Image Credits:Michael Nagle \/ Bloomberg \/ Getty Images <\/p>\n
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility \u2014 your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free \u2014 just click TechCrunch Mobility<\/a>!<\/p>\n The autonomous vehicle industry is years \u2014 maybe decades \u2014 from maturing. And so there\u2019s still a Wild West quality to the sector, in spite of the steady stream of announcements that do show marked progress. Two such news items from this week illustrate my point of progress, possibility, and even a bit of peril (at least to the ups and downs a public market can provide).<\/p>\n First up is Gatik, an AV and logistics startup that is applying its tech to middle-mile trucks. The startup, which I first wrote about in 2019<\/a>, announced a multi-year and expanded commercial partnership with Canada\u2019s largest retailer, Loblaw. Under the deal, Gatik will deploy 20 autonomous trucks by the end of 2025 to provide driverless delivery to Loblaw\u2019s network of stores in the greater Toronto area. Co-founder and CEO Gautam Narang told me the company will add another 30 autonomous trucks to the fleet by the end of 2026.<\/p>\n The deal is notable, and not just because of the fleet size. As Narang explained to me, the trucks will be handling the full regional network for Loblaw. This means these third-generation AV trucks will operate autonomously to pick up products from two distribution centers and make deliveries to over 300 retail stores. \u201cThese are multiple brands within the Loblaw umbrella,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In other words, this is not some fixed-route pilot program. It\u2019s commercial, and it\u2019s complex.<\/p>\n Next up is Kodiak Robotics, another startup I have reported on since its founding. The company, which is developing self-driving trucks for highway, industrial, and defense uses, began trading on Nasdaq<\/a> this week under the tickers KDK and KDKRW.<\/p>\n The company, which is now called Kodiak AI, went public via a merger with special-purpose acquisition company Ares Acquisition Corporation II, an affiliate of Ares Management. The deal valued the startup at about $2.5 billion.<\/p>\n Kodiak raised $275 million<\/a> in financing. More than $212.5 million came from certain institutional investors, including $145 million in PIPE funding and about $62.9 million in trust cash from Ares. It should be noted that the trust cash is smaller (it was $562 million), as some SPAC investors redeemed their shares.<\/p>\n I spoke to founder and CEO Don Burnette the day before Kodiak\u2019s big debut about why he took the company public \u2014 let alone via a SPAC. It was a big moment for Burnette, whose family was on hand to watch him ring the bell and mark the milestone.\u00a0The stock was trading at about $7.70 Friday, down about 10% from its market open.<\/p>\n \u201cAs you can imagine, building and scaling a transformative autonomous driving company is very capital intensive, and we were looking to access the public markets as a path forward for the company. And when choosing between, you know, traditional IPO or a SPAC, we considered all the options,\u201d he said. \u201cWe felt like, from a timing perspective, it was the right decision for the company (to take the SPAC route).\u201d<\/p>\n It should be noted that Burnette is also quite bullish on defense. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n \u201cI think autonomy is the future of ground transportation broadly,\u201d he said, before noting the benefits within defense for logistics and reconnaissance operations for ground vehicles. \u201cOne of the key things is defense requires unstructured autonomy, and this is one of the areas where we become specialists.\u201d<\/p>\n A few weeks ago, we wrote about some trouble at Hyundai\u2018s electric air taxi startup Supernal, including that the company had stopped work on its air taxi program and that its CEO and CTO were out.<\/p>\n This week, a little bird told us that a wider reorg of Supernal\u2019s C-suite<\/a> was afoot \u2014 something Hyundai Motor Group has now confirmed to us.<\/p>\n Chief strategy officer Jaeyong Song and chief safety officer Tracy Lamb are part of a \u201ctransition to new leadership,\u201d according to the Korean conglomerate. Song\u2019s departure is particularly notable, as he was once the VP of Hyundai\u2019s Advanced Air Mobility division, which Supernal was spun out of in 2021. Also gone is Lina Yang, who most recently served as chief of staff to the startup\u2019s now-former CEO, but who also served as Supernal\u2019s \u201cHead of Intelligent Systems\u201d before that.<\/p>\n Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at\u00a0kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com<\/a>\u00a0or my Signal at kkorosec.07, or email Sean O\u2019Kane at\u00a0sean.okane@techcrunch.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n Remember Moxion Power, the portable battery startup that raised $110 million before going bankrupt? The founders are back with a new startup called Anode Technology Company, which has designed a mobile battery and inverter that can be used for EV charging and supplying remote power to construction sites and live events. The startup just raised $9 million<\/a> in seed funding in a round led by Eclipse Ventures; its partner, Jiten Behl, who spearheaded the deal, was previously Rivian\u2019s chief growth officer. Apparently, Behl\u2019s interest was sparked by his experience at Rivian.<\/p>\n Side note: Palo Alto-based venture capital firm Eclipse sure has been busy this year. The VC firm led the $105 million<\/a> round of Also, the micromobility startup that spun out of Rivian, and recently hired longtime T. Rowe Price Group investor Joe Fath<\/a> as partner and head of growth.<\/p>\n The firm doesn\u2019t explicitly focus on transportation, but some of its portfolio companies in this sector include Arc, Bedrock Robotics, Reliable Robotics, Skyryse, and Wayve.<\/p>\n Other deals that got my attention \u2026<\/p>\n Rapido, a popular ride-hailing platform in India that competes with Uber, doubled its valuation<\/a> to $2.3 billion following a secondary share sale by food delivery giant Swiggy. The share sale comes just weeks after Rapido began piloting food deliveries, edging into Swiggy\u2019s core territory.<\/p>\n Telo, the tiny electric truck developer, raised $20 million<\/a> in a Series A funding round co-led by designer and Telo co-founder Yves B\u00e9har and Tesla co-founder Marc Tarpenning, who is on Telo\u2019s board. Additional investment came from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and early-stage funds like TO VC, E12 Ventures, and Neo.<\/p>\n TheTrump administration is seeking up to a 10% stake<\/a> in Lithium Americas in exchange for renegotiating the repayment period of a $2.26 billion Department of Energy loan. GM is a major investor in the Canadian company, which is developing a lithium mine in Nevada that is expected to be the largest in the Western Hemisphere.<\/p>\n Hackers have had quite an active week in the transportation sector. Stellantis confirmed a data breach<\/a> involving customers\u2019 personal information. The breach is linked to a hack of its Salesforce database. Meanwhile, a hack that began last Friday and targeted check-in systems provided by Collins Aerospace caused delays<\/a> at Brussels, Berlin, and Dublin airports, as well as London\u2019s Heathrow. The U.K.\u2019s National Crime Agency has arrested a man <\/a>in connection to the ransomware attack. And finally, Jaguar Land Rover said it will not resume production<\/a> at its factories for yet another week as it continues to grapple with fallout from a cyberattack.<\/p>\n Battery materials startup Sila started operations at its facility in Moses Lake, Washington, a milestone that could pave the way for longer-range, faster-charging EVs. The factory is the first large-scale silicon anode factory<\/a> in the West and will initially be capable of making enough battery materials for 20,000 to 50,000 EVs. Future expansion could fulfill demand for as many as 2.5 million vehicles.<\/p>\n Automakers continue to pull back on EVs and electrified vehicles. Honda is ending U.S. production of its Acura ZDX electric vehicle<\/a> that was being built by General Motors in Tennessee, CNBC reported. And Stellantis has canceled plans<\/a> to produce a 4xe plug-in hybrid Jeep Gladiator in North America by the end of 2025. Which EV is next on the chopping block?<\/p>\n The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation<\/a> into Rivian over issues with the seat belts in its electric delivery vans that could introduce additional risk in the event of a crash, Bloomberg reported.<\/p>\n Tesla asked the Environmental Protection Agency not to roll back<\/a> current vehicle emissions standards, breaking from other major automakers that want to see the rules eased.<\/p>\n TuneIn, an audio streaming service, is collaborating with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to deliver emergency alerts<\/a> directly to drivers.<\/p>\n Volvo Cars is pledging a commitment to U.S. production. The company said it will continue to invest in its U.S. car plant near Charleston, South Carolina, and announced plans to expand the factory to produce a hybrid vehicle<\/a> by the end of the decade.<\/p>\n Waymo launched \u201cWaymo for Business,\u201d<\/a> a new service designed for companies to set up accounts so their employees can access robotaxis in cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco.<\/p>\n Image Credits:Bryce Durbin <\/p>\n
Image Credits:Bryce Durbin <\/p>\n
Image Credits:Bryce Durbin <\/p>\n