Trucks | FoT: Uber/Nuro/Lucid, Stellantis AV, DEFCON

Trucks | Future of Transportation for 2025.11.03
FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

Lucid and Nuro build an Uber-platform specific Level 4 AV product, with a San Francisco launch coming next year (link). They are quick to point out this is exclusively built for the Uber platform (by companies in which Uber made equity investments just months ago). Eventually are all AVs on Uber's platform exclusive to them alone? Waymo doesn't do this today, but it's expected that Tesla's robotaxis will remain fenced to their own network. We are entering a more deeply competitive era of AV commercialization. A friend calls this new team up the 'UNLTs' (Uber/Nuro/Lucid taxis).

China moves to loosen controls over Nexperia's export shipments, critical for many global automakers (link). Via Nell. 'Nexperia has factories in Europe and Asia. About 70% to 80% of its products are processed in China before being delivered to customers.'

NYC reduces the speed limit on all bikes in the city to 15 mph, down from 18 mph (link). 'Go ride a real bike, get a sweat on,' said Mr. Peel, who organizes an annual Citi Bike race (for the nonelectric blue ones, or acoustic bikes, as e-bike heads like to call them) across the Williamsburg Bridge. 'You can still go fast if you put in some effort. But people are terrified of putting in effort.'

Is there a post-Elon version of Tesla? (link). 'Tesla eyes internal CEO candidates if Elon Musk leaves over pay vote, chair says.' There is probably a great CEO candidate for the AM era (After Musk) of Tesla. Imagine that, plus a real product development plan, and the company could be even more valuable. Then again, this talk from the chair is really just to drum up the votes for the pay package.

As EVs scale, should we accept the 'please excuse the mess while we save lives' argument? (link).

Scout Motors reservations reveal customer demand signals, and they're overwhelmingly non-BEV (link). Via Clara B. 'Scout Motors has 130,000 reservations. nearly all want the gas engine.' You have to wonder how many more vehicles other BEV-first brands (eg Rivian) would sell if they offered an EREV in their lineups?

Videos from DEFCON's automotive segment: Exploiting vulnerability in EV charging comms (link), Hacking a head unit with a malicious PNG file (link), Uncovering the secrets of tire pressure monitoring systems (link), Modern odometer manipulation (link), How API flaws led to admin access to 1k+ USA dealers & control of yr car (link), Smart bus smart hacking: free WiFi to total control (link).

Video: Americans have a hard time figuring out roundabouts (link). Video: did Toyota build a Motocompo-esque micromobility vehicle? (link). Via JK. Video: 10-car mountain drift tandem (link). Video: a compendium of jumps on Los Angeles's 33% grade Baxter Street hill (link). 'Baxter is the 3rd steepest road in Los Angeles and the 10th steepest in the nation.' Video: possibly not the next Amazon robot AV, just a bald guy (link). Video: how I put spinning rims on my trash cans (link). Via TR. Video: Slate Auto CEO Chris Barman at Techcrunch Disrupt (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Stellantis discusses its own robotaxi service, which at this point is a complex partnership announcement (link). 'Stellantis will build the vehicles, Nvidia and Foxconn will install the self-driving systems, and Uber will deploy them on its ridehailing platform.' Another example of the 'OEMs are back in AV!' bumper sticker getting slapped here there and everywhere.

Brazilian battery swapping network startup Vammo raises $45M (link). Led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund.

Ebike employee benefit startup RidePanda raises $12.6M (link). Led by Bikeleasing Group.

Road construction startup Pavewise raises $2.5M (link). Led by C2 Ventures.

Texas auto finance startup Epic raises $10M (link). Led by FM Capital.

Joby Aviation to test NVIDIA’s IGX Thor platform for AI-powered autonomous flight (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Luminar: Thomas Fennimore departs as CFO (link).

CSX: Maryclare Kenney promoted to Chief Commercial Officer; succeeds Kevin Boone, promoted to CFO (link).

Advance Auto Parts: Jeffrey Jones retires from board (link).

Curated Jobs:

Head of People at Quadric, in Burlingame, CA, USA and hybrid (link).

Compliance Officer at Ottometric in Novi Sad, South Bačka District, Serbia (link).

Hiring? Post a job (link). If you're a startup, use code 'Trucks' for free standard listings.

Hunting? View all 416 postings on the MobilityJobs job board (link).

New Stuff:

Toyota's IMV Origin is a build-it yourself commercial trucks for export markets (link). Reminds me of Gordon Murray's OX.

Alloy is a new automotive enthusiast site launched by Rory Carroll (link, link to launch video).

NASA / Lockheed Martin's X-59 prototype supersonic jet took flight last week (link). 'Aircraft have been capable of flying at supersonic speeds since the 1940s. The problem is that ultra fast planes are banned for commercial travel over land because they make an explosive — and frightening — “sonic boom” that disturbs the public...The X-59 is capable of flying faster than the speed of sound with what Lockheed Martin described as only a gentle thump.'

Waabi unveils autonomous truck made in partnership with Volvo (link).

Canada considering scrapping 100% tariff on Chinese EV imports (link).

Aurora Innovation says it has run over 100,000 AV miles in its trucks, expands service from Fort Worth to El Paso (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

GM's patent application shows augmented reality in conjunction with ADAS system (link).

Tesla's patent application shows cone-textured glare shield for its cameras (link).

Statistics / Projections:

Bill Gates talks about climate technology progress (link). '10 years ago, the International Energy Agency predicted that by 2040, the world would be emitting 50 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year. Now, just a decade later, the IEA’s forecast has dropped to 30 billion, and it’s projecting that 2050 emissions will be even lower.'

A new study of 1300 EVs in Sweden showed higher than expected battery state of health (link). Via Electrek / Kvdbil. 'The study found that an impressive 8 out of 10 of the used EVs tested retained over 90% of their original battery capacity.'

More than 25% of UK drivers say bright headlights made them nervous of driving in the dark (link). Via The Guardian / RAC.

Thank you:

Thank you to Cory Cozzens (link), Jack Perkowski (link), Madalina Pruna (link) and Ali Tabibian (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Joby Aviation (link), Ottometric (link), Quadric (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

Hardship often prepares an ordinary person for an extraordinary destiny (CS Lewis),

Reilly Brennan