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Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility – your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation.
This week, read about the self-driving car company Kineticwhy the Tesla the board will likely discuss by Elon Musk $56 billion 2018 pay package, a new unicorn focused on student transportation and more.
Let’s go!
A little bird
Here’s a fun one for everyone. Amidst all the layoffs and startup failures, there’s also hiring going on.
A little bird showed us a particularly interesting hire at Elon Musk’s The Boring Company. Vignesh Swaminathan — who is also known as Mr. Barricade to his 1.8 million Tik Tok fans — recently took up a position as a senior civil engineer. Why so remarkable? Swaminathan is a well-known urban planner (and TikToker) who spent the better part of a decade focused on bikeway and sidewalk design as CEO and president of Crossroad Labs.
Crossroad Labs, a Cupertino, California-based civil engineering design firm, appears to have closed in January. Swaminathan got the job at The Boring Company a few weeks later. We wonder if the previous urban planner and his bike-centric experience will work for The Boring Company?
Do you have a tip for us? e-mail Kirsten Korosech at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or Sean O’Kane sean.okane@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
A new unicorn was born. talks about Zūma student transportation startup that uses a combination of buses, trucks and other vehicles combined with software to provide efficient and safe routes to and from school for children.
The startup, founded and run by Ritu Narayan, raised $140 million in a Series E funding round led by global investment firm GIC. Other investors included Climate Investment, Sequoia and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The funding pushed its valuation to $1.3 billion
Zūm has made progress over the past several years, landing school district customers in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, Chicago, Boston, Nashville and Maryland. It is now focused on converting its vehicle fleet to all EVs by 2027, while continuing to grow its footprint.
Other offers that caught my eye…
BluSmartan Indian startup that competes with Uber and domestic rival Ola, has raised $25 million from Switzerland-based Impact Fund ResponsAbility in a mezzanine structure, including a partial dilution of equity and debt.
Okay, this isn’t so much a deal breaker as it is a deal breaker. Cake, the Swedish electric motorcycle startup, filed for bankruptcy on February 1 after failing to secure enough investment. Cake joins a growing list of micromobility companies that have run into financial trouble over the past year, most recently VanMoof, Super pedestrian and Bird.
Kuraa UK start-up combining a school bus service with a software platform to protect students has been acquired by ‘smart bus’ startup. Zeelo.
Notable reads and other items
ADAS
XPengTesla’s rival from China plans to bring its advanced driver assistance technology to international markets.
Autonomous vehicles
Kinetic is the product of a joint venture between Hyundai and car supplier Aptiv. But that relationship is changing. Aptiv said it would no longer make funds available for the effort. We explain why.
Electric vehicles, batteries & charging
ArrivalEV commercial startup is being delisted from the Nasdaq stock market as it accelerates toward dissolution.
Tesla was sued by 25 California counties alleging the automaker has repeatedly mishandled hazardous waste at facilities across the state. Two days later, the parties settled with Tesla agreeing to $1.5 million in fines and a five-year injunction requiring inspections.
Car technology
Hesai, a Chinese company that makes lidar sensors, has been added to the US Department of Defense’s list of “Chinese Military Companies.” Hesai called the inclusion “unfair, capricious and unfair” and said the sensors are intended for civilian use only. Hesai also emphasized that the company has no ties of any kind to any military in any country.
People
by Elon Musk The $56 billion pay package is unfair, a Delaware judge has ruled. If the ruling stands (many expect an appeal) it will nullify the largest compensation settlement in corporate history.
This week’s wheels
Image Credits: Kirsten Korosech
I recently spent a week in this mint colored hanauma Genesis GV60 Performance. Top takeaway? This is a stylish and premium (inside and out) all-electric vehicle that’s quick off the line and quite fun to drive, but not exactly amazing in tight mountain corners.
The all-wheel drive vehicle (there are electric motors front and rear) generally handles well. When I pushed it, there was a bit of body roll when cornering. But let’s be honest here, most consumers don’t drive like they’re on a test track. Nor should it.
The 77.4 kWh battery combined with the electric motors produce 429 horsepower and 516 pound-feet of torque. This allows the GV60 to go from 0 to 60 mph in about four seconds — certainly fast enough to be appreciated by EV enthusiasts. A battery range of 235 miles is low in this EV era. It’s certainly enough for commuting and daily driving needs, but some consumers may be hesitant to shell out the $69,550 base price for an all-electric SUV with such low range compared to its peers.
