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Welcome back to Mobility TechCrunch — your central hub for news and ideas about the future of transportation. This week's news includes a bmw safety gap that exposed confidential information, reaction of a federal agency for an anti-Tesla Super Bowl ad and a new federal investigation into fisker.
But first, a few words about my recent visit to Detroit, where I met with some Ford executives to find out what they are focused on for 2024 and beyond.
It's safe to say that Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers and tesla They are the most important thing; And in the view of Ford executives, a low-cost electric vehicle and cutting-edge software are the best ways to thwart those threats. From the company Electric vehicle skunkworks projectwhich recently came to light, is responsible for that task.
Ford CFO John Lawler He didn't mince his words during an interview at the company's headquarters.
“We have to assume they will eventually be here,” Lawler said. “China has been searching for its world champion for decades. They couldn't get there with a traditional gas vehicle; Back in 2010 they saw the evidence that electric was the way to go and they have been subsidizing and focusing on that ever since.”
Lawler said Chinese automakers are now competitive. Now armed with production capacity and “fantastic” designs, China is moving into other regions.
“It's not a short-stakes game; It’s long,” Lawler said. “So everyone is thinking about the next few years, they are thinking about the next 25 or 30 years. They won't worry about what's happening now. “They will continue to grow their footprint and their brands, they will continue to develop their technology and advance the advanced development of their vehicles, and eventually there will be nothing that can stop it.”
China and Tesla aren't the only concerns dealing with their collective gray matter. Ford CEO Jim Farley It also intends to recoup $2 billion in cost savings across the company's entire industrial system. A big part of that is improving the quality of new vehicles, which is directly related to warranty costs, and was a point he emphasized during a recent interview at Wolfe Research's Global Auto and Auto Tech Conference in New York.
Come on!
a little bird
A little bird pointed us to a recent presentation on Future Faraday That caught our attention. For those unfamiliar, Faraday Future is an electric vehicle startup that went public in 2021 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. Once upon a time, Faraday Future was as buzzy as a startup could get. But years of internal drama, a revolving door of executives and federal investigations have the company hanging by its financial strings.
Now it seems that the company is at risk of lose its headquarters in Los Angeles. The business owner sued to get the commercial space back after Faraday Future failed to pay rent. The current bill is around $1 million.
Do you have a suggestion for us? Email Kirsten Korosec in kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com either Sean O'Kane sean.okane@techcrunch.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, Click here to contact uswhich includes SecureDrop (instructions here) and various encrypted messaging applications.
Offer of the week
There is no offer of the week! Instead, here's a list of deals that caught my eye.
Celadinea hydrogen fuel cell startup, raised 4.5 million dollars in a seed round it was co-led by Maniv and Dynamo Ventures, with significant participation from EPS Ventures.
RollickThe Brooklyn-based startup initially known for its fleet of profitable blue electric mopeds is reportedly trying to raise $200 million in capital. Bloomberg reported. The company closed its moped sharing business in November and is now trying to develop electric transportation and electric vehicle fast charging businesses.
Wandera Kenyan electric vehicle startup, has raised $24 million in a Series A round, which includes a debt commitment of up to $10 million from the United States International Development Finance Corporation. Equator, an Africa-focused climate technology venture capital fund, led the round. At One Ventures, TES Ventures, Renew Capital, The World We Want and One Small Planet also participated.
Skylo Technologiesa provider of direct-to-device satellite connectivity services, 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.
velocisa startup developing sustainable aviation fuel, raised $40 million from Carbon Direct Capital, Lightrock, GenZero and Kibo Investments.
Notable readings and other tidbits
ADA
G.M. is expanding access to Super Cruise, with plans to allow drivers to use the advanced driver assistance system hands-free in approximately 750,000 miles of roads in the United States and Canada. The expansion will nearly double the automaker's Super Cruise network by 2025 and includes rural and minor roads.
He National Transportation Safety Board ordered the Sunrise Project organization for stop using your seal after he appeared in a Super Bowl ad calling on consumers to boycott Tesla.
autonomous vehicles
Cruise called Steve Kennera veteran of the autonomous vehicle industry who has held senior safety positions at Kodiak, Locomation, Aurora and Uber's now-defunct self-driving division, as his first “security director”. My take: This is a position Cruise should have had years ago. Meanwhile, Cruise lost another key employee. Carl Jenkins, head of hardware at Cruise, give up Of the company.
May Mobility laid off 40 peopleor about 13% of its staff.
San Francisco Giants are changing the Cruise Robotaxi Uniform Patch for a less controversial one advertised by Chevrolet, another GM brand.
Waymo voluntarily remembered the software which is boosting its robotaxi fleet after two vehicles collided with the same towed van in Phoenix, Arizona, in December. It is the company's first recall. As journalist Sean O'Kane points out, the recall comes at a time when self-driving cars are facing intense scrutiny following a series of high-profile accidents and controversies, including this week when a crowd of people in San Francisco they invaded, destroyed and They set fire to a Waymo robotaxi.
Electric vehicles, charging and batteries.
electric vehicles Had a red-hot 2023, but December data shows sales cooling, Automotive News Reported. New electric vehicle registrations increased 52% in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to data from S&P Global Mobility. Electric vehicles now account for 7.7% of the U.S. light vehicle market, up from 5.7% a year ago.
Lucid engines the price dropped of its Air luxury sedan by thousands of dollars. Lucid also caught the attention of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this week. Regulators opened an investigation into a Lucid Windshield defroster recall starting in January, saying it's “concerned” about the company's over-the-air update solution. doesn't go far enough to solve the problem. Is NHTSA starting to oppose OTAs?
He NHTSA opened a second investigation into the launch of electric vehicles fisker's Ocean SUV, after the agency received four complaints about the the vehicle drives away unexpectedly, including an injury. Fisker also received a notice of noncompliance from the NYSE because its shares have closed below $1 for the last 30 days, according to a regulatory file.
stellantisThe parent company of brands such as Jeep and Chrysler, announced that it will adopt the Tesla model. North American Freight Standard (SNAC). Stellantis is the latest major Western automaker to announce NACS support.
Private transportation and shared transportation
HopSkipDrivethe ride-sharing startup for young people, surpassed two new keys California emissions standards in 2023, a milestone the company believes will strengthen its case for relying more on ride-hailing vehicles to ferry children and teens to and from school.
This week's wheels
Image credits: Kirsten Korosec
During my short trip to Michigan, I used a 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E drive to several meetings in Dearborn and Detroit. (The press car was courtesy of Ford.)
My main interest was in Blue Cruise, the hands-free active driver assistance system. I had plenty of time to test it thanks to several 20- to 30-mile daily trips, most of which were on highways. I was testing the Blue Cruise 1.3 version, which accelerates or brakes to maintain a selected following distance from the vehicle in front, keeps the vehicle centered in the lane, and steers. When the driver activates the turn signal, the vehicle will change lanes. It will also suggest passing if traffic is slow.
What I liked: It's easy to activate Blue Cruise and it's very clear when the system is handling the driving. Passing is crisp and the vehicle doesn't ping-pong within the lane, which is common with other systems. My only niggling criticism is that the word “ready” illuminates green in the instrument cluster just below Blue Cruise, when it's activated (see photo). That “ready” has nothing to do with Blue Cruise and, rather, is intended to let the EV driver know that their vehicle is ready to drive. I'm sure drivers will get used to it, but I can also see it causing some confusion.
A feature I loved: I could take the helm and Blue Cruise would still be busy. I know in some circles this is frowned upon because the driver could get confused. However, I hate how often I accidentally disable other systems like Tesla's Autopilot by moving the steering wheel too much.