Trucks | FoT: Treehouse, Pony, Shopgenie

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

20 years later, looking back on the enormously influential 2004 DARPA Grand Challenge race (link). I consider the engineers from those three DARPA races (2004, 2005, 2007) like the faces you see in an oil painting of the Continental Congress.

US NHTSA to prob Tesla FSD ADAS system after low-visibility crash reports (link). 'The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in documents that it opened the probe on Thursday after the company reported four crashes when Teslas encountered sun glare, fog and airborne dust.'

Court blocks couple from suing Uber over their acceptance of terms and conditions policy which forces outside arbitration (link). 'Uber argued that Georgia McGinty, a longtime customer of Uber Rides and Uber Eats, had agreed to arbitrate any disputes with the company when she signed off on the language in the app's terms of use on three occasions over the years.' This is reminiscent of the 'bad Uber' of the previous executive team.

How SF warmed to Waymo AVs (link). 'Just last year, residents wanted to get rid of robotaxis. Now locals and tourists can’t get enough.'

The loophole that blocked NYC ridehailing drivers from their earnings (link). My friend and FoT reader Harry Campbell on this one: 'Uber used to use a scheduling system in NYC that allowed drivers to reserve blocks ahead of time (they do this in NYC with Eats drivers) but the new system detailed in the Bloomberg article is pretty unfair to drivers. They can be taken offline at the completion of any trip, so for drivers it's nearly impossible to plan out your day/driving schedule and get any momentum going. And I think the 'surge evidence' is pretty damning, drivers should always be allowed to go online if demand is greater than supply. NYC is the only city that requires Uber and Lyft to pay a true minimum wage though, so there has to be some restrictions of where/when drivers can go online, but I think Uber and Lyft are doing a real disservice to drivers with the current setup.'

At the Paris auto show, European carmakers introduced a wave of cheaper EVs as China threat looms (link). 'Renault presented the Twingo E-Tech electric prototype to the public for the first time. It says prices for the all-electric car will start at less than 20,000 euros ($21,800) when it reaches the market in 2026.'

Apple's once aggressive automotive plans were closely linked with China's BYD for a long-range battery pack (link).

Video: Marques Brownlee on the Tesla Robotaxi event (link). Video: Keep Driving is an atmospheric driving video game (link). Via JMIII / Diego. 'It’s the early 2000’s, and you’ve just bought your first car. A long, slow summer lies ahead.' Video: How Johnny Cash got into his Ferrari (link). Video: Harry Metcalf after his 4k km road trip in his Lamborghini Countach (link). Video: new Formula E pitstops: 4kWH in 30 seconds (link). Video: close up of the 'push off' water bottle handover move in professional cycling (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Home electrification installation startup Treehouse raises $16M (link). Led by Flourish Ventures.

Israeli LiDAR startup Lidwave raises $10M (link). Led by Jumpspeed Ventures and Next Gear Ventures.

Battery startup Forge Nano raises $10M (link). Led by GM Ventures. 'Atomic layer deposition is a surface engineering technique that applies thin-film coatings to battery materials to control chemistry and structure at atomic scale. Using its Atomic Armor technology, Forge Nano will develop thin-film coatings for GM to pursue battery performance enhancements and cost reductions.'

Vehicle connectivity startup Monogoto raises $27M (link). Led by Toyota Ventures.

Four takeaways from Chinese AV startup Pony's US IPO listing (link).

Repair shop software startup Shopgenie acquired by Tekmetric (link).

Bling Charging rolls out Stable Auto software across its EV charging network to increase site utilization (link).

Shipping automation startup Cartage raises $3.3M (link). Led by YCombinator and Garage Capital.

Truck sharing startup Fluid Market files for Ch 11 bankruptcy protection (link).

Egyptian micromobility startup Rabbit Mobility raises $1.3M (link). Led by 500 Global and Untapped Global.

GM to invest $625M in joint venture for Thacker Pass lithium mine (line).

German teleoperation startup Vay raises $37M (link). Led by EIB.

Board & Executive Changes:

AutoZone: Bryan Jordan, Enderson Guimaraes to leave board (link).

Motiv: Desi Ujkashevic joins board (link).

Featured Jobs:

Contracts Manager at Xona Space Systems in Burlingame, CA USA (link).

Systems Engineer at Verne in San Francisco, CA 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:

Zeiss, Hyundai Mobis partner on holographic windshield displays (link).

GT40 (and Ken Miles) inspired toy 'Ken' model at Playforever (link).

Fred Battle's 'Solara' is an installation of 144 junkyard cars with painted roofs (link). Via Ed.

Patents & Patent Applications:

Ford's patent shows methods for a vehicle and drone-based security system (link).

GM's patent application for intra-vehicle power and comms using fiber (link).

Zoox's patent application shows its front grille design has integrated sensor cleaners (link).

Statistics / Projections:

After increasing its annual sales in China 15 times over, to 3 million cars in only three years, BYD is now exporting to roughly 95 markets, including 20 new ones this year (link). Via Bloomberg.

In September, the average selling price of a three-year-old electric vehicle was about $28,400, less than that of a gas-engine vehicle of the same age and a 25% drop from the start of 2023 (link). Via WSJ / Edmunds.

Thank you:

Thank you to Jake Amaltov (link), Benjamin Birnbaum (link), Oliver Cameron (link), Mark Chlapowski (link), Mike Feinstein (link), Bharath Krishnamoorthy (link), Mark Platshon (link), Jackson Ritchie (link), Charlie Robinson (link), Andrew Savage (link), Eddi Zyko Jr (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Stable Auto (link), Treehouse (link), Verne (link), Xona Space Systems (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

Do not wait to strike till the iron is hot; but make it hot by striking (WBY),

Reilly Brennan