Trucks | FoT: JetZero, AVs in SF, Mitra Chem

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

One week after CPUC granted AVs an expansion in San Francisco, SF city officials ask for a re-hearing (link). The Aug 11 CPUC win does not feel like the end of a regulatory battle for AVs, but merely the beginning. Cruise was forced to cut its fleet in half after collision with fire truck (link). A Waymo passenger sustained injuries after an incident a few weeks ago (link). Why will this continue? The blame framework is and always will be different: Human-piloted crashes are blamed on one human; AV crashes are blamed on one company. Individual human-piloted crashes happen so often they hardly ever get any press coverage, but the opposite is true for AVs. Even if AVs are safer than human-piloted vehicles, which they very well might be in some environments today, they will not be perceived as safer until they are blamed (or not blamed) the same way - which feels like a very, very long time away from now. This piece by Pete Bigelow points to the current tensions that city officials outside of SF are thinking about as they look at AVs in their district (link).

The 'Softlock' era: Tesla’s new Models S and X have the same battery pack but with software-locked capacity (link). This isn't an encouraging trend: it means companies will be pulling more metal out of the earth than ever actually used. It's one of the least efficient ways to handle the problems of supply chain and natural resources. What about for non-battery components? It is likely we will see many features move to software subscription only, as Ford recently announced with BlueCruise (link).

Gas station economics in the EV era: 'A traditional gas station may have 2 islands with 4 pumps each for liquid fuel; the same utilization rate would require about 40 charging stations' (link).

BYD founder Wang Chuanfu calls for the Chinese EV exceptionalism era (link). 'BYD’s founder made the declaration after his company delivered its five millionth electric vehicle, as he claimed the 'time has come for Chinese brands....demolish the old legends and achieve new world-class brands.' From an FoT reader and former Big 3 exec: 'every EV made by a US car company in the next decade will be made for 1/2 as much by a Chinese company. Patriotism is strong for like-priced goods, but not at those discounts.'

Toronto transit system struggles with the number of workers bringing their bikes to work (link). 'You just need a bike and an Uber account, and you can start making money.'

Lyft and Uber say they could leave Minneapolis if the mayor signs a minimum wage bill for drivers (link). 'The proposed ordinance mandates at least $1.40 per mile and $0.51 per minute within Minneapolis be paid to drivers.'

Rand: The time for international space traffic management is now (link). 'If space leaders do not begin the hard work of establishing an international space traffic management organization (ISTMO) soon, there is a significant chance that the world will lose key portions of its orbital resources — reducing space's overall value to humanity.'

Jordan emerges as unlikely emerging location for EVs, with BYD benefitting more than the rest (link). 'As Chinese manufacturers step up competition with overseas companies, Jordan has emerged as an unlikely battlefield. Between 2020 and 2022, the number of EVs imported through the Zarqa Free Zone — which oversees 90% of auto sales in the country — jumped more than fourfold from 3,691 to 15,576.'

Taxi drivers in SE Asia turn to content creation because it pays better (link). 'In the span of three years, Bhabay has gone from offering to do free endorsements for brands to earning $200 per video. With up to four sponsored videos a month, her earnings as a driver for a ride-hailing app — roughly $3 a day — pale in comparison.’

Video: godstatham's way of entering a vehicle is at once the most dangerous and most efficient (link). Video: Pivot Pro hitch rack allows for easy loading of heavy ebikes (link). Video: Nikola CEO Steve Girsky discusses his vision for the company (link). Video: Alex Roy on the Nexar video podcast (link). Video: this town banned cars, except tiny electric ones (link). Video: Tesla won the plug war (link). Video: AEye's 4Sight LiDAR (link).

A look at one of the last drive-in movie theaters in the USA (link). 'Admission is $28 per car for any of the four screens — and no switching.'

McSweeney's on the absurdity of bicycle accident blaming (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Blended-wing airplane startup JetZero wins $235M multi-phase US Air Force contract to build first demonstrator airplane, expects projected 50% cut in fuel use due to design (link). Completion of initial flight testing is expected as early as 2027. Related: JetZero will look beyond USAF to commercial airliners later in the decade (link).

Home energy startup dcbel raises $50M (link). Led by Volvo Cars, Coatue, Kevin Mahaffey and Real Ventures.

ElectraMeccanica to merge with electric truck startup Tevva (link).

Computer vision startup Blyncsy acquired by Bentley Systems (link).

Iron cathode battery startup Mitra Chem raises $60M (link). Led by GM Ventures.

UK bus software startup Zeelo raises $14M (link). Led by FlatzHoffmann.

AV software startup Helm raises $55M (link). Led by Freeman Group.

Ford hires former Apple VP Peter Stern to oversee new customer experience effort (link).

Detroit-based Assembly Ventures launches its debut $76M venture fund (link).

Board Changes:

Commercial Vehicle Group: Roger Fix resigns from board (link).

New Stuff:

Beep launches a pilot AV bus route in San Francisco (link).

Croft creates calculator to encourage diesel fleet operators to think about alternatives (link).

Ford's new Mustang GTD is a $300k supercar (link).

After new installation, AI cameras catch 297 drivers in three days in Cornwall, UK (link). 'The motorists were found to be using mobile phones or not wearing seatbelts.'

Convenience store Plaid Pantry launches its first EV charger, in conjunction with Electric Era (link).

Used ebike retailer Upway will offer VanMoof owners a new service option (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

Ford's patent application for vehicle loading assistant (link). 'Clark Griswold AI.'

Featured Jobs:

Software Director at Quadric in Burlingame, CA USA (link).

Robotics Engineer, Perception at Teleo in Palo Alto, CA USA (link).

Sales Engineer at Zitara in San Francisco, CA USA (link).

MobilityJobs is the No.1 job board for auto & transportation companies (link).

Statistics / Projections:

Certified pre-owned vehicle sales are up 12% in July 2023 from the same month last year (link). Via Auto Remarketing / Cox.

ADAS features could save 250,000 lives over 30 years (link). Via Automotive News / AAA.

The U.S. averages about 104 gas pumps per 1,000 road miles, compared to just 22 EV charging ports (link). Via Auto Remarketing / Coast.

Global airline cargo demand has dropped 3.4% compared to last year (link). Via Simple Flying / International Air Transport Association.

Ebike incentive map (link). Via Axios.

Thank you:

Thank you to Victor Gutwein (link), Scott Orn (link) and Shyam Srinivasan (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

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

See you next week,

Reilly Brennan