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Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility – the same weekly newsletter you’ve been reading, but with a new name and a few changes.
As I mentioned last week, this is still your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation! This week, read how Mercedes accidentally revealed his source code, his last Cruise-GM epic, of Tesla EV Sales Alert and more.
Let’s go!
A little bird
Economic headwinds may be easing a bit, but companies are still being squeezed. Autonomous vehicle and EV startups — even those that have since gone public — are scrambling to cut costs in hopes of expanding their capital corridor. Aurora Innovation, for example, laid off about 3% of its workforce. EV company Northern Star confirmed to TechCrunch that it has also cut about 15% of its global workforce, Flexport It is reportedly looking to shed another 20% of jobs, and parcel delivery company Veho said it has laid off 19% of its corporate/exempt staff.
Now, some little birds are telling us that Canoo and Faraday Future — both EV startups that went public through mergers with special-purpose buyout companies — are either cutting wages or laying off employees. Faraday confirmed it has cut wages and laid off employees without elaborating. Sources tell us Canoo is also laying off workers.
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
In the TC climate office, reporter Harry Weber spoke ArcTern CEO Murray McCaig about the third (and recently closed) fund of $335 million.
ArcTern plans to pump this capital into climate-focused startups that can deliver extremely fast returns. Specifically, the Toronto-based company focuses on startups that use proven technology in new ways. And his bet? Carbonization kinetics. Although electric vehicle sales have slowed recently, McCaig sees this as a “net.”
VC believes that North America is about to reach a tipping point where EV adoption takes off like a rocket, as it did in Norway.
Other offers that caught my eye…
Clearmotion raised an additional $4 million, bringing the Series B round to about $43 million, according to a recent filing of form D.
Corvus Energyan energy storage systems and fuel cell company focused on marine, offshore and port applications, has secured an undisclosed investment from Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth fund.
Montaa Copenhagen-based EV charging software startup, raised 80 million euros ($86.9 million) in a Series B funding round, led by Energize Capital, GreenPoint Partners and the Danish Export and Investment State Fund.
Zion Powera lithium metal battery manufacturer based in Tucson, Arizona; raised $75 million from battery maker LG Energy Solution, mathematician and investor Jim Simons’ Euclidean Capital and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s family office management firm Hillspire LLC.
Vroom is shutting down its online used car marketplace and shifting all its resources and capital into two business units focused on auto financing and AI-based analytics. Around 800 workers, or 90% of its workforce, will lose their jobs as a result.
Notable reads and other items
Autonomous vehicles
Its internal review Cruise and the October 2 event that led to GM The subsidiary that lost its licenses to operate robotaxis in California eventually went under. He tl;dr through the report he ran Quinn Emanuel: Cruise did not intentionally mislead regulators. So what went wrong with Cruise? A lack of judgment, mistakes by leadership, an “us vs. them” relationship with regulators, and a fixation on correcting the media’s inaccurate narrative that the Cruise AV, not the human-centric Nissan, had caused the accident were all factors that contributed to the company’s accident. problems.
Cruz also revealed that the Ministry of Justice and Capital Market Commission investigations have also been launched into the company. Just about every agency you can think of is now looking into the incident, including the California Department of Motor Vehicles, the California Public Utilities Commission and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Finally, the 195-pager also included in its appendix a heavily redacted Exponent report that addressed technical problems on Oct. 2, specifically why the robotaxi initiated a pullover maneuver that then swept away the pedestrian trapped below. More to come on that front.
Electric vehicles, batteries & charging
Porsche has completed two variants of the Macan EV, a long overdue project that will test whether consumers still have the power to spring for an electric vehicle that costs more than $78,000.
Tesla started the earnings season with a bit of a stink. Yes, the company delivered a record 1.8 million electric vehicles in 2023, but profits suffered (especially when we look at its operating income) due to margin-squeezing price cuts, as well as higher R&D and production costs. Cybertruck. While solar installations declined, energy storage was one of the rosiest sectors, up 125% year-over-year.
Software and other automotive technology
Mercedes-Benz accidentally exposed a vault of internal data after leaving a private key online that provided “unrestricted access” to the company’s source code
Tesla plans to spend $500 million to build one of its so-called “Dojo” supercomputers at its plant in Buffalo, New York, the state’s governor Kathy Hochul announced during a press conference Friday, days after CEO Elon Musk called the project “long shot.” Musk also made an interesting comment on social media that played down the investment, noting that the company will spend a lot more money on Nvidia hardware in 2024.
This week’s wheels
Image Credits: Ride1Up
This week’s wheels come from TC editor Devin Coldewey, who recently purchased the Ride1up 700 Series e-bike.
I vacillated for a few months when I bought a new e-bike, trying to find the right balance between moped-style throttle and traditional pedal assist. In the end, I went with it Ride1up 700 Series, which offered a kind of bundle (at a Black Friday price) that meant minimal fuss for maximum utility. Fenders, grill, lights, all in tune.
While assembly was a bit involved (don’t try if you haven’t assembled a bike before), the finished product is – now that I’ve put some miles on it – pretty solid. Some ergonomics could be better and the custom shelf didn’t fit any of the cases I wanted. Still, the big compact frame and oversized wheels are reassuring on the road, and the throttle is great for navigating both Seattle hills and Seattle drivers.
It’s on the heavier side—62 pounds—so I wouldn’t take it up any stairs or hang it from a regular bike hook. But it’s already opening up a different “zone” in my mind to get around the city: too far to comfortably walk, too close to justifiably drive, and too uphill to pedal. Turns out it’s very Seattle!
This certainly won’t be my last ebike, but I’m happy with it as my first. If I had it to do over again, I might have gone for the lighter LTD with the torque-sensing pedal assist, but hey.
