Trucks | FoT: Metropolis, Cruise, Tred

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

A pedestrian was hit by a human-driven car, then a Cruise AV, in San Francisco on Oct 2 (link). Some blame the AV, others praise the AV for trying to slow down. The reality is the incident was at first the fault of a human-piloted hit-and-run driver, who fled the scene. The Cruise vehicle, or really any second vehicle regardless of pilot, likely wasn't able to do much to prevent what happened. While the video hasn't been released, I did speak with a few journalists who viewed footage of the incident. One journalist described the first (human-driven) vehicle as being 'maybe a half car length ahead of the Cruise AV when it struck the pedestrian.' If the initial vehicle was a Cruise AV the pedestrian most likely would not have been hit in the first place.

Reconstructing the final 11 seconds of a fatal Tesla Autopilot crash (link). 'According to Tesla, the Autopilot vision system did not consistently detect and track the truck as an object or threat as it crossed the path of the car.'

FCC enforces first space debris penalty in $150,000 settlement with Dish (link). 'Dish admitted it was liable for failing to properly dispose of the EchoStar-7 broadcast communications satellite.'

An old idea for big ships: using the wind (link).

What do Western countries do when Chinese EVs are too good and too cheap? Regulate (link). Related: China’s E.V. threat: A carmaker that loses $35,000 per car (link).

To combat new car flippers, Porsche introduces a lease-only period of 12 months on its new 911 S/T model (link). 'We want to ensure that cars are available to reach true enthusiasts, to be driven and enjoyed for years to come. For this reason, those allocated a 911 S/T in the U.S. will be required to adhere to an agreed minimum retention period, set at one year.'

Researchers study driver responses to ADAS interventions (link). 'It was found that drivers express more negative valence when their control input is blocked than when it is taken away. In safety-critical scenarios, drivers respond more positively to interventions and are willing to give the automation more control.'

Aviation's move to sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) will require a significant amount of electricity; 'To use 100% SAF, Lufthansa would need half of Germany's electricity' (link).

US consumers will soon be able to access their $7,500 tax credit for an EV on the day they purchase (link). Via Diego. 'Starting in January, EV car shoppers won't have to wait until tax season to pocket the incentive, worth up to $7,500. Instead, the credit will be available as cash in hand on the day of purchase — and it'll be available regardless of the size of a customer's tax bill.'

Video: JR Hildebrand helmet cam in a Porsche 356 at Laguna Seca for the Rennsport Reunion (link). Video: railroad speeder hauling a toilet (link). Video: car thief uses keycode amplification antenna (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Used vehicle marketplace Tred was acquired by Cox Automotive in 2022 but the transaction was disclosed only last week (link).

Wholesale vehicle financing startup Vero raises $8.5M (link). Led by BankTech Ventures.

Swiss ultrawide band startup 3db Access acquired by Infineon Technologies (link).

Parking startup Metropolis raises $1.7B, acquiring SP Plus in the process (link). Led by Eldridge and 3L Capital.

Retail software startup Konect AI raises $5.5M (link). Led by Silverton Partners.

Indian EV charging startup Bolt Earth raises $20M (link). Led by Union Square Ventures.

Finnish ebike motor startup Revonte files for bankruptcy protection (link).

How the state of Michigan lost out to Ohio on Joby Aviation's manufacturing site bid (link).

China's GAC Group to build EV parts with Apple supplier Luxshare (link).

Seaglider startup Regent raises $60M (link). Led by 8090 Industries and Founders Fund.

Auto repair startup Sensigo raises $5M (link). Led by Up Partners and Porsche.

VTOL startup Jetson raises $15M (link). Led by Rikard Steiber.

Used vehicle retail startup Shift enters Ch 11 bankruptcy protection (link).

Lordstown Motors founder Steve Burns buys back company assets following bankruptcy; $10M asset sale (link).

EVe Mobility SPAC founders resign, company reorganizes (link). 'On October 2, 2023, the Board of Directors approved the resignations of each of Scott Painter as Chief Executive Officer of EVe, Georg Bauer as President of EVe, Jim Nguyen as Chief Operating Officer of EVe and Kash Sheikh as Chief Financial Officer of EVe. The Board appointed each of Maximilian A. Staedtler as Chief Executive Officer of EVe, Osman Ahmed as President of EVe and Curtis Pierce as Chief Financial Officer of EVe.'

Board Changes:

Delta Air Lines: George Mattson resigns from board (link).

New Stuff:

Autonomous heavy equipment startup Teleo announces that Florida-based Tomahawk Construction will become the first customer to deploy their autonomous capabilities on an active job site (link).

EV conglomerate Mullen's plan: rebadged Chinese vehicles for the US market (link).

Uber launches return logistics on its platform (link).

Toyota's Baby Lunar Land Cruiser concept (link).

A 40-ton Mercedes-Benz e-truck just drove 1,000 km with only one stop to charge (link). 'The eActros 600 has three lithium-iron-phosphate battery packs and an installed total capacity of over 600 kWh in series production. It has two electric motors with an output of 400 kW and a peak output of over 600 kW.'

Patents & Patent Applications:

Ford's patent application shows light-emitting glasses that reduce driving fatigue (link).

Featured Jobs:

Head of Electromagnetic Engineering, Founding Team Member at stealth space startup in Long Beach, CA USA (link).

Software Systems Engineer at JetZero in Long Beach, CA USA (link).

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

Statistics / Projections:

A vehicle owner driving 15,000 miles a year can expect to pay $1,474.50 in annual maintenance and repair bills in US (link). Via Automotive News / AAA. 'Up 1.5% from 2022.'

Overall satisfaction among car owners is 845 (on a 1,000-point scale), a decrease of two points from a year ago and three points lower than in 2021 (link). Via The Verge / JD Power. 'That’s the first time in the 28-year history of the study that the consumer research firm registered a consecutive year-over-year decline in owner satisfaction. Unsurprisingly, more people are choosing not to use their car’s native infotainment controls. Only 56 percent of owners prefer to use their vehicle’s built-in system to play audio, down from 70 percent in 2020, JD Power found. Less than half of owners said they like using their car’s native controls for navigation, voice recognition, or to make phone calls.'

Globally, sales of hybrids are expected to be up 20% this year and grow by 71% over the next five years; hybrids continue to outsell EVs in the US, with sales approaching 1.4 million vehicles this year, versus nearly 1.2 million full electrics (link). Via Bloomberg / GlobalData. 'The number of hybrid models for sale in the US market is expected to grow to 369 by 2026, more than double the 164 on sale in the US in 2020.'

U.S. motor-vehicle insurance rates were up 19.1% year-over-year in August 2023 (link). Via Barron's.

Thank you:

Thank you to Bruce Coventry and team (link), Jazz Hampton (link), Bharath Krishnamoorthy (link), David Merrill (link) and Ali Tabibian (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

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

See you next week,

Reilly Brennan