Trucks | FoT: Cubic, COP28, Mtor

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

Chinese carmakers rush to build out their own semiconductor supply chains (link). 'While one gasoline-powered vehicle uses less than 500 semiconductors, an EV requires around 1,300…An advanced Level 4 autonomous vehicle would need more than 3,000 semiconductors...But China produces only about 15% of its power semiconductors and less than 5% of the sophisticated chips needed for autonomous driving.' Modern automotive policy dictates that every major country (and its major automakers) needs a response to the three big questions of contemporary carmaking: will we build our own cars, our own batteries and our own chips? Frank Zappa in 1989: 'You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.'

Similar to Dieselgate, but for trains (link). ‘Polish-made Newag electric passenger trains have been found to give errors when serviced by non-Newag workshops.’

EU offers battery makers over $3.7B to jump start its electric vehicle industry (link).

China decrees that AVs used for public transportation must carry a human attendant (link). This story developed last week and it's not yet clear how much this will impact private fleets. This appears to only concern public transportation fleets.

Tesla drivers run Autopilot where the system isn't intended, with deadly consequences (link). 'In all, The Post has identified about 40 fatal or serious crashes since 2016 involving Tesla’s driver assistance software; the bulk of them were identified through NHTSA’s data, and the rest surfaced through lawsuits. Many occurred on controlled-access highways. But at least eight occurred on roads where Autopilot was not designed to be used.'

Fear of cheap Chinese EVs spurs automaker dash for affordable cars (link). 'We don't need longer range, we want lower costs.' Related: How China built an e-bus juggernaut: over 95% of global market (link).

Taking stock of America's bike lane builds, hits and misses (link).

Interview with Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson (link). 'There are electron-guzzling EVs as well. I don’t think all EVs are equally good just because they have zero emissions. I exactly point to efficiency: how far that EV can travel for a given amount of energy, which is efficiency per kilowatt-hour.'

COP28 transportation roundup by McKinsey (link). Related: Bloomberg's pre-COP28 briefing doc (link to PDF).

Video: Sandy Munro and Elon Musk discuss the Cybertruck (link). Video: Koimochan's tiny spaceship hot rod, made from an old bumper car (link). Video: Wayve AV ridealong with Azeem Azhar (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Irish software developer Cubic Telecom 51% bought out by Softbank for $508M (link).

Scout Motors confirms it will partner with Magna Steyr on manufacturing of its EV pickup and SUV (link).

Boston area dry electrode startup AM Batteries raises $30M (link). Led by Toyota Ventures.

Israeli safety software startup Foretellix raises $42M (link). Led by 83North.

AV trucking startup TuSimple begins wind-down of its US operations (link).

Egypt parts marketplace startup Mtor raises $2.8M (link). Led by Algebra Ventures.

Voice AI startup SYNQ3 acquired by Soundhound for $25M (link).

GM to supply hydrogen fuel cells for Autocar’s heavy-duty vocational trucks (link).

Our Next Energy names Paul Humphries as CEO, former CEO Mujeeb moved to CTO role (link).

Tesla's head of Dojo Supercomputer departs (link).

Board Changes:

Johnson Controls: Michael Daniels notifies plans to leave board (link).

New Stuff:

House passes CARS Act ‘to halt EPA’s proposed tailpipe emission standards’ (link).

Significant ‘Right To Repair’ lawsuit against John Deere moves forward (link).

Detroit's Electreon debuts its wireless charging roadway prototype in Michigan (link).

Brussels proposes 3-year delay to EV sales tariffs between UK and EU (link).

A bunch of EVs are going to lose their tax credit starting January 1st (link).

Ford and Xcel Energy will build 30,000 EV charging ports for fleet businesses (link).

Joby, ANA Holdings Partner with Nomura Real Estate Development for Vertiports in Japan (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

NVIDIA's patent application for camera-based vehicle localization (link).

Ford's patent application shows frunk video screen (link).

Featured Jobs:

Senior DevOps Engineer at Joby Aviation in Santa Cruz, CA USA (link).

MobilityJobs is the No.1 job board for auto & transportation companies (link). New: any startup can now post standard jobs for free. Just use the code 'Trucks' at checkout.

Statistics / Projections:

How important is Apple CarPlay to buyers? Nearly 80% of respondents (to an Apple enthusiast website) wouldn't buy a car without it (link). Via 9to5Mac.

Class 8 trucking orders hit 14-month high in November (link). Via Freightwaves / ACT Research.

Demand for satellites is rising but not skyrocketing (link). Via Space News / Quilty Space. 'A new report predicts that around 20,000 new satellites will launch by the end of the decade — a more conservative forecast compared to other sky-high projections.'

Compared to ICE vehicles, EVs visit the dealer more often, have more services performed and owners spend more time per service visit (link to PDF). Via Cox Automotive / slide 20.

More than half of London's black taxis are now zero emission capable (link). Via TfL. 'ZEC means they are able to cover minimum distances powered solely by electric batteries.'

The top 10% of US motorists use more fuel than the bottom 60% (link). Via IEEE / Ryan Anderson.

Thank you:

Thank you to Mykolas Rambus (link) and Chris Thomas (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Joby Aviation (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

See you next week,

Reilly Brennan