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Is it me, or is it Tesla board is little Furthermore these days as he tries to convince shareholders to vote to relocate the company to Texas and approve the CEO by Elon Musk $56 billion fee deal? Perhaps this is because the board is worried that no measure will pass. Tesla board chair Robin Denholm he told the Financial Times that the company must climb the “Everest” to win over shareholders before the annual meeting on June 13.
The result was a parade of appeals and additional proxy material who make the pitch for the controversial pay deal that — reminder! — struck down in January by a Delaware court.
Do you think shareholders will say yes?
A little bird
This week, TC partner Jagmeet Singh didn’t you hear a little nugget; he saw it.
During a trip to Dubai, Singh opened it BluSmart ride-hailing app and discovered that the India-based company had quietly launched a service in the United Arab Emirates’ most populous city.
Rumors that BluSmart was planning to set up shop in Dubai and Abu Dhabi have been circulating for months. After identifying the new service area, TechCrunch received confirmation from BluSmart co-founder Anmol Jaggi that a pilot began on Tuesday, with 100 Audi E-Tron SUVs and 130 drivers in the city. The official opening will be in early June, he said.
Do you have a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or see these instructions to learn how to contact us through encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.
Agreements!
Precursor, a startup that makes chassis for electric medium-duty commercial vehicles, has intrigued me since I visited the headquarters in Southern California earlier this year. The market opportunity to electrify medium-duty vehicles has always seemed awkward to me, since the segment covers such a wide range, from school buses and RVs to delivery trucks and emergency vehicles.
And it seems that interest—at least for the Harbinger chassis—is high. The company announced this week at the ACT Expo that it has locked in at $400 million binding pre-orders of vehicles from customers, including a multi-year order from Bimbo Bakeries USA, Grupo Bimbo’s American business. Thor Industries, the recreational vehicle manufacturer behind the Airstream, Jayco, Tiffin and Thor Motor Coach brands, also placed an order.
Harbinger also shared this week that it closed an additional $13 million in Series A funding from investors that included the Coca-Cola System Sustainability Fund, which is managed by Greycroft. The added funding pushes the Series A round to $73 million.
Other offers that caught my eye…
South 8, a battery startup focused on boosting EV performance in cold weather, recently raised new funding from Porsche Ventures in the form of a SAFE note, which will be applied to a Series B round the company is starting to raise. The size of Porsche Ventures’ investment was not disclosed.
based in Seattle Overland AI and New Brunswick, based in Canada Potential — two startups focused on autonomous off-road vehicle technology — have both improved. Overland raised a $10M seed round led by Point72 Ventures and Potential raised a CA$2M (~$1.5M) seed round expansion led by Brightspark Ventures, a Canadian early-stage VC.
Spyroan electric two-wheeler company based in Africa, secured a $50 million debt facility with the African Export-Import Bank.
Notable reads and other items
Autonomous vehicles
Aurora Innovation unveiled a new self-driving truck, loaded with its self-driving technology and built by Volvowhich could be on public highways as early as this summer.
The UK government has enacted the Automated Vehicles Act, a law that regulates autonomous vehicles and is expected to bring the technology to public roads within two years.
Electric vehicles, charging & batteries
Airbnb and ChargePoint have partnered to “make it easier” for hosts install EV chargers on their lists providing discounts on chargers and accompanying installation services.
Audi plans to jointly develop a new EV platform designed for China with partner SAIC.
The Chevrolet Equinox EVwhich has an estimated range of 319 miles in the front-wheel drive model, is enter delegations. The Equinox EV has a starting price of $43,295. However, GM says a cheaper $34,995 version will be available later this year.
Kia unveiled the EV3 — the next electric vehicle in its lineup. One thing that caught my attention: He used OpenAI’s large language models (LLM) to build a highly customized version of ChatGPT for his car assistant.
InfluenceMap released an analysis last week that I missed. The report, which examined climate lobbying activities of 15 of the largest automakers, found that all but Tesla have actively advocated against at least one policy promoting electric vehicles.
McLaren Automotive enters the “hyperbike” business. The company unveiled four limited-edition electric bike models – the Extreme 600, Extreme 250, Sport 600 and Sport 250. No word on pricing!
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has launched an official investigation into an April accident involving the all-electric VinFast VF 8 SUV that claimed the lives of a family of four.
Yoshi Mobilitya mobile car care startup that raised $26 million in April is launching one EV mobile charging service which will debut on General Motors’ BrightDrop Zevo 600 vehicles. The company plans to commercialize the service by early next year.
riding-greeting
Uber and Lyft reached a deal with Minnesota that will result in higher wages and protections for drivers while putting limits on state government. TC reporter Rebecca Belan digs into who wins, who loses and who pays.
This week’s wheels
What are “This Week’s Wheels”? It’s an opportunity to learn about the different transportation products we’re testing, whether it’s an electric or hybrid car, an e-bike, or even a ride in an autonomous vehicle. Watch to find out about my time behind the wheel 2024 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, plus two EV surprises that I just can’t mention yet! Later this summer I plan to enter the Fiat 500etry some e-bikes and more!
