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<\/strong> \u2014 your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. This week\u2019s news includes a BMW<\/strong> security lapse<\/a> that exposed sensitive information, blowback from a federal agency over an anti-Tesla Super Bowl ad\u00a0<\/strong>and a new federal investigation into Fisker<\/strong>.<\/p>\n But first, some words about my recent visit to Detroit, where I met with a few Ford<\/strong> executives to find out what they\u2019re focused on for 2024 and beyond.<\/p>\n It\u2019s safe to say that Chinese EV automakers<\/strong> and Tesla<\/strong> are top of mind; and in the view of Ford execs, a low-cost EV and cutting-edge software are the best ways to thwart those threats. The company\u2019s EV skunkworks project<\/a>, which recently came to light, is charged with that task.<\/p>\n Ford CFO John Lawler<\/strong> didn\u2019t mince words during an interview at the company\u2019s headquarters.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to assume that eventually they\u2019ll be here,\u201d Lawler said. \u201cChina has been looking for its global champion for decades. They couldn\u2019t get there with a traditional gas vehicle; they saw the writing on the wall as early as 2010 that electric was the way to go and they have subsidized and focused on that since then.\u201d<\/p>\n Lawler said Chinese automakers are now competitive. Now armed with production capacity and \u201cfantastic\u201d designs, China is pushing into other regions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a short stakes game; it\u2019s long,\u201d Lawler said. \u201cSo everybody\u2019s thinking about the next couple of years, they\u2019re thinking about the next 25, 30 years. They\u2019re not gonna sweat what\u2019s happening right now. They\u2019ll keep building their footprint and building their brands up, keep building their technology and building out the advanced development of their vehicles, and eventually, there won\u2019t be any stopping it.\u201d<\/p>\n China and Tesla aren\u2019t the only concerns taking up their collective gray matter. Ford CEO Jim Farley<\/strong> is also intent on clawing back $2 billion in cost savings across the company\u2019s industrial system. A big part of that is improving the quality of new vehicles \u2014 which are directly tied to warranty costs \u2014 and was a point he emphasized during a recent interview at Wolfe Research\u2019s Global Auto and Auto Tech Conference in New York.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n A little bird pointed us to a recent filing regarding Faraday Future<\/strong> that got our attention. For the unfamiliar, Faraday Future is an EV startup that went public in 2021 via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. Once upon a time, Faraday Future was about as buzzy as a startup could get. But years of internal drama, a revolving door of executives and federal investigations has the company hanging on the end of its financial threads.<\/p>\n Now it appears the company is at risk of losing its LA headquarters<\/a>. The company\u2019s landlord filed a lawsuit seeking to repossess the commercial space after Faraday Future failed to pay rent. The current bill is close to $1 million.<\/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 No deal of the week! Instead, here\u2019s a list of deals that got my attention.<\/p>\n Celadyne<\/strong>, a hydrogen fuel cell startup, raised $4.5 million<\/a> in a seed round was co-led by Maniv and Dynamo Ventures, with major participation from EPS Ventures.<\/p>\n Revel<\/strong>, the Brooklyn-based startup initially known for its fleet of rentable blue electric mopeds, is reportedly trying to raise $200 million in equity, Bloomberg reported<\/a>. The company shutdown its shared moped business<\/a> in November and is now trying to build out electric ride-hailing and EV fast-charging businesses.<\/p>\n Roam<\/strong>, a Kenyan EV startup, has raised $24 million<\/a> in a Series A round, including up to $10 million debt commitment from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Equator, an Africa-focused climate tech VC fund, led the round At One Ventures, TES Ventures, Renew Capital, The World We Want and One Small Planet also participated.<\/p>\n Skylo Technologies<\/strong>, a direct-to-device satellite connectivity service provider, raised $37 million in a round co-led by Intel Capital and Innovation Endeavors and joined by BMW i Ventures, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Seraphim Space, and Next47.<\/p>\n Velocys<\/strong>, a startup developing sustainable aviation fuel, raised $40 million from Carbon Direct Capital, Lightrock, GenZero and Kibo Investments.<\/p>\n GM<\/strong> is expanding access to Super Cruise, with plans to let drivers use the hands-free advanced driver-assistance system on about 750,000 miles of roads<\/a> in the United States and Canada. The expansion will nearly double the automaker\u2019s Super Cruise network by 2025 and includes rural and minor highways.<\/p>\n The National Transportation Safety Board<\/strong> ordered the Dawn Project<\/strong> organization to stop using its seal<\/a> after it appeared in a Super Bowl ad that called for consumers to boycott Tesla.<\/p>\n Cruise<\/strong> named Steve Kenner<\/strong>, an autonomous vehicle industry veteran who has held top safety roles at Kodiak, Locomation, Aurora and Uber\u2019s now-defunct self-driving division, as its first<\/em> \u201cchief safety officer.\u201d<\/a> My take: This is a position that Cruise should have had years ago. Meanwhile, Cruise lost another key employee. Carl Jenkins, head of hardware at Cruise, resigned<\/a> from the company.<\/p>\n May Mobility<\/strong> laid off 40 people<\/a>, or about 13% of its staff.<\/p>\n San Francisco Giants<\/strong> are swapping out the Cruise robotaxi uniform patch<\/a> for a less controversial one that advertises Chevrolet, another GM brand.<\/p>\n Waymo<\/strong> voluntarily recalled the software<\/a> that powers its robotaxi fleet after two vehicles crashed into the same towed pickup truck in Phoenix, Arizona, in December. It\u2019s the company\u2019s first recall. As reporter Sean O\u2019Kane notes, the recall comes at a time when self-driving cars are facing intense scrutiny following a series of high-profile crashes and controversies, including this week when a crowd of people in San Francisco swarmed, vandalized and torched a Waymo robotaxi<\/a>.<\/p>\n EVs<\/strong> had a white-hot 2023 \u2014 but data in December shows sales are cooling, Automotive News reported<\/a>. New EV registrations rose 52% in 2023 over the previous year, according to data from S&P Global Mobility. EVs now have 7.7% of the U.S. light-vehicle market, up from 5.7% a year earlier.<\/p>\n Lucid Motors<\/strong> dropped the price<\/a> of its luxury Air sedan by thousands of dollars. Lucid also got the attention of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration<\/strong> this week.\u00a0The regulators opened an investigation into a Lucid<\/strong> windshield defroster recall from January, saying it\u2019s \u201cconcerned\u201d the company\u2019s over-the-air update solution doesn\u2019t go far enough<\/a> to fix the problem. Is the NHTSA starting to push back against OTAs?<\/p>\n The NHTSA<\/strong> opened a second investigation into EV startup Fisker<\/strong>\u2018s Ocean SUV, after the agency received four complaints about the vehicle rolling away unexpectedly<\/a>, including one injury. Fisker also received a noncompliance notice from the New York Stock Exchange<\/strong> because its stocks has closed under $1 for the past 30 days, according to a regulatory filing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stellantis<\/strong>, the parent company of brands like Jeep and Chrysler, announced it will adopt Tesla\u2019s North American Charging Standard<\/a> (NACS).\u00a0Stellantis is the last major Western automaker to announce compatibility with NACS.<\/p>\n HopSkipDrive<\/strong>, the youth ride-share startup, beat two new key California emissions standards<\/a> in 2023, an accomplishment the company believes will bolster its case for relying more on shared passenger vehicles to get kids and teens to and from school.<\/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>\nADAS<\/h3>\n
Autonomous vehicles<\/h3>\n
Electric vehicles, charging & batteries<\/h3>\n
Ride-hailing and ride-sharing<\/h3>\n
This week\u2019s wheels<\/h2>\n
![\"ford](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/ford-blue-cruise.jpeg\")
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