Trucks | FoT: Doordash Dot, Blackbird 66, Skylar

Trucks | Future of Transportation for 2025.10.06
FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

Over 1/2 of all new cars in the US market will offer hands-free driving by 2028 (link). I am staunch 410er (I think the best and only acceptable driving automation levels are, in order: four, then one, then zero) so this news is a bit disappointing to me. Level 2 and 3 ADAS is a bridge to driver incompetence in my view, but it's pushed by OEMs as a way to show they can generate recurring revenues.

After a surge to capture expiring US tax credits for EVs, automakers expect a decline in Q4 (link). 'The EV credit, which expired Tuesday, has lifted battery-powered car sales for years. Without it, Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley predicted, EV market share will fall by more than 1/2 to between 4% and 5% of total sales by the end of the year.' Related: 'Ford and GM will buy EVs from its own dealers by having their finance divisions put down payments on all the electric models in their inventory before the tax credit expires. The dealers will then lease the vehicles to customers with a $7,500 discount baked into the price' (link).

Munich is next in another drone-related airport closure (link).

Chinese automaker takeover omnibus: Nigeria explores certifying Chinese jet for local airlines (link).

Blackbird 66 Mk 1 is a low-downforce, big tire version of how motorsport could be far less boring (link). If IndyCar plans on turning itself around it needs new thinking like this. From friend of FoT JR Hildebrand.

US DoT's purge of ‘woke’ programs translates into stoppage of funds for safety studies at 7 of 35 university transportation research centers (link).

How do drivers react to partisan bumper stickers? With hostility (link). 'When ‘bad driving’ and ‘out-party sticker’ occurred together, participants became more hostile: they were more likely to say they would honk their horn, and less likely to feel warm towards the driver in question.'

California police pull over a self-driving Waymo for an illegal U-turn, but can't give it a ticket (link).

Video: Former head of GM R&D Dr Larry Burns in discussion with MIT’s Professor Jinhua Zhao (link). Video: Quinn Peterson's Honda Z600 is brought to life the way you want it (link). Via Diego. Video: Germany's shopping cart return championship (link). Video: late 80s cycle racing meant administering your own pain medications on the run (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Volkswagen's internal Cariad software unit is back (link). 'Cariad has survived and is now tasked with maintaining and updating VW’s existing software platforms and integrating new ones to be developed by Rivian across its sprawling brands.'

Swedish AV trucking startup Einride raises $100M (link). Led by EQT Ventures.

Lithium startup Electroflow Technologies raises $10M (link). Led by USV.

Belgian data labeling startup Segments acquired by Uber (link).

Toyota commits $1.5B over two new and existing investment funds: Toyota Invention Partners Co ($670M) Woven Capital II ($800M) (link).

Logistics AI startup Alvys raises $40m (link). Led by RTP Global.

Can Paris and Berlin rescue their joint fighter jet project? (link). 'The long-running power struggle over the Future Combat Air System (FCAS) escalated in recent weeks when it emerged that Berlin was weighing replacing France with the UK or Sweden because of conflicts with the French company, Dassault Aviation. Chief executive Éric Trappier hit back by claiming the combat aircraft maker could go it alone since it had all the needed expertise.'

Arizona vehicle freight matching platform RunBuggy raises $37M (link). Led by Centana Growth.

SAE International acquires Michigan Mobility Institute (link). Congratulations to our friends Jessica and Chris who started MMI.

Board & Executive Changes:

GE Aerospace: Wesley Bush joins board (link).

Lithia Motors: Heidi O’Neill, Richard Bailey join board (link).

Mercedes-Benz: Jörg Burzer named CTO, replacing Markus Schäfer (link).

Hertz Global: Michael Moore promoted to COO (link).

Curated Jobs:

Staff Data Scientist at Joby Aviation in Santa Cruz, CA, USA (link).

Lead Manufacturing Recruiter at JetZero in Long Beach, CA, USA (link).

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

Hunting? View all 476 postings on the MobilityJobs job board (link).

New Stuff:

Skyryse unveils Skylar AI flight assistant (link).

Doordash's new delivery robot, named Dot, can travel up to 20mph in the bike lane (link).

Illinois utility tries using electric school buses for bidirectional charging (link). Via Weans.

EV boat maker backed by GM closed, but the founder is back with an automation startup for military boats (link).

Spruce Power partners with Treehouse to accelerate expansion into home battery storage (link).

Senators call for investigation into Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ after train crossing incidents (link). 'The senators' letter comes after NBC News reviewed dozens of driver complaints alleging Tesla’s software mishandled train crossings.'

Patents & Patent Applications:

Ford's patent application shows gesture-based keypad entry (link). Draw a sailboat.

Rivian's patent application shows low-speed automation for drive-thru restaurants (link).

Statistics / Projections:

96% of surveyed US drivers admitted to engaging in road rage in the last 12 months (link). Via AAA.

Tesla’s global vehicle deliveries increased by 7.4% in the third quarter, reaching a record 497,099 vehicles (link). Via WSJ.

The number of EV fast charging ports rose more than 80% in the two years that ended in August, to more than 60,300 (link). Via WSJ / Joint Office of Energy and Transportation.

If the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) eliminates its tailpipe emissions rules, researchers estimate it will cut $710 billion cumulatively from U.S. GDP and cause 17,000 pollution-related premature deaths (link). Via Energy Innovation.

Thank you:

Thank you to Chaim Coutts (link), Morgan Polotan (link), Olaf Sakkers (link) and Regina Savage (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

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

There is another world, and it is in this one (Paul Éluard),

Reilly Brennan