Trucks | FoT: Highwaymo, Dott/Tier, Finn

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

Waymo announces plans for highway testing of its AVs in Phoenix area (link). If successful and Waymo opens up highways routes to customers, this will be among the most significant AV moments of the decade.

CES wrap up: lots of AI, hydrogen, VTOL, Honda announcements (link). I was at CES for a few days and it remains the most important ‘auto’ show in the U.S., even if new car launches were minimal.

After a big Tesla bet, Hertz plans to sell 1/3 of its EV fleet (link). In Hertz's SEC docs they show their plan to reduce their EV fleet by roughly 20k units, mostly Teslas, at a loss of over $12k per vehicle.

Aurora Innovation and Continental discuss their deepening partnership (link). 'Over the last year, we drove about a million miles hauling goods for customers and we moved about 30 million tons of freight in trucks under autonomous control.'

Researchers find not all ADAS systems can identify pedestrians and alert drivers appropriately (link). Via David Z. 'Cars were not consistent internally or with one another in pedestrian detection and response, and only sparingly sounded any warnings.'

Video: 60 Minutes on the Isle of Man TT, the world's most dangerous motorcycle race (link). Video: illegal NYC subway surfing (link).

Oscar Mayer seeks full-time drivers of the iconic Wienermobile (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

E-scooter firms Tier and Dott to merge (link).

German car sharing startup Finn raises $109M (link). Led by Planet First Partners.

White House announces additional $623M for EV funding (link). 'The funding is the latest chunk of change to be released from a total of $7.5 billion earmarked for charging and greener fueling in 2021’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.'

Aeva wins LiDAR contract with Daimler Truck worth near $1B (link).

TuSimple’s self-driving trucks up for auction following US exit (link).

Board Changes:

JetBlue Airways: Joanna Geraghty promoted to CEO, joins board (link).

New Stuff:

Vietnamese EV maker VinFast reveals new pickup truck (link).

Walmart announces drone delivery expansion in Texas (link). 'Drone delivery will be available for up to 1.8 million additional households, encompassing entire Dallas Fort-Worth metroplex.'

California SB 915 bill would reframe AV regulations for lawmakers at the local level (link).

DARPA moves forward on X-65 airplane, which has no moving control surfaces (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

Ford's patent application shows electrified vehicle trailer (link).

Apple's patent application shows illuminated windows for rapidly-changing privacy (link).

Featured Jobs:

Hydraulic System Engineer at JetZero in Long Beach, CA, USA (link).

Software Verification Engineer at Quadric in the United States (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:

Airbus notes record sales in 2022 (link). Via WSJ. 'The company said it had booked 2,319 gross orders last year, more than twice the number in 2022 and 29.1% higher than its 1,796 record set in 2014.'

US new vehicle inventory is more than 2.7M, a 3-year high (link). Via Automotive News / Cox Automotive.

China exported 5.26M cars last year, the world's largest (link). Via WSJ / China Passenger Car Association.

China currently has over 200 autonomous city buses, more than 1,500 autonomous taxis, and approximately 1,000 autonomous trucks operating nationwide (link). Via People's Daily.

Lucid's 2023 numbers: 8,428 cars made, 6,001 sold (link).

Thank you:

Thank you to Amy Mathews (link), Eric Missonnier (link) and Michael Porteous (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

JetZero (link), Quadric (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

See you next week,

Reilly Brennan