Trucks | FoT: Joby Hydrogen EREV, Compredict, Clutch

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Question: in your experience, which transportation-focused investment banker has been the most helpful to you (and why)? Hit reply to this email and let me know.

Notable:

Joby flies 523 miles using its new hydrogen EREV (link). This opens up new routes and shows how the product is moving beyond just a helicopter market. Joby acquired German hydrogen startup H2Fly in 2021 and has been working on a long-distance solution since then. See video (link).

Tesla moves its robotaxi launch event to October from August (link). My best guess for October is that we see a vehicle announcement, with a pronounced launch date in late 2025 (with a timeliness miss or two along the way), and the contributions of current FSD model owners moving them up in queue. The biggest question: will Tesla take on operations of vehicles even if the hardware is decentralized (owned by individuals, but managed by Tesla in its fleet)?

Heritage for sale: Italy to offer defunct Stellantis brands to Chinese automakers (link). Via JF. 'The plan would involve the Innocenti and Autobianchi brands, both shut down in the 1990s...offering them to Chinese companies to encourage them to set up factories in Italy.'

Bicycles used to be made in the US; what if they were to return? (link). 'In 2022, 97.8% of bikes sold in the U.S.—electric and people-powered—were imported. Blumenauer’s Domestic Bicycle Production Act aims to incentivize American companies to make bicycles again through a mix of tariff suspensions, tax credits, and loans.'

Inside a car dealer's hothouse 'box close' (link). Via WITI.

Harley-Davidson's strategy: cut out low-cost bikes, focus on the premium buyers (link). 'Under Chief Executive Jochen Zeitz, Harley has cut options for entry-level riders while focusing heavily on touring bikes that in some cases cost more than a Cadillac. That has paid off with record earnings per share since he took charge in 2020. Some dealers, consultants and former executives say the strategy isn’t bringing enough people into the pipeline as core riders age. In 1990, when the Harley boom was just getting started, The Wall Street Journal reported that the typical buyer was 35. Today, the company says the average age is 49.'

Are Tesla ADAS systems trained more closely for its executives and VIPs? (link).

Video: the Last of the V8s - Driving the Mad Max Interceptor (link). Via Diego. Video: the 10 fastest cars at the 2024 Goodwood FoS (link). Video: 29,000 feet up Mount Everest with DJI drone (link). Video: Dynamitespeed's stop-motion car films (link).

'Rather than invest in high speed rail, we should just paint Amtrak cars with motion blur so they look fast' (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Auto retail fintech startup The Lasso raises $9.8M (link). Led by Crosslink Capital and Manresa Ventures.

Vehicle software startup Compredict raises $15M (link). Led by Woven Capital.

Urban computer vision startup Hayden raises $90M (link). Led by The Rise.

PowerCo and QuantumScape agreement to industrialize solid-state batteries (link). Steve Levine: 'Quantumscape gives up trying to scale up its lithium metal battery, and hands over the job to VW's PowerCo division.'

Canadian vehicle marketplace startup Clutch raises $10M (link). Led by iA Financial Group.

Southwest Airlines signs agreement to develop an eVTOL air taxi network with Archer Aviation (link).

Ola Electric is said to face investor pushback on IPO valuation (link). The pricing would make it the highest-valued two wheeler company in the world.

US offers $1.7B help for manufacturing plants to build EVs (link).

Toyota invests in and joins IONNA charging alliance (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Ford: Adriana Cisneros joins board (link).

AutoNation: Claire Bennett joins board (link).

Southwest Airlines: Rakesh Gangwal joins board (link).

Hagerty: Anthony Kuczinski joins board (link).

ChargePoint: Mitesh Dhruv joins board (link).

QuantumScape: Frank Blome resigns from board (link).

Former GM exec Jim Taylor joins Bollinger as CEO (link).

Featured Jobs:

Manufacturing Engineer at Aperia in Hayward, CA, USA (link).

Product Design Engineer at itselectric in New York, NY, USA (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:

Skyryse expands operations with new facility in El Segundo, CA (link).

To curb charger traffic, Electrify America will pilot a program to limit vehicles to charging to 85% (link).

Carvana's new tool allows for federal EV tax credit upon checkout for used cars (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

GM's patent application for a charging point cooling system on vehicle (link).

Ford's patent application for an interface to manage AV vehicle maintenance (link).

Statistics / Projections:

In 2023, more than 4% of the cars sold by manufacturers to rental companies were electric, but that number is just 1.4% this year (link). Via NYT / S&P Global Mobility.

In every US state except Maine and West Virginia, the total cost of ownership for an EV over 5 years is less than a comparable gasoline vehicle (link). Via Automotive News / JD Power. 'EV owners in Colorado, Illinois, Nevada and New Jersey will save more than $8,000 on their vehicle versus a comparable gasoline vehicle.'

Tesla's share of US EV market falls below 50% (link). Via NYT / Cox Automotive.

Minnesota shows 86% fatal crash rate reduction where roundabouts have replaced traditional intersections (link). Via Diego / Urban Speakeasy / MN DOT.

Trucking's per-mile costs in 2023: $2.27 (link). Via Trucking Dive / American Transportation Research Institute.

Foreign companies built more vehicles in the US last year than domestic companies, the first time ever (link). Via DetNews / Autos Drive America and the American International Automobile Dealers Association.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

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

See you next week,

Reilly Brennan