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Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of transporting people and packages from Point A to Point B.
Hello! And goodbye! Well, at least until 2024. The Station is going on a short hiatus until the end of this year. I want to thank you all for reading our weekly newsletter and contacting me with suggestions, tips and criticism. Yes, I even appreciate the thoughtful pushback.
It’s been an action-packed year with new startups (so many electric boat and RV companies, right?), a slew of electric vehicles hitting the road, and a number of commercial milestones achieved in the autonomous vehicle industry. There were, of course, dark and even shocking moments. Several startups failed, including a bunch of mobility SPACs, and layoffs were rife even in this final month of the year. Two of the most impressive stories were in the autonomous vehicle industry: the founders of the late Argo AI is back with a new SoftBank-backed AV startup and its fall Cruise.
Cruise’s story continues to unfold and will likely play out well into 2024. This past week has been a rough one for Cruise, though expected. The result: Cruise’s board, and by extension GM’s board, are cleaning house in an effort to salvage years of technological progress. As part of this mission, nine top leaders were fired and 900 workers were laid off.
We will follow the cruise story next year. But that’s not our only focus.
Here at TechCrunch, our team is interested in the future of transportation, from new EVs and battery technology to electric aviation and hydrogen, autonomous vehicles, micromobility and automotive technology. This means more than just emerging as the next new thing. Instead, we try to explain why it matters and who it might affect. In other words, we are the kind of people who take that unlikely exit or detour to explore what others might avoid. We hope you’ll join us for the ride.
See you in the new year!
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.
micromobbin’
The big story in scooterville was his “seemingly” abrupt decision Super pedestrian to close its US operations and begin exploring the sale of its European business just 18 months after raising $125 million. I hate to say I saw this coming, but well, let’s just say I wasn’t shocked by the news, given that in late November, Superpedestrian began letting go of some European executives who were in charge of global development and operations.
Superpedestrian’s Link scooters are in about 60 cities in 11 countries, but will be withdrawn from most markets by the end of 2023. The startup positioned itself as a safe city partner, investing in advanced rider assistance technology by acquiring Navmatic in July 2021 What happened from that was Pedestrian Defense, the Superpedestrian’s GPS-based safety system that allowed it to detect and correct unsafe rider behavior in real time. But this system was competing with other camera-based computer vision systems, such as those popularized by Drover AI and Luna. Lime, the only major scooter company that seems likely to survive, rolled out its own version of rider assist technology to its scooters in July 2022, around the same time Superpedestrian started issuing layoffs.
Shared micromobility is a tricky business, as we’ve seen from the balance sheets of public companies Bird and Micromobility.com (formerly Helbiz). Bird was recently delisted, issued two rounds of layoffs, and is likely close to filing for bankruptcy. Micromobility.com has issued not one, but two reverse stock splits this year, and its stock price is still spinning. And after some failed takeover talks, Tier Mobility also issued layoffs in November. Oh, and let’s not forget Bolt’s mysterious disappearance.
My question now is who will be next to go to the big beyond?
— Rebecca Belan
Offer of the week
Just a bunch of deals this week!
Dimensional Energy, a New York-based startup developing sustainable aviation fuels from carbon dioxide emissions and water, has raised $20 million in a Series A round led by Envisioning Partners. Also participating were strategic investors such as United Airlines’ Sustainable Aviation Fund, Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, RockCreek Smart Aviation Futures Fund, DSC Investment, Delek US and New York Ventures, as well as existing investors such as Elemental Excelerator and Chloe Capital.
DSTa Chinese new energy vehicle fleet management company, has completed an $80 million funding round to fuel R&D investment and real-time computing.
Exponential Energy, the Indian EV charging startup, has raised a $26.4 million Series B round led by Eight Road Ventures and TDK Ventures. The funds will help Exponent expand its 15-minute charging solution to five major cities in India in 2024 and enter the intercity e-bus segment. The company plans to roll out 1,000 of its charging stations and have 25,000 EVs powered by Exponent by 2025.
Wolfa Mobility-as-a-Service startup, raised €1.4 million ($1.53 million) from Habert Dassault Finance, Afrimobility (Akwa Group), angel investors and banks including Bpifrance, Crédit Mutuel and Caisse d’Epargne.
Alternative fuelsa sustainable jet fuel startup, raised $8 million in a round led by Energy Impact Partners and Contrarian Ventures.
Vammo, the São Paulo-based startup looking to scale electric motorcycle battery sharing in Latin America, has raised $30 million in a Series A round to capitalize on the growing popularity of motorcycles across the region. The equity and debt round was led by Monashees with participation from climate technology fund 2150 and Maniv Mobility.
Notable reads and other items
ADAS
Tesla is restricting the use of Autopilot driver assistance software as part of a recall of two million vehicles. Journalist Sean O’Kane explains what and why this matters.
Autonomous vehicles
TechCrunch Reporter Rita Liao digs into the new new AV regulations in China. “A close reading reveals some interesting contrasts between Chinese and US regulatory perspectives on the nascent technology,” Liao writes.
Waymo continues to run, this week with a major extension. Select riders can now be picked up or dropped off at the robotaxi company’s curbside at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. It’s limited to be sure, but still a milestone.
WeRide begins autonomous bus trials in Singapore, signaling its global ambitions.
Car sharing and other pieces of the gig economy
European Union Lawmakers have finally reached an agreement on the final form of the Platform Workers Directive, which is designed to strengthen the rights of gig workers.
Escape, the SPAC startup that allows car owners to rent out their vehicles to their peers, filed its first earnings report. Tl;dr: revenue growth that suggests the company is growing, but still not enough to be profitable.
Electric vehicles, batteries & charging
Chevrolet invited journalists, including yours truly, to drive the 2024 Chevy Blazer EV. My thoughts; There is a lot to like about this vehicle. But for all its wins, the Blazer EV, which is meant to be a volume seller, is simply too expensive for what it offers.
Passage is cutting its production target for the all-electric F-150 Lightning to meet weak demand.
John McNeil, the former president of Tesla, founder of the venture DVx and vice chairman of Cruise, wrote an interesting article in TechCrunch debunking the recent story that EV demand is weakening. He argues that data shows EV sales are booming, but warns that the U.S. needs to take action if it wants to stay in the global race.
Sheila, a 13-year-old company that has raised more than $900 million to date, has signed a landmark deal to supply Panasonic with Titan silicon anode material. Production will take place at Sila’s future facility in Moses Lake, where the startup recently launched.
Taiwanese manufacture of electric scooters Gogoro introduced a battery sharing network and three smartscooters in India, marking the company’s official entry into the world’s most populous country and largest two-wheeler market.
of Tesla The $50,000 threat to Cybertruck resellers may be back after all.
Uber Freight and Greenlanea $650 million joint venture between Daimler Truck NA, NextEra Energy and BlackRock are working together to accelerate the development and deployment of public charging infrastructure for heavy-duty EVs.
The USA-China The technology war is escalating for EV battery dominance.
Car technology
USA National Road Safety Agency wants anti-drinking technology in cars. Here’s what’s standing in the way.
