Trucks | FoT: Intramotev, JetZero, Autofleet

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

State of Texas sues GM for $18B for alleged consumer privacy protection missteps (link). 'Texas is alleging GM has engaged in 'false, deceptive and misleading' business practices that have impacted 1.8 million Texans who own vehicles manufactured by the automaker.' It would be useful if each car company had a plain English version of their data policies in one spot so everyone can compare them.

On Tesla's robotaxi delays (link). Like major religions that came before it, having a future paradise is a valuable asset.

The power tool makers, who are effectively battery giants given their modular pack moat, enter the EV charging and home energy space (link). Via Ryan M.

Rivian's new Connect+ plan is either a very expensive CarPlay alternative, or a very reasonable monthly data plan (link). Rivian is adamant that its interior experience is better without Apple CarPlay integration. I think ultimately Rivian makes this optional simply because of the consumer demand as a shopping prerequisite. Compared to Tesla's data package, which has a standard plan for free or premium for $9.99/month, this is slightly more experience but close to market normal.

China's Zeekr claims a new fast-charging standard with LFP batteries and 800V charging stations that can go from 10% to 80% in just over 10 minutes (link). That's a wild headline number if true and would put public charging experiences close to ICE gas stations (currently filling in under about 3 minutes).

Where is the innovation in 2-wheeled EVs? (link). 'Nearly 99.99 percent of all electric two-wheelers run on low-voltage (<72V) systems, a terrible performance limiter. The real magic happens when you turn up the voltage beyond 300V. That’s when motors start getting smaller and lighter and spool faster.'

Geely's Polestar starts US production in an effort to avoid top-level tariffs (link). Or, this is exactly the kind of manufacturing creation the tariffs are supposed to generate.

Hot temps push on supply chains carrying medications (link). 'Federal rules on drug storage conditions do not apply to the booming world of mail-order delivery.'

How will outdated state laws handle AVs? (link). 'Fortunately, the empirical analysis indicates that more than 80% of problematic state laws can be remedied through a single fix: updating the legal definitions of 'driver' and 'operator.' Less fortunately, addressing the remaining problematic state laws will require resolution of tricky policy questions across many legal domains.'

Video: a deep dive into Southwest Airline's gamble to take the Hawaiian market (link). Video: Waymo vehicles honk at each other at night, angering SF residents (link). Video: How China's BYD and Nio compare to Tesla (link). Video: inside the build of the Ford Raptor T1+ for Dakar (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Aviation startup JetZero raises strategic investment from Alaska Airlines (link).

St. Louis rail electrification startup Intramotev raises $14M (link). Led by Flybridge Capital Partners and Alpaca VC.

Israeli fleet management firm Autofleet acquired by Element Fleet Management for $110M (link).

Indian bus transport startup Fresh Bus raises $10.5M (link).

Automotive venture fund FM Capital takes on Holman Group with position as both LP and GP (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Eaton: Paulo Ruiz promoted to President / COO, joins board; to become CEO in 2025 2Q (link).

Lear: Rod Lache joins board (link).

TrueCar: Jill Angel promoted to COO, was Chief People Officer (link).

Featured Jobs:

Robotics, Technical Program Manager at Teleo in Palo Alto, CA, USA (link).

Chassis & Structure Engineer at River in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India (link).

MobilityJobs is the No.1 job board for auto & transportation companies (link). If you are a startup you can use the job board for free standard listings — just enter 'Trucks' at checkout.

New Stuff:

Using traffic cameras to take selfies (link).

Chinese AV startup WeRide gets California permission to carry passengers (link).

Chinese drones set for trash removal at Everest (link).

Waymo plans winter testing schedule (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

Toyota's patent application shows NFT created by user's carbon footprint reduction (link).

Statistics / Projections:

Car insurance rates are up 18.6% for the 12 months ended in July (link). Via Consumer Price Index / Yahoo.

Thank you:

Thank you to Menno Axt (link), Ivan Mihov (link), Heath Morrison (link), Kaustubh Pandya (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

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

See you next week,

Reilly Brennan