Trucks | FoT: Skyryse One, Recogni, Niron

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

GM's Cruise reportedly in preparation for a return to service in Dallas and Houston (link). 'The company has been focusing its comeback plan on Texas, which has relatively liberal regulation for companies that seek to operate autonomous vehicles in the state. Cruise’s suspension in California stymies its ability to resume operations in San Francisco, where it’s based. The efforts are particularly advanced in Houston, where Cruise is preparing to dispatch safety drivers, said another person with knowledge of the matter. The testing in that city could begin in the coming months, the person said.' Both Cruise and Waymo would be better off deploying in US cities outside of California.

California puts Waymo robotaxi expansion application on hold until June 19 (link). Worth repeating: Both Cruise and Waymo would be better off deploying in US cities outside of California.

Intuitive Machines Odysseus spacecraft last week completed the first US moon landing since 1972, and first ever by a commercial outfit (link).

Chinese battery maker CATL forecasts stunning 50% drop in LFP cells by mid 2024 (link). 'The 173-Ah VDA-spec square cells (148 mm x 26.5 mm x 91 mm) can be fully charged in less than 3o mins and will be sold to several EV manufacturers for an average of RMB 400/kWh (or $US56.47/kWh).'

The race to back up vulnerable GPS (link).

A Tesla employee died in what could be the first death tied to the carmaker’s 'Full Self Driving' ADAS system (link).

This guy has taken it upon himself to chart Chicago transit's decline (link). 'I wrote a program that runs 24 hours a day that keeps tracking the live trains as they come into stations. What I found, when I first started in December 2021, was that the CTA was running only about 55 to 60% of the trains their schedule said they should be running. I started publishing the data in local Facebook groups for transit enthusiasts, on Reddit and other social media. That’s how Commuters Take Action started.'

EVs on different growth curve: Mercedes-Benz delays electrification goal, beefs up combustion engine line-up (link). Via Weans.

Some see upcoming FMCSA rules on AVs a precursor to full federal AV standards (link).

Deep dive into how GM's Ultium project failed to meet expectations (link). 'The numbers are stark. Two years ago, in February 2022, GM said it expected to sell 400,000 EVs by the end of 2023. Eight months later, it rolled that date back to mid-2024. (In October, it abandoned the 400,000 number altogether.) But its actual 2023 sales of Ultium EVs were a mere 13,838. Of those, 9,155, or two-thirds were one single model: the Cadillac Lyriq. Sure, GM sold 76,000 electric cars altogether, but a whopping 82% of them were the aging Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV—which it took out of production late last year.' Related: author John Voelcker talking about this on the Out of Spec podcast (link).

As hybrids gain popularity, skeptics ask if they are sufficiently green (link). 'In December, Public Citizen filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission saying Toyota’s branding of its hybrids as 'hybrid EVs' as well as marketing phrases such as 'electrified mobility' and 'beyond zero' mislead consumers. Toyota North America said its marketing uses terms that are standard in the automotive industry.'

Amazon stops sales of its Ring Car Cam dash cam (link).

Video: PBS Newshour focus on TurnSignl app (link). Video: full dad upgrade on this Power Wheels Jeep (link). Video: the driftiest Turn 1-2 line at Laguna Seca (link). Via Diego. Video: Chris Harris on a particularly good Porsche 993 RS (link). Video: Fiat's new brand positioning video (link). Video: Alex Roy on the Driving with Dunne podcast (link). Video: sights and sounds from the 2024 Daytona 24 Hours (link). Video: Bob Tasca goes 341 mph in 3.84 seconds in the 1/4 mile at Bradenton (link). Video: drone that looks like superman in flight, by Otto Dieffenbach (link).

'Mecides' is the best of the worst copycat car brands (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

AI chip startup Recogni raises $102M (link). Led by Celesta Capital and GreatPoint Ventures.

Minnesota magnet maker Niron Magnetics raises $25M (link). Led by Samsung, with participation from Magna and Allison Ventures.

Chinese AV startup Haomo raises $14M (link). Led by Chengdu Wufa Private Equity Fund Management, an investment vehicle backed by the government of Chengdu.

Volvo Cars to propose a distribution of 62.7% of its Polestar holdins to its shareholders (link).

Radar startup Uhnder raises $50M (link). Led by ACME Capital.

GM, Ford and Stellantis spent a combined $22.7B buying back their shares and paying dividends last year (link).

Chinese automotive brand Lotus Technology became publicly traded on NASDAQ last week after completing its SPAC merger with LCatterton Asia (link).

Cake's ebike US inventory purchased by Florida owner of Emoto store, housed by Bloom in Detroit (link).

Arm will bring its IP on semis to upcoming Nuro AV robots (link).

Nikola's pickup truck and powersports assets sold to Embr (link). 'News of the deal to sell the Badger program comes at an odd time. Just a few weeks ago Nikola’s disgraced founder, Trevor Milton, announced plans to try to install Sparks and a slate of other directors on the company’s board.'

Catching up on Stellantis / Waymo vehicle partnership (link). 'A Waymo spokesperson confirmed that the company continues to look at ways to deepen its relationship with Stellantis, but didn’t share any other details or if progress had been made.'

Board Changes:

Verra Mobility: Raj Ratnakar joins board (link).

New Stuff:

Skyryse releases Skyryse One, the world's first production fly-by-wire aircraft operated with just a control stick and touch screens (link).

Stable releases the industry's first national DCFC EV charging pricing index (link). From CEO Puri: 'So far Stable customers have evaluated over 16,000 prospective EV charging locations across the US. To do that well, one dataset we need is good data on the current price of EV chargers.'

Hivemapper launches its next generation dashcam, the Bee (link). 'Hivemapper announced, in conjunction with the new camera, that its community of contributors have mapped 8 million kilometers (5 million miles) of roads worldwide in 16 months — a milestone reached four times faster than it took Google to cross with Street View, according to the company.'

Researchers show a ChatGPT-enabled two-stage auctions system is developed for battery recycling (link).

Uber Eats moves forward with AV sidewalk robots in Japan in partnership with startup Cartken (link).

Researchers look into the impact of the 9-Euro-Ticket on the mobility and social participation of low-income households with children (link).

Labor vs Tech in dueling state of Washington AV bills (link). 'At the core of the contention are two opposing bills in Washington state: SB 5872, supported by labor groups including the Teamsters, and SB 5594, backed by the tech industry. The former argues for the necessity of keeping human drivers in the loop of autonomous vehicles to ensure safety and job security, while the latter champions the potential of self-driving technology to enhance road safety and fuel efficiency. This standoff mirrors a larger national conversation about the future of work, technological progress, and the ethical implications of autonomous vehicles.'

Patents & Patent Applications:

GM's patent application shows a virtual floating campfire in the middle of the vehicle (link).

GM's patent application shows an autonomous racing instruction system (link).

Rivian's automated overhead charging system for its van product line (link).

Featured Jobs:

Power Electronics Engineer at Auriga Space in Long Beach, CA USA (link).

Head of Engineering at Stable in San Francisco, CA USA or remote (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:

Car thefts in Toronto, Canada are up 150% over the last 6 years (link). Via NYT. 'An epidemic of auto thefts in Canada’s largest city has left many residents exasperated, with some getting creative about deterrence efforts, such as installing bollards in home driveways.'

Tracking visual progress SpaceX's buildout of Starbase, Texas (aka Boca Chica) over the past three years (link). Via RGV Aerial Photography.

Thank you:

Thank you to Bryce Dabbs (link), Lee Hower (link) and Zach Krawulski (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Auriga Space (link), Skyryse (link), Stable (link), TurnSignal (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

See you next week,

Reilly Brennan