service will become open to the public at a later date.
BMW said it will pump more cash into its EV development program.
The Chevrolet Blazer EV, a battery electric SUV that is part of GM’s bid to surpass Tesla in U.S. EV sales by 2025, is headed to dealerships. The upshot? Prices are higher than expected (as much as $10,000 higher.)
Fisker showed off four EV prototypes at an event in California, including a sports car, pickup and a low-cost vehicle that it intends to build with Foxconn. But, it turns out that deal with Foxconn still isn’t finalized.
Ford said it will triple production capacity of its all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck following a six-week shutdown to expand and retool its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center.
Lucid slashed prices of its Air lineup in a bid to attract more buyers. The cheapest trim, the Air Pure, now starts at $82,400.
Nikola was able to get enough shareholders to vote on a proposal that will allow it to issue more shares after three attempts and a change in Delaware law. The passage opens the door for Nikola to raise much needed capital.
Subaru doubles its plans for new EVs, targeting eight models by 2028.
Tesla is being sued by several owners over allegations of consumer fraud a week after a Reuters investigation found the company had exaggerated the range estimates of its EVs for years.
The California Privacy Protection Agency announced plans this week to review the data privacy practices of automakers that make and sell connected vehicles embedded with all kinds of data-mining features, from cameras and location sharing to web-based entertainment and smartphone integration. Don’t let the smattering of coverage fool you; it’s actually a big deal that has financial and operational consequences for automakers and tech companies.
Researchers said they have found a way to hack the hardware underpinning Tesla’s infotainment system, allowing them to get free in-car feature upgrades.
Eve Air Mobility appointed Johann Bordais, current president and CEO of Embraer Services & Support, as CEO effective September 1, 2023. Eve’s co-CEOs, Andre Stein and Jerry DeMuro, will remain at Eve with new roles, according to the company.
John Krafcik, who led autonomous vehicle company Waymo for five years, has joined Rivian’s board of directors.
Luminar hired two new executives. Emily Shanklin, who was most recently a senior marketing executive at SpaceX, is now senior vp of marketing at Luminar. Kevin Hinge, who was chief supply chain officer at GoPro, is executive vice president of manufacturing, supply chain and quality.
Nikola Corp. president/CEO Michael Lohscheller is leaving the top executive positions due to a family health issue. He will be replaced by board chairman Steve Girsky, a former GM board member and the CEO of the special purpose acquisition company that merged with Nikola to make it a publicly company.
Xinzhou Wu, vice president of autonomous driving at Chinese EV maker Xpeng, has resigned over personal and family reasons, according to the company. However, rumors suggest he is taking a senior position at Nvidia.
Beep beep! TechCrunch Disrupt 2023, taking place in San Francisco on September 19–21, is where you’ll get the inside scoop on the future of mobility. Come and hear from today’s leading mobility entrepreneurs on what it takes to build and innovate for a more sustainable future. Save up to $600 when you buy your pass now through August 11, and save 15% on top of that with promo code STATION. Learn more.
The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free.
Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.
Hey frens! I’m back from vacation and who-wee — a lot happened this week from automaker earnings and the Tesla range inflation drama to Waymo tapping the brakes on self-driving and Cruise expanding to yet another city.
One other note, you can find me on TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, a place where I will show up on a semi-regular basis, including this episode that came out Friday!
Onward!
Want to reach out with a tip, comment or complaint? Email Kirsten at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com.
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Is there anything else to talk about besides Lyft mulling the sale of its ebike division?
Lyft posted on its blog that it had received “strong inbound interest” in its bikes and scooters business.
The company stated:
As a leading bikeshare provider, supplying solutions to over 53 markets across 15 countries, it’s only logical for Lyft to listen to credible proposals and explore strategic partners and options in several forms to serve more riders in more cities. We expect this part of the business to continue to be a meaningful part of Lyft’s offering now and into the future.
The announcement runs contrary to what newly appointed CEO David Risher has told reporter Rebecca Bellan in past interviews. Risher, who is known as a big supporter of ebikes, did say the company planned to focus on its core ride-hailing business and become profitable, but it didn’t seem like the two-wheeled share service was on the chopping block.
The news prompted some here at TechCrunch to declare that shared micromobility was officially dead. I’m not so sure.
What do you think?
Instead of a deal of the week, I’d like to call y’all’s attention to the list of deals below. See a pattern emerging?
Yup, me too. Software and EV charging sure seems like a thing, eh?
Other deals that got my attention this week …
Ampcontrol, an EV fleet management software startup, raised $10 million in Series A funding round led by the Westly Group. Other investors included AngelPad and Lorimer Ventures.
Aurora raised $820 million in a public and concurrent private offering (a deal we covered last week.) As I mentioned in the Equity podcast, tucked inside the SEC filing detailing the deal we learn that Uber invested $1 million in the private placement and $74 million in the public follow-on. When taking into account the Class B shares, Uber has a 22% stake in Aurora.
EV.energy, the UK-based EV charging software startup, raised $33 million in a Series B round led by National Grid Partners with participation from new investors Aviva Ventures, WEX Venture Capital and InMotion Ventures, as well as existing investors Energy Impact Partners, Future Energy Ventures and ArcTern Ventures.
Flipturn, a startup that developed a software management system for EV truck fleets, raised $4.5 million in a seed round led by Accel.
Field, the battery energy storage systems developer launched by former Bulb Energy co-founder Amit Gudka, raised £200 million from DIF Capital Partners.
Voltpost, a New York City–based startup that developed hardware that converts lampposts into EV charging spots, raised $3.6 million in a seed round led by RWE Energy Transition Investments with participation from Twynam Funds Management, Exelon Foundation, Good News Ventures and Climate Capital.
VW Group made a pair of deals with Chinese automakers aimed at shoring up sales in China, including taking a 5% stake valued at about $700 million XPeng as part of a deal to jointly develop and produce two mid-sized EVs for China. In a separate agreement, Audi expanded a partnership with SAIC. Reporter Rita Liao provides insight on what this deal could mean for future alliances between China and the West.
Cruise self-driving vehicles arrived in Nashville this week for testing; a robotaxi service is expected to follow. Cruise will also begin testing in multiple, new cities as part of its aggressive commercial ramp, according to the company. If the company’s careers page provides any hints, it seems Atlanta is one of them.
Want evidence that Cruise is accelerating? One year ago, Cruise only operated in San Francisco. Cruise has since expanded to Austin, Dallas, Houston, Phoenix and most recently Miami.
Rafaela Vasquez, the safety driver who was behind the wheel of an Uber ATG self-driving vehicle when it struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe in 2018, pleaded guilty to endangerment. Vasquez was sentenced to three years of supervised probation.
Waymo is tapping the brakes on self-driving trucks and shifting most of its capital, resources and talent to one commercial bet: ride-hailing. I won’t call it a complete shutdown as limited testing will continue. But the program as it once stood is over. It seems most people on the team have kept their jobs at Waymo, per sources. (However, it’s still early; we’ll see how it all shakes out once the program is wound down.)
Ford and GM both posted earnings this week and there were some general themes; namely that business is good if you’re selling gas and hybrid trucks and SUVs. The EV business? Well that’s a bit of a money loser. Both companies raised profit guidance for the year and GM said it would cut costs another $1 billion as it focuses on earning more money.
Ford, which now breaks out earnings for three business units, is tweaking its EV plans. The big line item is that Ford expects its EV business to lose $4.5 billion in 2023 — double what it previously forecast. And the company seems to be more bullish than ever on hybrids, which reminds me of Bill Ford’s comments way back in 2016 about viewing hybrids as a transitional, or bridge technology. At the time, the sentiment was about consumer adoption. These days Ford is learning that hybrid technology applied to trucks is particularly attractive to buyers.
Ample, a San Francisco-based startup, is bringing its modular EV battery swapping technology to Mitsubishi Fuso’s electric trucks this winter.
GM isn’t going to kill off the Chevy Bolt EV after all. This is going to be a next-gen Bolt EV based on the new Ultium platform and battery design. I’m fascinated by this reversal because it happened so quickly (3 months!). Will it still be assembled at the Orion plant? Reminder: Orion was supposed to be retooled for electric truck production once the Bolt went out of production at the end of 2023.
Tesla exaggerated the range estimates for its EVs for years, prompting owners to flood its service center over concerns that their vehicles needed service, according to a new detailed Reuters report. As I note in my own story, one of the nagging problems with range estimates is their variability, which allows some automakers to push the boundaries of the system. While the EPA does review and approve those estimates, it allows automakers to use one of two methods to reach those figures: use a standard formula that converts fuel economy results, or conduct additional tests to come up with their own range estimate. Tesla has always done the latter, which gives far better numbers.
Lacuna Technologies, a startup that sold software services to cities to help create and enforce transportation policies, has shut down, per a LinkedIn post from product lead Samuel Jackson. (h/t to the source who pointed me to the post).
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