Trucks | FoT: Mapbox, Universal Hydrogen, Oorja

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

Tesla is pushing most of its rivals into unprofitable, low-volume EV niches (link). 'Global automakers are launching scores of new electric vehicles in the United States, and pouring billions of dollars into new EV and battery plants. But few of them besides Tesla's Model Y and Model 3 are selling at high enough volumes to support a full-scale assembly plant, according to a Reuters analysis of U.S. EV sales data for the first six months of 2023.'

An important trial involving the death of a driver using Tesla Autopilot began last week (link). Tesla’s attorney stated that Autopilot is 'just fancy cruise control.'

At a rally in Michigan last week, former President Trump came out as staunchly anti EV; ‘EVs are a hoax and they are gonna put [automakers] out of business’ (link). This is impactful because the US election - just 13 months away - will likely determine the path for EVs in the US and related IRA spending through the end of this decade.

Why can't Americans buy cheap EVs (<$25,000) from China? (link). ‘In 2018, just as China was starting to crank out a wave of compact EVs, US implemented tariffs on about $370 billion of imports from the country each year, including a 27.5% tariff on cars made in China. That policy persists under the Biden administration. In Europe, by contrast, the tariff on Chinese cars is 9% — low enough for those machines to at least trickle into the market.’

Is Mercedes-Benz's Drive Pilot system L2 or L3? (link). 'Bottom line -- to be Level 3 there cannot be any requirement for the driver to notice problems with the external-to-vehicle operational environment. If there is one, that makes the feature a Level 2 feature instead.'

Someone in the Middle East is leading aircraft astray by spoofing GPS signals (link).

Video: Making a Hollywood car chase with RC cars (link). Audio: Ford CTO Doug Field on the Motor Trend podcast (link). Video: Monarch Tractor CEO Praveen Penmetsa at Code Conference discussing automated tractors (link). Video: Slovakian driver fined after traffic camera shows dog behind wheel of car (link). Video: test drive of a Sierra Echo supercar EV (link).

For sale: former Ford Motor Company boathouse (link). 'Ford Waterfront Estate, built by Ford Motor Company in 1939 for an entertainment venue for executives.'

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Mapping startup Mapbox raises $280M (link). Led by Softbank.

Indian battery startup Oorja raises $1.5M (link). Led by Micelio Fund.

Nigerian repair startup Fixit45 raises $1.9M (link). Led by Launch Africa Ventures.

EV marine startup Arc raises $70M (link). Led by Eclipse, Andreessen Horowitz, Lowercarbon Capital and Abstract Ventures.

Ford pauses work on $3.5B battery plant in Michigan (link).

Hella promoted CFO Bernard Schäferbarthold to CEO, succeeding Michel Favre (link).

New Stuff:

Joby Aviation delivered its first EVTOL to the US Air Force last week (link). 'The delivery is the first under an Air Force contract that Joby said was valued at up to $131 million and gives the government the option to receive up to nine aircraft. The Air Force and Joby will operate the vehicle, but Joby will still own the aircraft and receive both fixed and variable payments for hours flown. NASA, which has a facility at the base, will also conduct research on the vehicle.'

Aviation startup Universal Hydrogen celebrates 250th order for its regional aircraft products (link).

Hertz launches Tesla digital key on its platform (link).

Plug is a new used EV marketplace, launched by former Tesla execs (link).

Every OneWheel micromobility product is now recalled (link). Via Weans. 'The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Future Motion are recalling 300,000 Onewheel self-balancing skateboards over four reported crashes where riders died. The company challenged previous warnings.'

Amtrak Explorer is a better way to view Amtrak routes, built by Rachel Binx (link).

The Ukraine's drone war against Russia gets squeezed by Chinese regulations and supply chain issues (link).

Featured Jobs:

System Safety Engineer at Edge Case Research, remote (link).

Experienced Fullstack Developer at Cling Systems in Stockholm, Sweden (link).

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

Statistics / Projections:

Sales of bicycles in Germany reached a record $7.8 billion in 2022, with e-bikes accounting for nearly half of sales; in 2023 it is expected that ebikes will take over as the majority of all bike sales (link). Via NYT / German Bicycle Industry Association.

As early as 2026, the total of new EV models available is estimated to break 200 in the US market, as the ICE new model count continues a steady decline (link). Via S&P Global. 'In late 2027/early 2028, the total model count should be at its apex — with the number of options across all propulsion system designs approaching 650. The situation will be just as dramatic in Europe. S&P Global Mobility refers to this situation as Peak Model Complexity — and its impact on marketing throughout the funnel, across all initiatives, will be transformative.'

The average cost to repair an EV in 2022 was $6587, compared to $4215 for an ICE (link). Via Automotive News / CCC Intelligent Solutions Inc.

Thank you:

Thank you to Zachary Browne (link), Michael Dunne (link), Adam Grosser (link), Ben Landen (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Cling Systems (link), Edge Case Research (link), Joby Aviation (link), Universal Hydrogen (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

See you next week,

Reilly Brennan