Trucks | FoT: Auriga, Lucid/Uber/Nuro, Norfolk Pacific

Trucks | Future of Transportation for 2025.07.21
FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

Uber's everywhere-AV-at-once strategy: deals with Baidu for China and global AV roll outs (link), investment in Lucid for 3-way partnership with Nuro to deploy L4 on network (link). 'Over six years starting in 2026, Uber will acquire and deploy over 20,000 Lucid Gravity SUVs that will be equipped with autonomous vehicle (AV) technology from startup Nuro, the three companies said in a statement.' Staying ahead of the AV companies by doing deals with all of them, Uber maintains their position as the 'first thought' in the customer's mind for trips. The company's closest analogue for the future is probably not Waymo, or Tesla, or Lyft, but rather: Visa. You just use it everywhere when you want to get a ride. At some point the AV companies will realize that Uber has gotten the jump on them and they are permanently intermediated from the customer; perhaps Tesla is the first that doesn't go 'on network' with Uber. But until then, it's everywhere at once.

A week with Apple's new CarPlay Ultra: not as smooth as expected (link). 'As a type of simple failure exercise, I turned my phone off while driving more than once. Doing so reverts both the gauge cluster and infotainment screen to Aston's native UI, the former almost instantly and the latter just a few seconds later. However, once I turned my phone back on, I struggled to reactivate either traditional CarPlay or Ultra until I forgot the device in my Bluetooth settings and started over from scratch. This held true for every attempt.'

To make cars move lovable, it's not about software -- it's cupholders (link). Via Carl F. The most? Subaru's Ascent SUV has 19.

Ford's only-for-China EREV Bronco Sport is potentially (hopefully?) a preview for a US model (link).

Without CarPlay, Rivian's own maps 'work fine 70% of the time' (link).

Video: walkthrough of Skyryse’s simplified by-wire controls in a Robinson R66 (link). Video: robotic rail-bolt tightener for railroads (link). Via Diego. Video: the Faraday Future 'launch' (in quotes) of a minivan vehicle with screes on the front end (link). Via CP / Daniel Golson: 'It was a total disaster — this thing is just a Wey Gaoshan from China with an ugly screen tacked onto the front for an AI assistant that seemingly does nothing.' Video: M-Air is a 40-mile-long airspace for testing drones & electric-powered aircraft in SE Michigan (link). Video: Why does Kevin Williams keep getting static for saying that Chinese cars are good? -- Tool or Die video pod (link).

On the origins of the wheel (link). 'Despite the wheel’s immeasurable impact, no one is certain as to who invented it, or when and where it was first conceived. The hypothetical scenario described above is based on a 2015 theory that miners in the Carpathian Mountains – in present-day Hungary – first invented the wheel nearly 6,000 years ago as a means to transport copper ore.'

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Electromagnetic space launch startup Auriga Space raises $6M (link). Led by OTB, with particpation from Trucks.

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railways reportedly plan merger, a $200B union (link). 'For a passenger flying from New York to Los Angeles, switching planes in Chicago is hardly ideal. For cargo travelling by rail, however, such a layover is, in effect, unavoidable. A potential deal gathering momentum in the US railway industry may challenge that inconvenient state of affairs.'

German AV startup Motor AI raises $20M (link). Led by Segenia Capital and eCAPITAL.

Heavy duty vehicle AV startup Bedrock raises $80M (link). Led by 8VC.

Assets of vehicle rental startup Kyte acquired by Turo (link).

EV infrastructure startup Zemetric acquired by Blink Charging (link).

Transit software startup Via files for upcoming US IPO (link). 'Via ended 2022 with an annualized revenue run rate of over $200 million, more than doubling since its previous financing round — a $130 million Series G in November 2021. Its revenue is today believed to be in the several hundred million dollars range.'

Stellantis discontinues hydrogen fuel cell technology development program (link).

Heavy duty autonomy startup Safe AI acquired by Pronto AI (link).

VTOL startup Joby Aviation announces expansion of its Marina, California manufacturing site, to double production to 24 units per year (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Cummins: Matthew Tsien joins board (link).

Curated Jobs:

LEO PNT Test Engineer at Xona Space Systems in Burlingame, CA, USA (link).

Customer Success Manager at Route Reports in London, England, United Kingdom (link).

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

Hunting? View all 437 postings on the MobilityJobs job board (link).

New Stuff:

Mobileye introduces its driver-monitoring system (link).

May Mobility announces forthcoming launches of its AV service in Atlanta and Arlington, with Uber and Lyft (link).

Under sales pressure, Chinese car brands Neta & Zeekr inflated numbers through insurance loophole (link). 'The companies arranged for cars to be insured before they were sold to buyers, the documents show, enabling them under Chinese industry car registration practices to book sales early so they could hit the monthly and quarterly targets, the dealers and buyers said.'

The US Commerce Department plans to impose a 93.5% levy on Chinese graphite, an essential ingredient in EV batteries (link).

Wave of VIVI ebikes recalled for fires (link). The bikes are 'sold at retailers like Walmart, Amazon, and AliExpress for prices between $365 and $950.'

Core77 Design Awards, transportation category (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

GM's patent application shows interior personalization based on emotional state (link).

Statistics / Projections:

Global EV sales jump 24% in June (link). Via Reuters / Rho Motion.

Since 2017, China has been the largest shipbuilder in the world (link). Via Construction Physics / IFP. 'Of the 89 million deadweight tons of commercial ships built in 2024, 50.8 million of them (57%) were Chinese.'

China will make almost 1/3 of the world’s cars by 2030 (link). Via Bloomberg.

Survey respondents believe AI will have the greatest impact on robotics, more so than smartphones or the general internet (link). Via Gallup.

Americans still say rising prices are the most important problem in the US (link to PDF). Via New Consumer.

In the past three years, the number of available electric vehicles on the US market has roughly doubled (link). Via Bloomberg.

Thank you:

Thank you to Michael Dunne (link) and Eddi Zyko (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Auriga Space (link), Joby Aviation (link), May Mobility (link), Route Reports (link), Xona Space Systems (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

Get a bicycle. You will not regret it. If you live. (Mark Twain)

Reilly Brennan