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For regular TechCrunch mobility readers, you might be wondering: “Why did this newsletter land on my inbox on Friday?” The peoples, we move days in an effort to bring you a more complete collapse of the week’s news.
I spent last week at SXSW, the annual festival of technology, film, comedy and music at Austin. I suggest that you move to our live blog to cover all the transfers, the AI, the social media, the creator’s economy – basically technology – news that happened during the conference.
I have watched Austin evolve all these years with some good and bad results. The protected bicycle strips were a positive development, which I appreciated as I drove some lime scooters and two mod e-bikes around the city. Austin also becomes a hub for autonomous vehicle activity with Avride based there, zoox tests on public roads, and Waymo launches a robot trade service.
I was lucky enough to match the robot two Waymo-all Hails Ride happens through the Uber app, so it’s never a guarantee. I also had a coordinated race with the courtesy of Waymo. As I wrote earlier this week, it is absolutely wild that Waymo and Uber work together. Here why.
Oh, here is what I discovered in Waymo-Ur Robotaxi Ride. Tip: Some updates in user interface.
A little bird
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Offers!
Senior journalist Sean O’Kane took a deep dive into a new business business called Leptmov This has made quiet loads of agreements for the last 16 months. The company, which funded about 20 newly established companies, is generally focused on re -establishment with a portfolio that includes EV companies, spaces and batteries and four newly established fusion companies.
This is not the interesting part. Here’s what it is: All the money in his cashier came from the Volkswagen team. Check out the full story about why the German car giant has committed $ 300 million in the first Leitmotif fund.
Other agreements that received my attention …
The supply of the motorwaya logistics platform, set $ 12 million In a round of funding in Series A, led by Wavecrest Growth Partners partners, participating in Carmax, Impel Devin Daly founders and Michael Quigley and automotive veteran David Metter.
Daqus energyA starting start on battery materials brought $ 6 million in a seed -led Morningside with the participation of anonymous individual investors.
NirvanaAn AI -based insurance platform, which uses real -time telematics and 20 billion miles for truck driving data to build and manage truck insurance contracts, raised $ 80 million in a series of Catalyst Catalyst Funding. Lightspeed Venture partners and Valor Equity partners also participated. Nirvana investment values ​​at $ 830 million after money.
North It was registered for bankruptcy in Sweden, the last blow to Europe’s efforts to create a battery -making juggernaut that could compete with Chinese giants.
Notable reading and other tidbits
Adas
Rivia launched one Hand -free version of the driving system for motorway driving, which founder and CEO RJ Scaringe discussed on the scene at SXSW in Austin. The new Hands-Free feature puts Rivian in a competition with Ford and GM, which have similar hands-free-free-controlled hands systems, acceleration and braking under certain conditions and locations.
Autonomous vehicles
Hug He has worked with AI Startup Yaak to extend Lerobot-a collection of AI open models, data sets and tools for building real world robotic systems-with a training set that allows robots and cars to navigate environments such as City Streets autonomous.
VC trucks Reilly Brennan had an interesting column, Don’t make a mistake to drive for av ridehailing.
BasalThe former CEO of Uber believes that the company’s decision to abandon the autonomous driving program was wrong. Reminder: Uber Atg burns through cash when sold to Aurora in 2020.
Diameter It continues to expand – this time to Silicon Valley. And this expansion has come with hundreds of parking tickets.
Electric vehicles, charging and batteries
THE Mint 400 The off-road race put two EVS-one Rvian R1T truck and a chevrolet Silvedo EV ZR2 Off-Road Race Concept-in the test.
Rad Power He lost his CEO and won a new one in a few days.
President Donald Trump He said he would highlight violence against Tesla representatives as domestic terrorism – another sign of his deep support for Elon Musk. As a journalist Sean O’Kane Notes, Tesla’s acquisitions have erupted worldwide at Tesla delegations, as people are complaining about what they consider to be hostile to the federal government by Musk (who is the Managing Director of Tesla and his largest shareholder) and his biggest shareholder. Some of the protests have led to graffiti on Tesla signs, burning charging stations, and even Molotov cocktails thrown into a batch of dealerships.
Wheels of this week
This week I tried two e-bikes from Austin Based Mod bikes. I will focus on the younger, the Streakwhich started earlier this week.
I spent 24 hours with the StreakAn electric step-by-through with a seaside cruise ship look and feel. The groove existed before, but the mod bikes interrupted. It is now behind and has been updated throughout the time, including the frame, battery, torque sensor, smart screen and engine.
The bike itself is sporty and polished with many careful details that make the Price $ 1.999 $ Looks like stealing. The design is careful with easy -to -use and easy -to -use controls and a complete bicycle lock that folds neatly in the frame.
Groove is a gas and pedal bike and I found it easy to change among the different modes of operation. We rarely only rely on the throttle because the help gave plenty of Oomb. The bike has a capacity of 275 kg of useful load and reaches a top speed of 28 miles per hour. The groove has 50 miles of range. However, there is a double battery option that shows it up to 100 miles.
But a note: Wow, this bike is heavy. And while this is generally good, the people have to give themselves some time to adapt to their weight.
I also tried Mod Connectthat allows users to wirelessly combine a Lumos Ultra-Smart helmet to synchronize and control shift signals directly from the bike. The connected bicycle helmet made me feel much more visible to drivers as I navigated the busy streets of the center of Austin.
What is “this week’s wheels”? It is an opportunity to find out about the various transport products we are tasting, whether it is an electric or hybrid car, an electronic bike, or even a ride in an autonomous vehicle.
