Trucks | FoT: Skydio, Northvolt, May

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

Federal AV standards reportedly among early Trump administration goals (link). ‘Current federal rules pose significant roadblocks for companies looking to deploy vehicles without steering wheels or foot pedals in large quantities, which Tesla plans to do.’

Trump's transition team aims to kill Biden EV tax credit (link). From Wells Fargo’s equity research report: 'We disagree with media reports that this would be worse for non-TSLA OEMs. We est. only ~31% of non-TSLA EV sales YTD were on potentially IRA eligible EV models, while Model 3, Y, & X all are IRA eligible. An effective price increase only adds pressure to TSLA US sales that were already trending lower. We estimated ~57% of US IRA EV buyer credits went to TSLA customers. We est. that ~50% of TSLA's US models get the IRA credit, & ~7% indirectly benefited through leasing (18% & 2% of global sales, respectively).' Related: 'Under Trump, prepare for new transportation priorities' (link).

The withering dream of a cheap American EV? (link). 'That market sucks,’ Lucid Chief Executive Peter Rawlinson says. But in reality, American companies have long ago given up on cheap cars, EV or not.

Understanding the impacts of California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved changes to its Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) (link). From the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy: 'If LCFS credit prices reach their maximum allowed levels, as has occurred in the past, then retail gasoline price impacts could be $0.65 per gallon in the near term, $0.85 per gallon by 2030, and nearly $1.50 per gallon by 2035.' Related: new LCFS impacts on RV industry (link).

GM's Cruise AV unit admits to submitting false report after October crash, pays $500,000 fine (link). While the amount might seem too low for some, the real penance has been GM’s realization that nothing less than full admission of guilt would turn the page. The next Cruise era can begin.

Deep dive on the future of Lamborghini with CEO Stephan Winkelmann (link). Via Diego. 'It’s our job to make sure Lamborghini will be acceptable in the next decade.'

Video: slo-mo of drag racing starts shows tire deformation (link). Via JR. Video: Deep Robotics shows its off-road crawlers (link). Video: full axis driving simulator: 'at this point just buy a car' (link). Audio: 'Is buying this Harley-Davidson dealership a good investment?' (link). Video: Mattel Vertibird (1972) (link). Via JT. Video: Zoox vs Waymo AV street race in SF (link). Video: review of the new Lectric XPedition 2.0 cargo ebike (link). Video: economic breakdown of what happens when Uber doesn't have human drivers? (link).

Human in bear suit was used to defraud insurance companies in luxury car claims (link). Via Diago. Amazing footage.

M&A / Deals / Changes:

New York hydrogen electrolyzer startup Ecolectro raises $10.5M (link). Led by Toyota Ventures.

NASA awards $11.5M to sustainable aviation startups, including JetZero (link).

Boston robotics startup Vecna raises $14.5M and names former Motional founder Karl Iagnemma as CEO (link).

Indian VTOL startup Eplane raises $14M (link). Led by Speciale Invest and Antares Ventures (link).

US drone manufacturer Skydio raises $170M (link). Led by KDDI and Axon.

German battery recycling company Tozero raises $11M (link). Led by NordicNinja.

Supplier ZF shuts down its corporate venture capital unit, ZF Ventures (link).

German travel startup Tourlane raises $26M (link). Led by Sequoia.

Rivian and Volkswagen formalize their joint venture, valued up to $5.8B (link).

Grubhub acquired by Wonder (link). 'Wonder will pay $150 million in cash and assume $500 million of debt.'

French glass supplier St Gobain reportedly considers sale (link).

Geely combines its Zeekr and Lynk & Co units to save costs (link). 'Zeekr will amass the majority holding in Lynk & Co by buying a 30% stake from Volvo Car AB for 5.4 billion yuan. It will acquire another 20% interest from Geely Holding for 3.6 billion yuan, the companies said. Zeekr will then bump its stake in Lynk & Co up to 51% by providing a 367.3 million yuan cash injection, the filing shows.'

Swedish battery firm Northvolt reportedly on the verge of bankruptcy (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Lockheed Martin: Jeh Johnson resigns from board (link).

Luminar Technologies: Dominick Schiano joins board (link).

Hyundai Motor Company: José Muñoz named as co-CEO (link).

Featured Jobs:

Director, Capital Formation & IR at JetZero in Long Beach, CA USA (link).

Senior Software Engineer at Edge Case Research in Pittsburgh, PA 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:

May Mobility launches driverless operations in second U.S. city, adds new vehicle (link).

The anti-Musk Tesla bumper sticker: 'I bought this before we knew Elon was crazy' (link). '[Sales] skyrocketed the day after the election — with 250-300 orders that day — and have remained healthy ever since.'

Amazon developing driver eyeglasses to shave seconds off deliveries (link).

EV motorcycle roundup from the Milan moto show (link).

NYC congestion pricing plan with $9 toll to start in January (link).

Haute Route is a 4-day ebike tour of the Swiss Alps (link).

Potential names for the next Secretary of Transportation (link).

Oakland airport told to stop using its new name amid SFO trademark pushback (link). 'This means the Port of Oakland, which controls the airport, to immediately stop using the name "San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport."

Patents & Patent Applications:

BMW's patent application shows drowsiness detection based on blinking analysis (link).

Statistics / Projections:

Despite Vision Zero goals, 2024 proves to be one of San Francisco's deadliest for pedestrians (link). Via SF Standard. 'With 32 fatalities, 2024 has already tied 2016 as the second-deadliest year since the city took the Vision Zero pledge — and there are still seven weeks to go...Walk SF supports “daylighting” intersections, in which parking is banned within 20 feet of an intersection.'

Study shows Tesla has the highest fatal accident rate of all auto brands (link). Via R&T / FARS. 'Tesla vehicles have a fatal crash rate of 5.6 per billion miles driven, according to the study; Kia is second with a rate of 5.5, and Buick rounds out the top three with a 4.8 rate. The average fatal crash rate for all cars in the United States is 2.8 per billion vehicle miles driven.'

Consumer readiness for AVs has gone up in 2024 (link). Via Automotive Drive / JD Power. 'Consumer readiness for AVs declined in 2022 and 2023, but improved from 37 points (on a 100-point scale) in 2023 to 39 points in 2024.'

In the US, the income inequality of the distribution of nationwide charging infrastructure is 3x larger than that of gas stations (link). Via Applied Energy.

Thank you:

Thank you to Euna Joo (link), Jim LoGerfo (link), Joey Mullick (link) and Eric Shuval (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Edge Case Research (link), JetZero (link), May Mobility (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

There is always an easy solution to every human problem — neat, plausible and wrong (HLM),

Reilly Brennan