Trucks | FoT: Revolv, Cruise CEO, Brightdrop

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt resigned from the company on Sunday afternoon (link). It's not clear who will be named the company's next CEO, but it appears that more GM executives will be moving into leadership roles at Cruise. Cruise's future hangs on its ability to add senior leadership with real safety experience and authority (eg a former head of NTSB or NHTSA), the retaining of its engineering talent who will likely feel loyal to Vogt, and the rebuilding of its relationship with the GM board to continue to draw $2.5B-$3B per year. Related: last week, GM executive Craig Glidden was named Chief Administrative Officer (link).

Amazon moves closer to full auto retailing with new deposit lead gen structure in Hyundai partnership (link). This is akin to a car broker role, not yet a full retailer of cars -- a distinction still held in most states by a franchised dealer. 'With the move, shoppers will be able to buy cars on Amazon, but the dealer is still the end seller.'

Safety advocates recommend a nationwide ban on right turns on red (link). Related: NTSB recommends ISA (intelligent speed assistants) in all new cars (link).

Rivian blames broken internal process errors on OTA update that bricked display systems of its users (link).

NHTSA scraps its 2017 proposed vehicle-to-vehicle comms mandate (link).

Paris Mayor Hidalgo sets sights on SUVs after successful scooter ban (link).

Video: How small driverless vehicles could revolutionize last-mile logistics, featuring Faction (link). Video: Citroen DS deep dive by ISSIMI (link). Via David S. Video: Elroy Air Chaparral C1 First Flight (link). Video: Troy Lee, the artist who never gave up (link). Video: the birth of mountain biking at the Crested Butte to Aspen Klunker Classic in 1980 (link).

Wouter Jan Van Dijk arrived to the Baja 1000 race without a plan, not even a bike. After buying one from Craiglist he finished all 1300 miles on his own (link). Video of his finish (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

EV fleet provider Revolv raises $25M in project financing (link). Led by Greenbacker Capital Management.

California energy optimization startup Optiwatt raises $7M (link). Led by Navitas Capital.

GM brings its Brightdrop EV unit inside, no longer a standalone startup (link). If Jan 2021 was the 'right' time to dream up this idea, then it follows that 2023 is the right time to undo it.

EV grid infrastructure startup Gravity raises undisclosed seed round (link). Led by Google Ventures.

Colombian logistics startup Teclogi raises $4.6M (link). Led by Acumen Latam Impact Ventures.

Moroccan maritime and logistics startup CloudFret raises $2M (link). Led by AfriMobility and Azur Innovation Fund.

UK EV startup Arrival raises $50M (link).

May Mobility hires Anna Brunelle as CFO (link).

Micromobility data startup Ride Report acquired by INRIX (link).

Texas casting tooling company Tooling & Equipment International (TIE) acquired by General Motors (link).

Board Changes:

Uber Technologies: Turqi Alnowaiser joins board (link).

Lyft: Betsey Stevenson joins board (link).

Goodyear Tire & Rubber: Richard Kramer to retire as Chairman, CEO (link).

ChargePoint: Rick Wilmer promoted to CEO; Pasquale Romano resigns as CEO and from board (link).

New Stuff:

Universal Hydrogen, Japan Airlines and JAL Engineering sign MOU to bring hydrogen-powered flight to Japan (link).

Airbus's Blue Condor made its first hydrogen-powered flight over Nevada in early November (link). 'The flight was the company’s first ever to use hydrogen as the sole fuel source, and it kicked off a test campaign that will conclude in a contrail-measuring mission in early 2024.

LG Electronics to enter EV charging hardware market (link).

Tesla can bar US factory workers from wearing union t-shirts, court rules (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

GM's patent application shows vehicle telepresence system (link).

Rivian's patent application shows selective lighting system (link).

Featured Jobs:

Business Development Manager at Revolv, remote (link).

Program Manager at Skyryse in El Segundo, CA (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:

E-bikes and e-scooters displace 4x as much demand for oil as all of the EV passenger cars in the world (link). Via Weans / Ars Technica / BNEF.

In Edmunds's new EV charging testing procedure, the 2024 Hyundai Ioniq 6 is the fastest in tested miles per charging hour (868 miles/hour) (link). Via Edmunds.

Last week's sale of a Ferrari 250 GTO for $51.7M is the second highest of all time (link).

Pickups, SUVs and vans with a hood height greater than 40 inches are about 45% more likely to cause fatalities in pedestrian crashes than cars and other vehicles with a hood height of 30 inches or less and a sloping profile (link). Via IIHS.

Thank you:

Thank you to Jorge Blasco (link), Marine Evrot (link), Alon Refaeli (link) and Trista Van Tine (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Faction (link), May Mobility (link), Revolv (link), Skyryse (link), Universal Hydrogen (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

See you next week,

Reilly Brennan