- Future of Transportation (FoT)
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- Trucks | FoT: May Mobility, Ramcharger, Proterra
Trucks | FoT: May Mobility, Ramcharger, Proterra
Trucks | Future of Transportation for 2023.11.13
FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital
Notable:
US federal court dismisses privacy violation claims against Honda, Toyota, Ford, VW and GM (link). 'There was no allegation that Ford or the other carmakers directly accessed text messages or call logs, or that they stored the data in their own systems. The privacy concern comes from the fact that a company called Berla sells specialized data-retrieval products to law enforcement, which could use the products to obtain messages and logs from a car.'
The Dodge Ram Ramcharger is a new plug-in hybrid with 150 miles of EV range, or 690 miles on a full gas tank and charge (link). According to EPA and CARB, it is a plug-in hybrid, but Dodge is adamantly saying it's not a plug-in hybrid but rather a 'battery electric truck with an on-board generator.' So in the end, GM was right with the original idea for the Volt, but at the wrong time and format: the Ramcharger and other large SUVs and trucks will benefit from the duality of battery and gas. If small passenger cars go the way of BEV, and SUVs and trucks go plug-in hybrid, it is likely both sides of the political divide can say they won, even if both are a little bit wrong.
Uber and Lyft going in different directions on strategy (link). Uber's membership program now has 15M members, who spend 4x more than nonmembers; Lyft focused more on individual ride growth, up 20% year over year.
Despite the opportunity, EV batteries remain mostly un-recycled in the US (link). 'Experts said low recycling rates — less than 5% of used lithium-ion batteries are recycled in the US — were a result of lack of investment and regulation. Most lithium-ion batteries are sent to waste management facilities or landfills, where the toxic chemicals in the binder can cause fires or leak into water systems.'
Tesla blocks secondary sales for one year on new Cybertrucks (link). 'You agree that you will not sell or otherwise attempt to sell the Vehicle within the first year following your Vehicle’s delivery date.'
Which is it: is US EV demand slowing or growing? (link). Via Georgina. 'Cox Automotive reported on October 12 that EV sales volumes set another record in Q3, as total sales of BEVs passed 300,000 for the first time in the US market. That’s a 49.8% increase year-over-year...but there are a lot of growing pains.'
UK: car makers, not car owners to be liable for self-driving crashes (link). This leaves a lot of interpretation to come, whether we are dealing with all forms of ADAS or more.
Volkswagen execs target sub $35k EV in 3-4 years (link). This highlights how far behind VW is from Tesla and looming Chinese competitors. In four years we could be buying $25k Foxconn Flivvers from Costco.
Global EV battery supply chain puzzles over China's graphite restrictions (link).
Joby Aviation announces it will make its EV charging interface open to its rivals (link). This looks like it is on the path to become the 'NACS' for VTOL.
LTA's Pathfinder electric airship is the largest new aircraft in nearly 100 years (link). Via Luigi. 'Twelve electric motors powered by diesel generators and batteries enable vertical take-off and landing. They can propel the Pathfinder 1 at up to 65 knots (75 mph), although its initial flights will be at much lower speeds.'
Video: groundbreaking Hot Wheels infrastructure for hot dog delivery (link). Video: is the Caterham Project V the first lightweight EV supercar? It weighs just 2623 lbs in its entirety, which is less than the weight of some EV batteries alone (link). Video: Skyryse performs world’s first fully automated autorotation (link).
M&A / Deals / Changes:
Ann Arbor, MI AV startup May Mobility raises $105M (link). Led by NTT, with participation from Trucks.
Astra space launch company reportedly to be taken private by its founders for $30M, down from its once high of $2.6B valuation (link).
Trucking aerodynamics startup Truck Labs, maker of Truck Wings, acquired by ConMet (link).
Assets of EV bus maker Proterra purchased out of bankruptcy by Volvo Group for $210M (link). 'Proterra continues supplying customers with battery packs. That includes Volvo rival Daimler Truck North America’s Thomas Built Buses and Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. It is unclear what will happen with those contracts. Proterra also makes battery packs for Nikola Corp.’s fuel cell electric trucks.'
Peer to peer escrow and retail startup Keysavvy raises $2M (link). Led by Porsche Ventures.
French pay-as-you-drive insurance startup Flitter raises $3.7M (link). Led by Helvetia.
Kenyan EV bus startup Basigo wins $1.5M U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) grant (link).
Battery recycling startup Princeton NuEnergy raises $16M (link). Led by Wistron Corporation.
Wholesale vehicle startup CarOffer acquired in full by CarGurus (link). The two transactions totaled $215M.
Indian logistics startup Xpressbees raises $80M (link). Led by Ontario Teachers fund.
EV magnet startup Niron raises $33M (link). Led by GM Ventures and Stellantis Ventures.
AV startup Cruise announces layoffs within its driver support operations group (link).
Board Changes:
Adient: Jerome Dorlack named CEO, joins board (link).
SES: Anirvan Coomer joins board (link).
New Stuff:
Exxon aims to begin lithium production by 2026 in Arkansas (link).
State Farm insurance drops its requirement for OEM-only parts on most vehicle repairs (link).
Hindenburg's new research report on EHang VTOL startup (link).
Buc-ee’s and Mercedes-Benz partner to add high-speed EV chargers (link).
NASCAR's next generation platform, which could be an EV or hybrid, looks more like an SUV than coupe (link).
Salesforce announces its new automotive cloud product (link). 'Automotive Cloud will provide a real-time digital view of a vehicle’s connected features, services and telemetry data so automakers can combine it with everything they know about the driver to orchestrate personalized, connected car experiences.'
Patents & Patent Applications:
GM's patent application shows a driver interlock system to prevent impaired driving (link).
Ford's patent application for a removable center pillar (link).
Featured Jobs:
Site Reliability Engineer II at Edge Case Research in Pittsburgh, PA, USA or remote (link).
LH2 Modeling Engineer at Universal Hydrogen in Toulouse, Haute-Garonne, France (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:
89% of model year 2023+ vehicles will require a calibration following a windshield replacement, up sharply from only 25% of model year 2016 vehicles (link to PDF). Via RDN / Autobolt. 'Based on our data, there should have been 3.8 million ADAS calibrations performed in 2022 in the auto glass industry. This translates to a total addressable market for ADAS calibrations in the auto glass industry alone of $959 million. In other words, ADAS calibration for auto glass is already a billion-dollar business.'
52% of surveyed car buyers say they would prefer to download additional vehicle functionality after the sale as opposed to paying for it at point of sale (link). Via Aurora Labs / Techinsights.
EV purchase intent highly related to gas prices (link). Via IPSOS / Yahoo Finance. '49% say they are more likely to purchase an EV if gas averages $6 or $8 a gallon, while 56% say they are more likely to purchase an EV if gas averages $10 a gallon.'
Red state drivers turn their nose up at EV incentives (link). Via Bloomberg / Alliance for Automotive Innovation. 'The places where EVs had gotten the least traction are all Republican bastions, including North Dakota, Mississippi, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Wyoming. In each of those states, EVs made up less than 2% of new vehicle sales.'
EV registrations rose 61% in the January-to-September period to 852,904 (link). Via Experian. 'If the pace continues through the end of the year, 2023 will be the first time EVs break the 1 million mark in a calendar year.'
US drivers kill 20 pedestrians per day (link). Via SCD / Governors Highway Safety Association.
Thank you:
Thank you to Igino Cafiero (link), Peter Groth (link), Susan Donahue (link), Michael Porteous (link) and Regina Savage (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.
Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:
Basigo (link), Edge Case Research (link), Joby Aviation (link), May Mobility (link), Universal Hydrogen (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).
See you next week,
Reilly Brennan
PS - if you are an investor, please fill out our 2023 auto / transportation investor sentiment survey (link).