Trucks | FoT: Alibaba Banma, Nuro, Denim

Trucks | Future of Transportation for 2025.08.25
FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

Global hardware, regional software: Tesla will integrate Chinese AI systems from Deepseek, Doubao voice in China market cars (link). 'Foreign carmakers are increasingly turning to domestic suppliers to provide AI models to offer a more localized experience for Chinese drivers, who have grown accustomed to tech-filled cars. BMW AG said in March that it has deepened a partnership with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and will introduce the QWen large language model to an upcoming line-up tailor-made for the China market.'

Use of turquoise colored lights emerging for ADAS applications, somewhat confusingly (link). 'Rather, it is to flag that turquoise might be spreading from automated driving into driver support. Look at some of the vehicles, from more than one manufacturer, that are on display in this typical urban shopping mall in China.'

Adding all the way up to a $1T robotaxi market requires car ownership math, not just robotaxi (link).

How car dealers became college football's power brokers (link). 'He gives the player a price range and asks them what they want, then looks to used car auctions if it's not a model he sells. That includes Ewers, who eventually decided the Corvette was giving him back issues. He couldn't abide that with his QB1, so he asked Ewers what else he'd like. 'How about a Porsche Cayenne GTS?' said Ewers. Done.'

Is the Flipper Zero the next big car theft gadget? 'Kia Boys will be Flipper Boys by 2026' (link). 'The hack works by intercepting and cloning a key fob’s radio signal using custom firmware built for the Flipper Zero, a handheld device designed for analyzing and testing wireless communication protocols.'

All variants of cars are headed toward an off-road variant, the latest example being a new Chrysler minivan 'Grizzly Peak' (link). Last year my friend from a Detroit automaker and I wrote this piece about the potential for off-road minivans -- she wasn't allowed to put her name on it because her boss was already mad at her for being more famous than him (link).

What propeled Chinese OEM Xiaomi to build EVs so quickly? 2021's US trade sanctions (link).

Charging snobs wonder aloud: should we ban hybrids from fast chargers? (link).

Why doesn't the US have '5-minute' EV chargers? We lack both the vehicles and chargers, often developed in unison (link).

Safety regulators want to know why Tesla hasn't filed its crash reports on time (link).

Video: Banks Oregon's farm combine demolition derby (link). Via Weans. Video: How should license plate readers share their data, if at all? (link). Video: Volonaut Airbike (link). Via JSx. Video: AI's own carboarding (link). Video: Rivian's new R2 spotted during testing (link). Video: Pakistani truck air horn god (link). Via TO. Video: Bigfoot No.1, the original monster truck (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Alibaba plans spinoff of its Banma AV business with Hong Kong IPO (link).

Battery startup Group14 raises $463M (link). Led by SK Inc.

AV startup Nuro raises an additional $97M into its recent round (link).

Freight payment startup Denim acquired by Truckstop (link).

SF based 'Uber for freight' startup Oway raises $4M (link). Led by YC and General Catalyst.

Swiss semi U-blox acquired by Advent for $1.3B (link).

UK charging platform Hubber raises $76M (link). Led by James Bayliss.

Texas supply chain risk startup Overhaul raises $105M (link). Led by Springcoast.

Urban navigation startup Vayu Robotics acquired by Serve Robotics (link).

Home electrification startup Wattbuy acquired by Schneider Electric (link).

Boeing in talks to sell China hundreds of planes as part of U.S. trade deal (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Toyota Motor North America: Keita Moritsu appointed as CTO (link).

Samsara: Gary Steele joins board (link).

JB Hunt: Brad Delco promoted to CFO (link).

Trimble: Ken Bement named CAO; Julie Shepard to retire (link).

Curated Jobs:

Senior Software Engineer, Human-Robot Interaction at May Mobility in Ann Arbor, MI USA (link).

Director Business Development, Government at Edge Case Research, remote (link).

Hiring? Post a job (link). If you're a startup, use code 'Trucks' for free standard listings.

Hunting? View all 459 postings on the MobilityJobs job board (link).

New Stuff:

Waymo approved for NYC AV testing (link).

Applied Intuition debuts its whitelabel ADAS system (link).

More fast trains means fewer flights between Japanes cities (link). 'This reduction can be attributed to a new Shinkansen service extension, which connected Tokyo and Kanazawa in 2015. Additionally, the line extended further down in 2024, connecting numerous communities along the way. This has had an impact on service out of Komatsu Airport, and ANA has finally given in, slashing half of its flights between the cities.'

EV leases in the US drop below $100/month for some models — at least before the credits end (link). 'Emich VW in Boulder, Colo., which has a clock on its website counting down the seconds until the federal EV tax credits end, is advertising the ID.4 for $39 a month.'

Understanding the new 'assembled in America' vehicle tax credit (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

Apple's patent application shows sharable mobile car key (link).

Ford's patent application shows in-vehicle sharing and inventory system (link).

Statistics / Projections:

With monthly rates for EVs now cheaper than ICE, leases now account for nearly 3 in 4 EV transactions, compared with just 16% of gas-powered cars (link). Via Bloomberg.

Americans are probably closer to an EV charger than they think, but their garage is filled with junk (link). Via Telemetry. 'Citing research from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, an estimated 42% of homeowners park near existing electrical access that can be modified to work with a Level 2 charger. However, this number rises to 68% if homeowners change their parking behavior, most likely by clearing a space in their garage.'

Workers who drive home after a 12-hour shift are 2x as likely to have a crash as those working 8-hour shifts (link). Via Guardian. 'And if a doctor or nurse drives home after being awake for 20 hours or more in the night or in the early morning when sleep is needed most, the danger is equivalent to that of driving with blood alcohol levels above the legal limit.'

Thank you:

Thank you to Bryce Dabbs (link), Amit Garg (link), Alex Roy (link) and Bill Russo (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Denim (link), Edge Case Research (link), May Mobility (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

If I hadn't started painting, I would have raised chickens (Grandma Moses),

Reilly Brennan