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It’s been another wild week in the transportation world, particularly in the startup EV and automated driving industries. Sure, Cruise caught our attention by announcing a comeback of sorts. But there is much more to read, including the Indian giant All exiting the UK, Australia and New Zealand; a feature on a New York-based startup that wants to bring curbside EV charging to lampposts. Uber Eats launching a TikTok-like video feature. and with a manufacturer’s contract Magna piloted humanoid robots developed by Sanctuary AI.
Oh, one more thing – journalist Rebecca Belan it’s back! I know her readers have missed her, so show her some love by sending her some tips at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com.
Let’s go!
A little bird
Founders, investors, engineers, politicians and others tell us things. And we are here to convey the verifiable information that they little birds have shared with us.
Do you have a tip for us? e-mail Kirsten Korosech at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com or Rebecca Belan at rebecca.bellan@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
Just a bunch of deals this week!
Base signala Finnish company that developed AR and computer vision software used by car manufacturers; raised 22 million euros ($23.6 million) in a Series B round led by ETF Partners. Other backers include Finland Industry Investment, Constructor Capital, Business Finland, the European Innovation Council and private investors.
Bumperan automotive fintech startup sector, raised £2m in a Series B; expansion round that included backing from Suzuki Global Ventures and Marubeni Ventures.
Carraran Israeli startup providing battery modules and thermal management systems for EVs, raised $5.3 million in a Series A round that included new investors Salida BV, OurCrowd and NextGear, as well as current backers Gentherm, NextLeap Ventures, Dive Digital and others.
Exoesa French startup that developed battery cooling technology for EVs, raised 35 million euros ($37.5 million) from BpiFrance and the Meridiam Green Impact Growth Fund.
HysetCo SASa startup that rents hydrogen-powered EVs to taxi drivers in Paris; raised almost 200 million euros ($218 million) in a round led by Hy24. Raise Impact and Eiffel Investment Group also participated.
Yoshi Mobility, a Nashville-based startup that developed an app to offer drivers preventive maintenance, virtual vehicle inspections and electric vehicle charging, has raised $26 million in a Series C round led by General Motors Ventures. Bridgestone Americas, Universal Motors Agencies and Shikra Limited also participated.
Notable reads and other items
ADAS
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said the driver of a Ford Mustang Mach-E that crashed into a stationary car in Texas in February was using the hands-free driver assistance system known as BlueCruise. This is the first known fatality due to a collision using BlueCruise. The NTSB’s announcement came a day after the safety board said it was investigating a second fatal crash near Philadelphia where Ford’s driver assistance system may have been active.
Autonomous vehicles
of GM self-driving car subsidiary Cruise it’s back. About. The company is relocating robotaxis, but not in its hometown of San Francisco. Instead, Cruise is setting up shop in Phoenix, and all of its autonomous vehicles will be driven manually by employees. Here’s the weird part: Cruise says it will be creating maps and collecting road information in Phoenix, a city where it has had a presence (and self-driving) since at least 2020. That means it has mapped those streets before.
Going back to mapping has me a bit confused. Is this theater or does Cruise see the need to reboot his entire process due to concerns about the underlying technology?
Cruise also asked California regulators restores its licenses to operate in San Francisco. Will we see the company map its city again, or will it re-enter with a robotaxi service?
In the meantime, Waymo officially launched paid rides in los angeles this week. We previously reported on California regulators’ approval for the Alphabet-owned company to charge for robotaxi service in the city. The service is starting small and will be based on demand and performance metrics, a Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch.
Electric vehicles, charging & batteries
by Elon Musk The decision to pit a robotaxi over an affordable EV could cost the company its lead, writes TC reporter Tim De Chant.
Exponential Energythe Indian battery technology company that claims to have developed 15-minute charging technology has partnered with the car maker Omega Seiki Mobility to deliver a passenger EV three-wheeler with these rapid charging capabilities.
Faraday Future it is now fighting two internal whistleblowers. Both former employees have filed lawsuits alleging the troubled EV company lied about some of the few sales it has announced to date. They also claim that founder Jia Yueting has “armed” the EV startup’s HR department to retaliate against anyone who speaks out about these alleged misrepresentations.
Lucid Motors delivered more electric vehicles in the first quarter of 2024 than in any other quarter, although it set the record by a very narrow margin.
Tesla dropped the monthly subscription price of “Supervised FSD” (formerly known as “FSD Beta”) to $99, down from $199, in an effort to get more dollars and data from drivers.
Walk-hail
Lyft and Uber he said he would pause in their planned exit from Minneapolis after city officials decided to delay the start of a driver pay increase by a few months.
Difference
Check out this deep dive Nervous concepta company that uses artificial intelligence to help engineers build more aerodynamic vehicles for the racing, automotive and aerospace industries.
This week’s wheels
Image Credits: Kirsten Korosech
I’m back with a Mercedes EV, this time a Mercedes EQE 350 4MATIC 2024. The model retails for $77,900, not including destination charge. The version I drove came in at $97,615, due to all sorts of options, including 10-degree rear-axle steering, a head-up display, air suspension, an AMG exterior and a $1,250 driver assistance system.
There are many improvements from the previous model year, including a new braking system, a heat pump that helps improve driving performance in winter conditions, a 20-mile improvement in battery range, 20-inch wheels, a power-opening port for charging and better user interface (in my opinion) in the central infotainment.
What I really wanted to try was the advanced driver assistance system, specifically the automatic lane change feature, which I had yet to try.
Inside the infotainment center, the driver can choose either “manual” or “automatic” lane change. When automatic mode is selected and ADAS is activated, the vehicle will make automatic lane changes without driver input. That’s how it works. I was driving in the right lane on the freeway with ADAS engaged. As the car approached at a slower speed, an arrow appeared on the instrument panel (see photo), the system turned on my indicator and then did the lane change. This can be circumvented by holding the wheel and keeping it in the lane.
My thoughts? The system worked seamlessly and I could see myself using it from time to time. The question is whether drivers want to give up that kind of control.
