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Hello! Hello readers and welcome back to The Station, your weekly newsletter on all things transportation. I hope you enjoyed the new year! I appreciated some rest and recovery, just in time for CES 2024.
Yes, I’m back in Las Vegas for the annual tech show. The three major American automakers (Passage, GM and Stellandis) won’t have big splash screens and announcements like in previous years. However, many car manufacturers and more generally transport companies and start-ups will be in attendance. I’ll be on the hunt all week for interesting and innovative technology. Wish me good luck. ;HEY
Honda, Kia and Vinfast display electric, of Hyundai Supernal will unveil an electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicle and Mercedes it will focus on software and the cabin experience. Artificial intelligence is a topic that is popping up everywhere and perhaps surprisingly to some, hydrogen fuel will also have a presence.
Stay tuned for this week’s coverage.
Want to get in touch with a tip, comment or complaint? Email Kirsten at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com. Reminder that you can drop us a note at tips@techcrunch.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, click here to contact uswhich includes SecureDrop (instructions here) and various encrypted messaging apps.
Offer of the week
It’s been a little quiet the past few weeks, but there have been plenty of deals worth sharing.
One of the notable ones is Gbike, a Seoul-based e-scooter and e-bike sharing company that is preparing to go public in Korea and is reconsidering takeover targets. Founder and CEO Walter Yoon told TechCrunch that the company is in discussions to make acquisitions in the micromobility industry to increase its market share ahead of its planned initial public offering, which is targeting early 2025.
“Details have not been worked out yet, but we are currently looking at about three to five targets for acquisition,” Yoon said, adding that he has not decided how many acquisitions to complete.
Other offers that caught my eye…
Bumpera car repair finance startup based in London, raised $18 million in a round led by AutoTech Ventures. Shell Ventures, InMotion Ventures, Porsche Ventures and Revo Capital also participated. Bumper also secured $30 million in debt.
Revfinan Indian fintech startup that offers car loans for electric two-wheelers and three-wheelers raised $14 million in a Series B round led by Omidyar Network, the philanthropic investment firm from eBay founder Pierre Omidyar.
Salt Creek Capital acquired Vantage Vehicle International, a low speed vehicle manufacturer based in California.
Energy exchangean Indonesian EV battery startup; raised $22 million in a Series A round led by Qiming Venture Partners. GGV Capital and existing investor Ondine Capital also participated.
Notable reads and other items
ADAS
Contributor Tim Stevens test the advanced driver assistance systems in Tesla, BMW, Ford, GM and Mercedes. Here’s how they stacked up.
Autonomous vehicles
Dawn and European has passed the first major hurdle in a $300 million project to produce thousands of autonomous hardware kits for self-driving trucks.
of China The robotaxi industry is facing new headwinds — and some wariness after watching the drama at Cruise. TC reporter Rita Liao takes a deep dive into how these startups are coping.
Nuro struck a deal with a security-focused software company Foretellix to assist with virtual testing of the automated driving system in an effort to reduce R&D costs.
Electric vehicles, charging & batteries
2024 will be a critical year for India, as the country faces challenges in offering accessible growth capital to fledgling startups while trying to lure Tesla and other foreign EV makers into its domestic market. See how the country will navigate EVs in 2024.
Fisher is struggling to meet internal sales targets, the documents show.
Rivian delivered 10% fewer electric vehicles in the fourth quarter, compared with the third quarter, leaving investors worried about declining demand. Rivian surpassed its 2023 production targets, providing some positive news for the EV maker.
of the pedestrian electric scooters – more than 20,000 of them – will be auctioned later this month, along with other equipment from the startup’s US operations, after it closes its doors on December 31. Also, don’t miss this article from TechCrunch about what the death of the Superpedestrian means for the e-scooter industry.
Tesla shipped a record number of electric vehicles in the 4th quarter to help it exceed its targets for the year, thanks in part to the popularity of its cheapest vehicle.
The US government revealed the list of electric vehicles that qualify for the full federal tax credit under the new, stricter guidelines. Here’s the list of eligible EVs and more details on what prompted the change.
VinFast has committed an investment of up to $2 billion to build a plant in India.
cities
TC reporter Rebecca Belan turned its attention to the neglected technology that kept cities moving in 2023.
Uber is quietly testing a flexible pricing service in more than a dozen cities in India.
