The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation. Sign up here — just click The Station — to receive the full newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free.
Welcome to the station that is central to all past, present and future means of moving people and goods from point A to point B.
Before we get into our regular news roundup, I want you to pay attention to Seeker, a premium electric vehicle brand owned by China’s Geely Holdings. You may recall that about a month ago Zeekr secretly filed for an initial public offering in the United States. His Zeekr, which will be spun out of Geely, is looking to raise more than $1 billion and is reportedly seeking a valuation of more than $10 billion, according to an initial report by Reuters.
Zeekr is busy scaling up as the IPO process progresses. and in a big way. Zeekr already employs about 4,500 people, according to the company. We are now aiming to add two-thirds of workers to our roster.
The company posted on Wechat this week that it is hiring 3,000 new employees in more than 30 cities around the world, including R&D centers in Ningbo and Shanghai, China, and Gothenburg, Sweden. It has also opened an office in Silicon Valley, although the exact location has yet to be determined.
Most of these posts are about R&D and engineering in areas such as software, battery management, thermal management and electrical/electronic architecture. The company said several hundred units are for its sales network.
Zeekr isn’t even two years old yet. Get ready to start hearing more from this brand.
You may remember that I wrote about how to do that last week. Tesla and the CEO Elon Musk It was in some kind of pressure cooker.
The pressure continues to mount as new insights emerge into the infamous 2016 “Painted In Black” video that promoted Tesla’s alleged “self-driving” technology. A senior engineer testified that the video was a fake and that Musk apparently oversaw the direction of the video and dictated the words that the car was driving itself that popped up at the beginning of the video. It’s been criticized, so for many this comes as no surprise, validating their stance.
The question is, can it be argued that consumers and shareholders (perhaps in court) were duped by videos that convinced them that Tesla’s self-driving technology was better than it actually was?
Meanwhile, Tesla’s price cut earlier this month appears to have kicked off a price war with rivals like China. Xpeng Reduce the cost of EVs. Tesla has his one weapon that other automakers lack. He is one of the highest profit margins in the industry.
Tesla earned a gross profit of $15,653 per vehicle in Q3 2022. That’s more than twice as many as him for the Volkswagen Group, four times as many as him for Toyota and five times as many as him for Ford Motor Company, according to Reuters analysis.
Price competition is not always successful. But high profit margins buy Tesla some time.
Oh, and against that backdrop, a trial is underway in San Francisco to answer the question of whether Musk is an imposter or whether his words are too careless. In 2018, Musk’s infamous tweet revealed a potential value of $420 per share as funds were “secured” to take Tesla private. Tesla shareholders who traded shares in the company days after Musk’s tweet are suing executives for billions of dollars in damages.
Please contact us at tips@techcrunch.com. If you wish to remain anonymous, Click here to contact uswhich includes SecureDrop (Click here for instructions) and various encrypted messaging apps.
micro mobin
people in micromobility industry hosted an online Micromobility World event this week with top speakers such as Kara Swisher, Gabe Klein and Matthew Yglesias. I heard Yglesias talk about how important land use reform is to micromobility adoption.
As communities grow and new housing is added, more cars will inevitably join the roads, exacerbating current traffic problems. It says it needs to provide solutions and make it easy for residents to get where they need to be by bike or scoot.
“It just means taking geometry seriously, so if everyone always carries empty space with them wherever they go, we don’t fit in and just this kind of pessimistic, zero-sum, Oh my god,” said Iglesias.
In other news…
under (formerly Brooklyness), a Brooklyn-based e-scooter subscription and retail company, is shutting down. Founder Manuel Saez said, “We had a great performance, but ultimately, supply chain delays and the overall macroeconomic climate made it difficult for us to secure funding to grow our business. I can no longer,” he wrote in an email blast.
Gogoro Establish in cooperation with Maharashtra, India Statewide battery charging Replace infrastructure as part of a $2.5 billion deal.
hellbiz teeth Exit from unprofitable markets By spring 2023, we are actively seeking to enter new markets that may be more sustainable.
I didn’t know this was a thing, but apparently JapanJapanese e-scooter riders needed a driver’s license to ride the vehicle. from July of this yearriders of stand-up electric scooters with a maximum speed of 20 km/h no longer need a license, but must follow the same rules as cyclists.
check this out podcast from new republic They discuss the high cost of cheap e-bikes, fires caused by poor quality lithium batteries, who are most at risk, the challenges of regulating e-bikes, and the consequences of our on-demand culture. increase.
Parisian I’m voting this weekend on whether they want to Ban free-floating e-scooters or not. In the short term, renewal of Lime, Dott, and Tier permits will be an issue. But in the long run, Paris’ decision could affect how other cities treat shared e-scooters.
ride one up Revv1 e-bike launched, a moped-style bicycle that can reach 20 mph with throttle or pedal assist. The bike is priced at $1,899 for the front suspension version and $2,399 for the full suspension model.
Ah washington dc Councilors have Proposed Rebates over $400 on e-bikes.
Sale of the week
This didn’t get a lot of attention in the US, but it was worth noting. hesai, The Chinese lidar company, widely regarded as a major supplier of sensors, has filed for a $100 million IPO and plans to list on the Nasdaq exchange.
Hesai has attracted a lot of venture capital in his lifetime, with more than $500 million to date from strategic backers including Baidu, Xiaomi on-demand service giant Meituan, CPE, Citic’s private equity platform, VC firm GL Ventures and Lightspeed. are procured. Venture Partners and Qiming Venture Partners.
I wrote about Hesai as part of a larger article on the lidar industry and how there are still many companies out there. Result is? Many rider companies will be sifted into his 2023. The year ahead is going to be a “do it or fail” moment for those who remain.
Hesai is currently in a leadership position, but that may not always be the case. And it’s still not profitable. Note that unlike many other lidar companies, Hesai actually manufactures and ships the sensors to generate revenue. In its securities report, the company reports that in his first nine months of the year, he made $112 million in revenue, and during the same period he posted a net loss of $23 million.
Other deals that caught my attention…
black sesame technologyThe developer of AI chips and systems for cars is considering an IPO in Hong Kong, Bloomberg reported.
macro fabis a cloud manufacturing platform for building electronics from prototype to large-scale production in a $42 million round led by Foundry with participation from BMW i Ventures and existing investors Edison Partners and ATX Venture Partners. procured.
PioneerThe Golden, Colorado start-up is developing a self-driving electric yard truck.Other new investors include B37 Ventures, Lineage Ventures, Presidio Ventures, Sumitomo Corporation’s venture arm, and ROBO Global Ventures. Existing backers Koch Disruptive Technologies and New Enterprise Associates also participated.
VoltaAcquired by US subsidiary of oil company, EV charging network operator shell $169 million.
WasabiToronto-based self-driving truck startup has landed Volvo Group Venture Capital AB As a strategic investor. The companies have not disclosed the investment amount or many other details about the transaction. Waabi claims that the Volvo installation will provide access to the automaker’s extensive industry network, helping it explore large-scale commercialization opportunities.
Notable reading and other information
self-driving car
aurora Presenting AV industry predictions and one of its key takeaways (this is from the CFO) is this a nugget: “Independent AV companies will be able to move faster towards product deployment and profitability.”
electric vehicle, charging, battery
flashing charge announced exclusive contract When Mitsubishi Motors North America We provide Bling chargers and installation services to all manufacturer’s dealers.
chevrolet the announcement 2024 Corvette E-Ray, the first semi-electric version of the iconic sports car. E-Ray is powered by his small 6.2L V8 engine and electric motor. Charges the battery during regenerative braking and coasting.
EVgo launch EVgo ReNewThis is a maintenance program designed to help you avoid encountering multiple broken charging ports when you finally find a much-needed public charging station.
hertz starting Public-private partnership initiatives, Hertz Electrifies will bring 5,200 rental EVs into the city in Denver, increasing charging capacity at airports and Hertz locations, supporting the installation of public EV chargers, and more. The company hopes to extend this partnership model to other cities in the future.
Kate is a new micro EV car company apparently inspired by Mini Moke.
level Adding 5 new EV fast charging hubs Added a total of 136 public charging stations to New York City.
people
Joby Air Appointed Lt. Gen. Scott Howell, former commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), to the company’s advisory board.
Kodiak Robotics Former USA Truck CEO Named james reed as its chief operating officer.
TuSimple Appointment of independent directors James Lu When Wendy Hayes Appointed to the government’s Security Committee after receiving a no objection from the Foreign Investment in the United States Committee.
Wisquaaro Representative Director Gary Gaishin retired from his position. He will also retire from his board of directors effective February 1, 2023. Dr. Brian Yutko will become the new CEO. Until recently, Yutko was Vice President and Chief of Sustainability and Future Mobility at Boeing, where he was an engineer.
ride hail
Didi have got approval from china After an 18-month investigation by the national cyberspace watchdog, we are resuming ride-hailing services.of The Cybersecurity Review Office was investigating whether Did’s cross-border data practices were secure before being published in the US
authorities Tanzania Have raised the fees Preferred by dispatch companies uber When bolt It can charge the driver from 15% to 25%. Good news for corporate bottom line, bad news for driver bottom line.
uber expanded agreement When hertz We will provide up to 25,000 EVs to ride-hailing drivers in major European cities by 2025. in the race to electrificationthe company is also negotiating with automakers to sacrifice speed and even produce one- and two-wheeled EVs to lower sticker prices.