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Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility – your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation.
This week has been busy with Rivian officially announcing the reveal date for its next-gen EV, a Waymo robotaxi hitting a cyclist (oh and one of his robotaxis was vandalized and burned late Saturday night!). Arrival trying to sell its UK assets as well as some balls for an e-bike startup Cake, Passage and Fisher. There’s a lot of ground to cover, so come along for the ride.
Oh, but first, some late weekend news.
Joby Aviationa company that develops fully electric aircraft for commercial passenger service, announced on Sunday an agreement with Dubai Regulators will launch air taxi services there by early 2026. Joby, a startup that went public in 2021 through a merger with a special-purpose buyout firm, said it aims for initial operations as early as 2025.
It is worth noting that as part of the agreement, Joby has exclusive air taxi rights in Dubai for six years and certain financial “mechanisms”. Joby did not provide further details. Joby has also signed an agreement with Skyports, a company that will design, build and operate four initial vertiport locations across Dubai.
Let’s go!
A little bird
We had a lot of little birds talking to us about them Fisher, the EV startup that went public in 2020 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. Those conversations combined with a review of internal documents, a series of lawsuits and an investigation by federal regulators have come together in a riveting and disturbing story from Sean O’Kane.
What did O’Kane find? Fisker Ocean SUV customers have reported more than 100 separate incidents of loss of power as well as many other problems, including sudden loss of braking power, faulty key fobs that cause them to lock themselves in or out of the vehicle, seat sensors that fail to detect the driver’s presence, and front hood of SUV flying suddenly at high speeds.
Customers also complained about the service department. After our story was published, another bird told us that Fisker’s director of global services was recently let go.
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
India is one of the largest two-wheeler markets in the world. And a whole new crop of startups — like startup River — appear on the scene thanks to the demand for zero-emission vehicles.
River recently raised $40 million in a Series B funding round led by the Japanese Yamaha Motor. Existing investors Al-Futtaim Automotive, Lowercarbon Capital, Toyota Ventures, Trucks VC and Maniv Mobility also participated.
The startup faces a competitive market as many companies vie for a piece of the EV pie. River is betting to win over Indian customers with the Indie, a lifestyle-focused product that has been described as a two-wheeled ‘SUV’.
Other offers that caught my eye…
Elroy Aira South San Francisco-based startup developing autonomous cargo drones has raised $48.9 million, according to regulatory filing.
Guided Energya French startup that raised $5.2 million from Sequoia Capital and Dynamo Ventures in late 2023 is building a software tool to help electric vehicle fleet operators manage and send charges.
Otoan Indian startup that built a financing software platform for electric two-wheelers, raised $10 million in a round led by GMO Venture Partners.
Starship Technologies, a robotic delivery startup from Estonia, has raised $90 million in funding round with the cooperation of two previous backers: Plural and Iconical. It brings Starship’s total raised to $230 million, with previous backers including Finnish-Japanese company NordicNinja, the European Investment Bank, Morpheus Ventures and TDC.
Notable reads and other items
Autonomous vehicles
Administrative law judge with the California Public Service Commission kept a resolution hearing regarding the Oct. 2 incident that left a pedestrian, who had initially been struck by a man-powered car, pinned and then swept away by Cruise robot taxi.
The hearing brought back much of what Quinn Emmanuel – the law firm hired by GM to investigate the Oct. 2 incident – revealed in an independent report. But it’s worth noting that throughout the exchange, Cruise had an extremely conciliatory tone. Craig GlindenGM’s EVP of legal and policy, who in December was named chief operating officer at Cruise, was particularly pleased.
At one point, he appeared to agree to pay a higher fine, which under the law would have been $112,000. Here’s what he said.
“It was sad. It was a mistake and Cruz is trying to right the wrong. I’m not here to argue whether it’s $75,000 or $112,000. We want this resolved because we want to move forward and we want to advance the mission of bringing driverless cars that are safer for the public and also more accessible to the public to the market. Therefore, we are more than happy to be infringed in any way that the court sees fit or the committee sees fit to put this matter behind us.”
Waymo has the attention of California regulators after one of its robots hit a cyclist in San Francisco. The cyclist was slightly injured. Waymo said its robotaxi stopped at a four-way intersection as a large truck was traveling in the opposite direction. The car then moved into the intersection and collided with the cyclist behind the truck.
TechCrunch spoke to Department of Motor Vehicles and California Public Service Commission — the two agencies that control the permits that allow companies like Waymo to test, develop and charge commercially for driverless rides. The CPUC said it was “collecting information from Waymo,” and the DMV told me the agency was “looking into the incident.” We’ll see if this turns into something more.
Another Waymo item. At around 9pm on Saturday night, a crowd surrounded an empty Waymo robotaxi, started shaking it, smashing windows and eventually setting it on fire with fireworks. FriscoLive415 share the video in X. Pretty crazy footage. A Waymo spokesperson told TechCrunch that the vehicle was not carrying riders and no injuries have been reported. The company is “working closely with local security officials to respond to the situation.”
Electric vehicles, charging & batteries
Arrival announced that its UK division is entering administration, the country’s version of bankruptcy.
Electric motorcycle company Cake held talks with Harley-Davidson and other automakers in 2023 as it struggled to stay afloat, founder and CEO Stefan Ytterborn told TechCrunch.
Cowboy is launching an on-demand service program for basic maintenance, customization and repairs, delivered to the e-bike owner’s home.
Passage quietly working on a low-cost EV. The company created a skunkworks project two years ago that is based in Irvine, California and is run by the former head of Tesla and Ford Advanced EV development Alan Clarke. Notably, the team includes engineers from Auto Motive Power (AMP), the EV power startup the automaker acquired in November 2023. AMP founder Anil Paryani, who coincidentally overlapped Clarke’s roughly five years at Tesla, is also part of the skunkworks project.
Rivian will unveil its smaller, cheaper R2 SUV on March 7. Stay tuned!
Toyota will spend an additional $1.3 billion to prepare its Kentucky plant to produce a new three-row electric SUV designed for U.S. consumers
Gig economy
Uber achieved a major milestone that a few years ago I wasn’t sure I’d ever meet. The transport and delivery application reported a full year profit (based on operating income) as a public company. And it looks like the earnings momentum is expected to continue in the first quarter. Uber has made an annual profit in the past, but that was largely due to its investments. In 2023 the company’s profits also came from its activities.
He reminded that Lyft will release fourth-quarter and full-year earnings after markets close on Feb. 13.
People
Escape, a company that helps vehicle owners rent their cars, trucks and SUVs to peers, is cutting 30% of its North American workforce as part of a restructuring. Getaround has cut 10% of its staff in February 2023.
General Motors hired a battery expert and former Tesla executive Curt Kelty to be the new vice president of automotive batteries — a brand new role for the company.
This week’s wheels
Image Credits: Taylor Hatmaker
This week’s wheels may catch the attention of e-bike fans. Author Taylor Hatmaker she writes this about her “zombie”. Van Moof.
My VanMoof e-bike isn’t dead, but it’s not very much alive either. I bought a X3 from VanMoof after I reviewed the bike for TechCrunch in 2021 and came away impressed. The bike was excellent. but it was also a personal revelation, empowering me—a lazy fair-weather cyclist—to bike around my city (Portland, OR) when I would otherwise use a car.
When I bought my VanMoof, which was on sale at the time, I knew it was a risk. I spent the money, knowing that in the worst case scenario my bike could turn into a $2,000 brick. That scenario came last year when VanMoof filed for bankruptcy.
Lavoie bought the remains of the company late last summer, providing a glimmer of hope that the notoriously fickle bikes full of custom components will still be repairable in the future. Meanwhile, VanMoof owners like myself were trying to download apps like Bikey, made by Cowboyto save the digital keys that connect us to our bikes.
I still have a lot of affection for the 30-pound possible-future paperweight that I nervously fire up and plug into my phone a few times a week. It’s been rainy for months – not the kind of weather I’ll be cycling in anymore – but hopefully when Spring rolls around my X3 will show some new signs of life too.
