TechCrunch Mobility is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation Sign up here \u2014\u00a0just click TechCrunch Mobility<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free.<\/em><\/p>\n Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility \u2013 the same weekly newsletter you\u2019ve been reading, but with a new name and a few changes.<\/p>\n As I mentioned last week, this is still your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation! This week, read about how Mercedes<\/strong> mistakenly exposed its source code, the latest in the Cruise-GM<\/strong> saga, Tesla\u2019s<\/strong> EV sales warning and more.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Economic headwinds might be easing a bit, but companies are still getting squeezed. Autonomous vehicle and EV startups \u2014 even those that have since gone public \u2014 are trying to cut costs in hopes of extending their capital runway. Aurora Innovation<\/strong>, for instance, laid off about 3% of its workforce<\/a>; EV company Polestar<\/strong> confirmed to TechCrunch it has also cut about 15% of its global workforce, Flexport<\/strong> is reportedly looking to axe another 20% of jobs<\/a> and package delivery company Veho said that it laid off 19%<\/a> of its corporate\/exempt employee headcount.<\/p>\n Now, a few little birds are telling us that Canoo<\/strong> and\u00a0Faraday Future<\/strong> \u2014 both EV startups that went public via mergers with special purpose acquisition companies \u2014 are either reducing salaries or furloughing employees. Faraday has confirmed it has reduced salaries and furloughed employees without providing more detail. Sources tell us that Canoo is also furloughing workers.<\/p>\n Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec<\/strong>\u00a0at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com<\/a> or Sean O\u2019Kane<\/strong> sean.okane@techcrunch.com<\/a>.<\/em>\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 Over at the TC climate desk, reporter Harri Weber spoke to ArcTern<\/strong> Managing Partner Murray McCaig<\/strong> about its third (and recently closed) $335 million fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n ArcTern plans to pump this capital into climate-focused startups that can deliver super quick returns. Specifically, the Toronto-based firm is focused on startups that use proven tech in new ways. And his bet? Decarbonizing mobility. Though electric vehicle sales have slowed lately, McCaig sees this as a \u201cblip.\u201d<\/p>\n The VC believes North America is about to reach a tipping point where EV adoption takes off like a rocket, as it has in Norway.<\/p>\n Other deals that got my attention \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n Clearmotion<\/strong> raised an additional $4 million, bringing its Series B round to about $43 million, according to a recent Form D filing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Corvus Energy<\/strong>, an energy storage and fuel cell systems company focused on maritime, offshore and port applications, secured an undisclosed investment from Woven Capital, Toyota\u2019s growth fund.<\/p>\n Monta<\/strong>, an EV charging software startup based in Copenhagen, raised \u20ac80 million<\/a> ($86.9 million) in Series B funding round co-led by Energize Capital, GreenPoint Partners and Denmark\u2019s state-backed Export and Investment Fund.<\/p>\n Sion Power<\/strong>, a Tucson, Arizona-based lithium-metal battery developer, raised $75 million<\/a> from battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution, mathematician and investor Jim Simons\u2019s Euclidean Capital and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt\u2019s family office management company Hillspire LLC.<\/p>\n Vroom<\/strong> is shutting down<\/a> its online used car marketplace and shifting all of its resources and capital into two business units focused on auto financing and AI-powered analytics. About 800 employees, or 90% of its workforce, will lose their jobs as a result.<\/p>\n The internal review<\/a> of Cruise<\/strong> and the October 2 event that led to the GM<\/strong> subsidiary losing its permits to operate robotaxis in California finally dropped. The tl;dr via the report conducted by Quinn Emanuel<\/strong>: Cruise didn\u2019t purposely mislead regulators. So what went wrong at Cruise? A lack of judgement, missteps by leadership, an \u201cus versus them\u201d relationship with regulators and a fixation on correcting the inaccurate media narrative that the Cruise AV, not the human-driven Nissan, had caused the accident were all contributing factors to the company\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n Cruise also revealed that the Department of Justice<\/strong> and the Securities and Exchange Commission<\/strong> have also opened investigations into the company. Pretty much 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.<\/p>\n Finally, the 195-page also included in its appendix a heavily redacted report by Exponent that looked into the technical problems on October 2, specifically why the robotaxi initiated a pullover maneuver that then dragged the pedestrian who was trapped underneath. More to come on that front.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Porsche <\/strong>took the wraps off of two variants of the Macan EV<\/a>, a long-delayed project that will test whether consumers still have the drive to spring for an electric vehicle that costs more than $78,000.<\/p>\n Tesla<\/strong> kicked off earnings season<\/a> with a bit of a stinker. Yes, the company delivered a record 1.8 million EVs in 2023, but profits suffered (especially when looking at its operating income) due to its price cuts that squeezed margins as well as higher R&D expenses and the cost of bringing the Cybertruck into production. While solar deployments declined, energy storage<\/a> was one of the rosier areas, with 125% growth year-over-year.<\/p>\n Mercedes-Benz<\/strong> accidentally exposed a trove of internal data<\/a> after leaving a private key online that gave \u201cunrestricted access\u201d to the company\u2019s source code<\/p>\n Tesla<\/strong> plans to spend $500 million to build one of its so-called \u201cDojo\u201d supercomputers<\/a> at its Buffalo, New York factory,\u00a0the state\u2019s governor Kathy Hochul announced during a Friday a news conference, just days after CEO Elon Musk called the project a \u201clong shot.\u201d Musk also made an interesting comment on social media that downplayed the investment, noting the company would spend far more money on Nvidia hardware in 2024.<\/p>\nA little bird<\/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, batteries & charging<\/h3>\n
Software and other in-car tech<\/h3>\n
This week\u2019s wheels<\/h2>\n
![\"ride1up](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/ride1up.jpg\")
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