Trucks | FoT: UAW, Chargescape, Motocompacto

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

I'm in Tegernsee, Germany this week for the annual offline discussion of transportation founders and executives in the mountains. This is a week I look forward to each year and marks the 'new year' beginning for us.

Notable:

Union auto workers went on strike in Detroit last week, potentially bringing the entire auto industry to a halt -- but also highlighting Tesla's built-in cost advantages (link). 'The Detroit companies’ labor costs, including wages and benefits, are estimated at an average of $66 an hour, according to industry data. That compares with $45 at Tesla, which isn’t unionized and was founded 20 years ago. Meeting all of Fain’s initial demands would boost average hourly labor costs to $136 for the Detroit companies, Wells Fargo estimated.' Tesla is a modern expression of 'what if we had a car company without dealers, unions and retiree healthcare?'

Rad Power Bikes says it will only produce UL-certified e-bikes and batteries going forward (link). Very good, but I didn't realize they weren't UL-certified before this.

Japan looks toward dedicated AV lanes on a nationwide scale (link). Asian countries appear to be developing a top-down AV policy at a national level, while the US is still pretending that having different state laws on AV is the best path.

In Walter Isaacson's new book about Elon Musk (link), a concept drawing of a two-passenger Tesla robotaxi vehicle was shown for the first time (link).

0 to 60 in under 1 second: Students from ETH Zurich and Lucerne University have broken the previous world record for acceleration with their hand-​built electric racing car, mythen (link). 'The vehicle accelerated from zero to 100 km/h in 0.956 seconds over a distance of 12.3 meters.'

California's senate passed a bill requiring safety attendants in automated trucks; bill will now go to governor's desk (link). Related: 'Goodbye, California. Driverless trucks are headed to Texas' (link).

Cruise and Waymo's CPUC win in California will likely get a rehearing after SF city attorney files request (link). Chiu: 'Since the CPUC’s decision to allow unfettered expansion of AVs for commercial passenger service in San Francisco, AVs have continued to present safety risks and interfere with first responders.'

The San Francisco incident weeks ago where a nearby Cruise AV was blamed for the death of a man traveling to the hospital has been disproven; evidence showed the man died when a city bus struck and killed him and the Cruise vehicle wasn't involved in his death (link).

Video: at Jeff Brandes’s FAV a few weeks back I had a fireside discussion with Ark Invest's Cathie Wood (link); we discussed the potential for sub $20k Teslas, how Tesla would operate if/when Musk departs and if Tesla would ever get into aviation. After the discussion, an audience member who I will not name but who was at Tesla years ago said there was once a Tesla octocopter design that Elon wanted prototyped but was ultimately shelved. Video: US House subcommittee meeting on AVs (link); lawmaker reception was seen as 'skeptical' (link). Video: AV startup Wayve's natural language commentator explains why the system is making its decisions (link). Video: a man with hammer vandalizing a Cruise AV in San Francisco (link). Video: looking inside an abandoned Pininfarina assembly facility in San Giorgio, Italy (link). Video: tracking military ghost helicopters over Washington, DC (link).

Understanding how coveted low-number license plates are given out (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Spanish vehicle subscription startup Revel raises $123M (link). Led by Santander Consumer Finance and KKR.

Auto data and analytics firm Autovista Group acquired by JD Power (link).

French battery startup Verkor raises $2B (link). Led by Macquarie Asset Management.

Indian logistics software startup Kale raises $30M (link). Led by Creaegis Advisors.

Auto retail software startup Orbee raises $4M (link). Led by FM Capital.

Nigerian auto parts startup Mecho Autotech raises $2.4M (link). Led by Global Brain Corporation.

BMW, Ford and Honda form joint charging venture called Chargescape (link). 'The new company, ChargeScape, will create a single, cost-effective platform connecting electric utilities, automakers and interested electric vehicle customers. Through that platform, EV owners earn financial benefits through a variety of managed charging and energy-sharing services never before possible with traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.'

Board Changes:

Hertz: Paul Stone leaves board (link).

New Stuff:

Universal Hydrogen receives G-1 from FAA, an important step towards establishing the way its plans to fly turboprop planes powered by hydrogen-based fuel-cells would be certified (link).

Honda debuts a new Motocompacto folding micromobility vehicle, set to launch later this year for under $1k (link).

Brightline train extends its routes in Florida, from Orlando to Miami (link).

Cruise debuts its wheelchair-accessible Origin vehicle (link).

Google adds Prime Video to cars with native Android software (link).

Calif. passes strongest right-to-repair bill yet, requiring 7 years of parts (link).

Parallel Systems readies its next-generation automated and electric train bogie (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

Ford's patent application shows remote controlled engine revving (link).

Apple's patent application details EV propulsion system (link).

Featured Jobs:

Senior Mechanical Engineer, Founding Team Member at a stealth space startup in Long Beach, CA USA (link).

Process Writer - on site at May Mobility in Ann Arbor, MI USA (link).

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

Statistics / Projections:

'Households without vehicles in 2013 earned less money, in absolute, inflation-adjusted terms, than households without vehicles in 1969. A vehicle, in this way, is analogous to a college degree.' (link). Via Transfers /

Tesla announces it has built its 5 millionth car (link). Via Electrek. 'Tesla made the announcement just 6 months after announcing it built its 4 millionth electric car.'

Falling battery prices mean over 2/3 of global new car sales could be EVs by 2030 (link). Via Rocky Mountain Institute. 'If we continue to solve the challenges and sales continue up the S-curves, then EVs will make up between 62% and 86% of global car sales by 2030, with China enjoying an EV market share of at least 90%.'

Almost 1/2 of car buyers would not purchase a vehicle that lacked Apple CarPlay or Android Auto (link). Via McKinsey.

EVs had a 7.2% share of the nearly 9M new cars and trucks registered in the US from January to July this year, up from 4.9% a year earlier (link). Via Automotive News / Experian.

Thank you:

Thank you to Jim Adler (link) and Vivek Kumar (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

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

See you next week,

Reilly Brennan