Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.<\/p>\n
Your usual host Kirsten was shredding off-road at the Rebelle Rally this week, so I\u2019ll be taking over the newsletter. Let\u2019s jump in with a few words about Tesla.<\/p>\n
Ah, but before Rebecca does .\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0it\u2019s me, Kirsten, popping in here to share a bit of what I saw and experienced at Rebelle Rally 2023<\/a><\/strong>, a 2,120-kilometer off-road and navigation competition. In its eighth year, the Rebelle has become a proving ground of sorts for the 65 all-women teams who participate as well as stock manufacturer vehicles. The catch? GPS and other electronic devices are strictly prohibited.<\/p>\n So what am I checking out at this seemingly<\/em> non-tech event? EVs and tech, of course. Oh, and green hydrogen, believe it or not.<\/p>\n There were 10 vehicles out of the 65 that fell into the electrified category such as the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe. Four of those vehicles \u2014 all of them Rivian R1T pickups \u2014 were electric. And this year, one Rivian team took first place in the 4\u00d74 class (there are two classes in the Rebelle) \u2014 the first time an all-electric vehicle was on the top podium. The first place finishers, driver Lillian Macaruso and navigator Alexandra Anderson, are both employees of Rivian.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n OK, Rebecca, back to you.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Tesla<\/b> reported its third-quarter earnings this week, and once again,<\/span> all eyes were on the automaker\u2019s margins<\/span><\/a> amid ongoing price cuts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Tesla\u2019s shares, which are priced more as a tech stock than as an automaker\u2019s stock, were down after Q3 earnings. Investors were clearly feeling skittish after Tesla reported a gross margin of 17.9%, down from 25.1% in the same period last year. That\u2019s also down from Q2\u2019s margins of 18.2%. As a result, <\/span>profits fell 44%<\/span><\/a> to $1.85 billion in Q3 from the same year-ago period.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Investors see the falling margins and Tesla\u2019s price cuts as proof that demand is lessening for the vehicles as other EVs take market share and rising interest rates make it difficult for many buyers to afford big ticket purchases. <\/span>The company also reported that solar deployments slipped 48%<\/a> in Q3 from the same period last year. But the company made up for it by pulling in a 90% spike in energy storage deployments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Tesla also gave some updates about its long-delayed Cybertruck. Initial deliveries are set for an event at Giga Texas on <\/span>November 30<\/span><\/a>. Elon Musk noted that scaling the Cybertruck will be hard and it will take 18 months <\/span>before the pickup is profitable<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI mean, we dug our own grave with Cybertruck,\u201d said Musk.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The billionaire executive also said Giga Texas will be able to produce about 250,000 Cybertrucks a year starting in 2025. But let\u2019s remember that Musk isn\u2019t great at making predictions. After all, he initially said the Cybertruck would be on the market by 2021. Expect some of these numbers to be pushed out, too.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Want to reach out with a tip, comment or complaint? Email Kirsten at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com\u00a0<\/a>or Rebecca at rebecca.techcrunch@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>\n Reminder that you can drop us a\u00a0note at\u00a0tips@techcrunch.com<\/a>.\u00a0If you prefer to remain anonymous<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/em>click here to contact us<\/em><\/a>, which includes SecureDrop (<\/em>instructions here<\/em><\/a>) and various encrypted messaging apps.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n This week was the trade show Micromobility America<\/b>. Here are some of the best bits that came out of it:<\/p>\n Bird<\/b> is now doing e-bikes again? But instead of the VanMoof knockoff of previous years, Bird has partnered with TradeHubb<\/b>, an e-bike supplier, and Spring<\/b>, a strategic retail growth company, to launch the bike. You might recall that Bird last year ditched its retail bike offering<\/a> to focus on shared rides in an attempt to reach profitability. The struggling company was also recently delisted from the stock market. Who knows what\u2019s going on behind the scenes? I tried reaching out to learn more, but no response. If you have a tip, hit me up!<\/p>\n The team at Ride Review<\/b> launched the Rider\u2019s Choice Awards<\/a> again, for those who want to vote. Winners will be announced January 25.<\/p>\n The folks behind Micromobility America also launched the Electric Rider Alliance<\/b>, a 501c6 membership organization that is set up to \u201ccreate a level playing field in the transportation industry for the small electric vehicle ecosystem through standards, lobbying and governance.\u201d<\/p>\n In other news\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n Bolt Mobility<\/b> is introducing distance-based pricing for some of its micromobility vehicles. The aim here is to incentivize riders to slow down and ride more safely, rather than racing the clock.<\/p>\n An e-scooter that looks like a Cybertruck? Check out Infinite Machine<\/b>\u2019s first product, the P1, which is on sale now<\/a>.<\/p>\n Meet Shane<\/b>, a two-wheeled EV concept space-pod-looking thing<\/a> from the creator of the original hoverboard, Shane Chen.<\/p>\n Kirsten here again! Convoy<\/strong> isn\u2019t a traditional deal of the week, but its collapse sure got my attention.<\/p>\n The digital freight broker told employees this past week it was shutting down due to what executives described as a \u201cmassive freight recession.\u201d It turns out that disrupting the freight business is hard.<\/p>\n The abrupt closure, which wiped out investors, comes about 18 months since the Seattle-based company raised $260 million<\/a> in fresh funding that pushed its valuation to $3.8 billion.<\/p>\n I went back and read an interview TechCrunch conducted<\/a> with Convoy co-founder and CEO Dan Lewis<\/strong>. A few things he said stuck out, namely what led him to start the company in the first place. The former Amazon and Google executive, who has a background in strategy and management consulting, told TechCrunch that when he was struck by the urge to start a company, he researched the money-attracting industries of the world, and then, using AngelList, saw how many companies were trying to disrupt those industries.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the nugget:<\/p>\n His search yielded thousands of companies that were working on industries ranging from telecommunications and fashion to video games and food. Billions of dollars were going into trucking each year but fewer than 30 startups showed an interest in the field.<\/p>\n \u201cI saw a massive opportunity and few people going after it,\u201d Lewis told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n And then later, when asked if his method of deciding on a direction for a startup is still a good method, Lewis said, in short, yes. Read the whole interview<\/a> from May 2022 here.<\/p>\n Other deals that got our attention\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Hayden AI<\/strong>, an AI and geospatial analytics company, raised $53 million in a Series B funding round led by the Drawdown Fund. The company\u2019s tech is being used by government agencies to enforce traffic violations that obstruct transit buses and capture data to help increase ridership and improve traffic efficiency.<\/p>\n Laka<\/strong>, a European mobility insurtech company for e-bike riders, acquired Cylantro<\/strong>, a French e-bike insurance broker. The company also announced a \u20ac7.6 million round lead by Shift4Good alongside Ponooc, Autotech Ventures, ABN Amro Ventures, Porsche Ventures and others.<\/p>\n Commercial fleet insurance startup Nirvana Insurance<\/strong> has raised a $57 million Series B<\/a> to expand its big data platform, hire new staff and grow its business in the trucking industry. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round, with General Catalyst and Valor Equity Partners also participating. The round doubles Nirvana\u2019s valuation to more than $350 million post-money.<\/p>\n Supply chain logistics company Transfix <\/strong>raised a $40 million Series F. The company is backed by New Enterprise Associates, G Squared and Canvas Ventures.<\/p>\n EV charging company Wallbox<\/strong> has acquired the operations and assets of German-based EV charging solutions startup ABL<\/strong> for \u20ac15 million. Together the plan is to deploy more than 1 million chargers globally.<\/p>\n Volta Trucks <\/strong>filed for bankruptcy proceedings in Sweden as difficulties with suppliers proved a hindrance to raising funds. Volta said the bankruptcy in August of Proterra, an EV parts supplier, and the uncertainty over its own battery supplier means it needed to cut down the number of trucks it could produce. Volta, which is based in Sweden but has operations in the U.K., also said it would file for bankruptcy in Britain.<\/p>\n Cruise, General Motors<\/strong> and Honda<\/strong> are launching a robotaxi service in Japan<\/a> under a new joint venture. The service will launch with Origin vehicles in Tokyo in 2026.<\/p>\n Speaking of Cruise<\/strong>, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) <\/strong>has opened an investigation<\/a> into the GM subsidiary\u2019s AV system following several incidents involving pedestrians in San Francisco. The most recent one left a woman stuck under a Cruise robotaxi after being hit by a human-driven vehicle.<\/p>\n Foxconn<\/strong> and Nvidia<\/strong> are building \u201cAI factories<\/a>\u201d to help accelerate AVs, robotics and other smart applications. The AI factories position the two against Tesla, which is building the Dojo supercomputer to do more or less the same thing \u2014 take in vast amounts of data, train it, tweak code and send it back out to self-driving cars.<\/p>\n Waymo<\/strong> released a lightweight simulator called Waymax<\/a> for the AV research community. The simulator is designed to train multiple agents to perform complex, realistic behaviors.<\/p>\n BMW Group <\/strong>says it will adopt the NACS charging standard in the U.S. and Canada. Drivers of BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce brands will gain access to Tesla Superchargers in early 2025, and in that same year, BMW says it will implement NACS in EVs sold in the U.S. and Canada across those same brands.<\/p>\n Speaking of NACS, global EV charging network ChargePoint<\/strong> has officially opened its AC and DC piles and is now deploying NACS connectors across its network.<\/p>\n General Motors<\/strong> is delaying its $4 billion plan<\/a> to convert the Orion Assembly plant into an EV truck factory to late 2025 amid softening EV demand and, we\u2019re guessing, the ongoing UAW strike.<\/p>\n Kia <\/strong>has started taking reservations for its EV9<\/a> full-sized SUV. Reservations are $750 and can be applied to the purchase of the company. This is one of the first vehicles Kia has allowed customers to reserve in advance.<\/p>\n Lucid<\/strong> missed Wall Street delivery estimates<\/a> in the third quarter by about 500 vehicles. The automaker delivered 1,457 of its luxury Air sedans, reporting flat growth year-over-year. The results sent shares down as investors worried about softening demand for Lucid\u2019s only EV.<\/p>\n California-based EV startup Pebble<\/strong> unveiled a prototype of its flagship all-electric travel trailer<\/a>. The $100,000 EV is designed to support a digital nomad looking to get lost in the wilderness \u2014 it can live off-grid for seven days.<\/p>\n Commercial EV startup REE Automotive <\/strong>has reported an order book that now totals $25 million for its modular battery EV platforms, dedicated to B2B customers.<\/p>\n About 10,000 of Rivian<\/strong>\u2019s all-electric vans are delivering packages<\/a> throughout the U.S. for Amazon.<\/strong><\/p>\n Tesla<\/strong> has urged the Biden administration to adopt stricter fuel economy standards than the NHTSA has proposed. Most other automakers have already said the NHTSA\u2019s proposal was unfeasible, so Tesla\u2019s call on regulators to double down seems to be yet another way the EV maker can one-up its competitors<\/a>.<\/p>\n Toyota <\/strong>has also joined the NACS bandwagon. The automaker will build certain Toyota and Lexus vehicles from 2025 onward with an NACS port.<\/p>\n EVTOL company Archer Aviation<\/strong> plans to start air taxi operations in Abu Dhabi <\/a>in 2026. From there, Archer says it will expand across the UAE as part of a memorandum of understanding with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office.<\/p>\n The United Auto Workers<\/strong> strike is affecting CES<\/a>. Stellantis<\/strong> canceled its planned presentations for the tech trade show in January, citing the cost of ongoing UAW strikes.<\/p>\n Zipcar<\/strong> is getting hit with a fine<\/a> from the NHTSA for \u201crenting vehicles with open, unrepaired recalls.\u201d One recall concerns 2015\u20132017 Ford Transit Vans, which continued to appear on Zipcar\u2019s platform despite safety issues with the vehicles.<\/p>\n Autobrains<\/strong> hired Uri Yacovy, a former SVP at Mobileye, as its chief operating officer.<\/p>\n Logistics company Flexport <\/strong>is laying off 20% of workers<\/a>, or about 600 people, topping off a spate of staff upheavals at the company.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nMicromobbin\u2019<\/h2>\n
Deal of the week<\/h2>\n
![\"money](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/money-the-station.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nNotable reads and other tidbits<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/the-station-ride-hailing1.png\")
<\/a><\/h3>\nAutonomous vehicles<\/h3>\n
Electric vehicles, charging & batteries<\/h3>\n
Future of flight<\/h3>\n
Miscellaneous<\/h3>\n
People<\/h3>\n