Trucks | FoT: Uber/Waymo, Nuro, Cariad

FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital 

Notable:

Uber and Waymo's new partnership means consumers will hail AVs exclusively through Uber's app in Austin and Atlanta; Uber to handle fleet management on vehicles (link). This is a landmark deal because it signals that Waymo is edging out of their 'all-in-one' corporate AV strategy; we are starting to see split of maker/operator like we do in the airline manufacturer/carrier business. It also reiterates Uber's narrative command over the concept of ridehailing, regardless of human or robot. On the fleet mix side, I liked Harry's thoughts found here (link). He makes the point that an all-AV fleet is too expensive and Uber's flexible strategy makes the best potential future use of a mixed fleet: 'I predict that in five years, Waymo will be the largest fleet partner/supplier for Uber in the United States. Waymo is the perfect partner to handle baseline demand since today, about 20% of Uber drivers are full time and do 50-60% of the rides. Uber's real moat though is with the remaining 80% of drivers, since that supply is variable and Uber does not have to pay for downtime.' This deal is not only significant because of how it defines the layers of the AV stack, but it signals the readiness of AVs overall: they're here.

In a big shift, Nuro moves from making their own small delivery robots to a licensing model (link). This is both a shift in service type (expanding from just parcels to potentially ridehailing) but also in business model (designing their own hardware and owning their own service network to licensing to other Tier 1s and OEMs). It's a wholesale change of what Nuro means, and puts it more squarely in competition with companies like Mobileye, Wayve and potentially Aurora.

In a potentially landmark change, US NHTSA looks to modify vehicle rules to reduce pedestrian deaths (link). Via David Z. 'Never in its 50-plus years in existence has the regulator issued new rules for automakers requiring them to change their vehicle designs to better prevent pedestrian fatalities.'

After Rivian investment and partnership, a tornado inside VW's software group (link). Volkswagen's investment in Cariad to date has been north of $13B, a striking amount since that is exactly the market cap of Rivian itself today. 'Current and former Cariad employees said the unexpected decision to backtrack on plans to build VW’s future software architecture in-house had not only unleashed fear about the future of the division, but sparked concern over whether the new software strategy would work.'

Is this Tesla's upcoming robotaxi? (link). Or an intentional diversion from the Troll Yahweh himself?

Even with 100% tariffs for Chinese-made EVs, many vehicles would still undercut the cheapest vehicles for sale (link). 'Joe McCabe, CEO of U.S. research company AutoForecast Solutions, said BYD's lowest price in the U.S. is $12,000. Even with a 100% tariff, BYD will have the cheapest EV in the market at under $25,000.'

The trip to China that changed Ford's mind on the future (link). The most remarkable quote in this article is this one, and it shows how the world has changed in a dozen words: 'Executing to a Chinese standard is going to be the most important priority.' If you were to roll back the clock even 10 years ago it would be unthinkable for a Western CEO to say that, but today China is the pace car for the auto industry.

When a very large EV truck crashes and catches fire, call in the Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (link). 'Tesla semi crash required 50000 gallons of water, fire-fighting aircraft to put out blaze.'

'Monster trains' can be 3 miles long, impacting vehicle traffic like emergency response (link). 'More than a dozen states, including Texas, have introduced bills to limit train length to 1.6 miles, but states can’t enforce them because they are barred from interfering with interstate commerce.'

Video: F1 driver Lando Norris drives a Lego McLaren P1 (link). Via Chris H. Video: interview with former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick at All-In summit (link). Video: 'Making an electronic bumper sticker to show what music I'm listening to in real time' (link). Via Weans.

M&A / Deals / Changes:

After scrapping Honda partnership, GM ties up with Hyundai for EV development (link).

Defense-focused automated vehicle startup Forterra raises $75M (link). Led by Moore Strategic Ventures, XYZ Venture Capital and Hedosophia.

Deutsche Bahn’s logistics unit, Schenker, acquired by Danish firm DSV for $15.7B (link).

Canadian transit software startup Spare raises $42M (link). Led by Inovia Capital.

German vehicle diagnostics software startup DC Connected raises $2.5M (link). Led by Borusan Ventures.

Tennessee hydrogen membrane startup Protonas raises undisclosed round (link). Led by Transition VC.

FMCW LiDAR startup SiLC raises strategic round from Honda (link).

Japanese battery startup PowerX raises $17M (link). Led by Toda Corporation. Via Doug A.

Austrian vehicle sharing startup GoUrban acquired by Germany's Wunder Mobility (link).

Texas fleet management startup QV21 acquired by Ireland's AMCS (link).

Uber and Turo partner to share vehicles on Uber Rent (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Ford: Pro division CEO Ted Cannis to retire (link).

Southwest Airlines: Chairman Gary Kelly to retire (link).

Gogoro: CEO Horace Luke resigns amid subsidy fraud (link).

Gatik: Aleksandr Petiushko joins to lead new AI research division (link).

Norfolk Southern: Mark George promoted to CEO, joins board; succeeds Alan Shaw (link).

Featured Jobs:

Site Supervisor at May Mobility in Peachtree City, GA, USA (link).

Robotics Engineer, Customer Support, East Coast at Teleo, remote (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:

Ford plans to restart India production (link).

Ford’s Tourneo Custom quietly emerging as European lux vehicle of choice (link).

USPS takes delivery on its new EV postal vans (Next Generation Delivery Vehicles) (link). The biggest innovation for mail carriers might be something unexpected: air conditioning. 'I promise you, it felt like heaven blowing in my face.'

Volvo quits the car subscription business (link).

EV warranty startup Amber launches remote diagnostics service (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

Ford's patent application shows interior camera calibration using steering wheel angle (link).

Statistics / Projections:

Installing one EV charger boosts annual spending at a nearby establishment (link). Via Nature / David Z. 'The effect is more pronounced when a point of interest (POI) is within 100 meters of an EVCS, with spending increasing by 2.7% in 2019 and 3.2% from January 2021 to June 2023 for that POI.'

Vehicle loans are 9% of US household debt on average, the biggest non-mortgage credit cost, having recently edged ahead of student loans (link). Via FT.

New US EV registrations surged 18% in July 2024 compared with the same month last year (link). Via Automotive News / S&P Global Mobility.

The brands with the most leases as % of their EV sales: BMW (89.2%), Audi (87.3%), Lexus (79.4%); the lowest: Rivian (15.2%), Cadillac (15.4%), Tesla (23.6%) (link). Via Bloomberg / KBB.

47 states fail to meet the ideal ratio of chargers to EVs (link). Via Automotive News / Here Technologies and SBD Automotive. 'The ideal ratio of registered EVs to public Level 2 and fast chargers across the U.S. is nine to 10 EVs per charging plug on average. But each state has its own target ratio based on road networks, population density, rate of EV adoption and the current fleet of EVs.'

Thank you:

Thank you to Robin Hutcheson (link), Manas Punhani (link), Bill Russo (link) and Trista Van Tine (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Gatik (link), May Mobility (link), Teleo (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

Take the Underground to Dragonham East,

Reilly Brennan