Trucks | Future of Transportation for 2026.09.28
FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital

Notable

Waymo's fleet: 4000 cars and growing (link). 'About 80% of Waymo’s roughly 4,000 robotaxis are in California and Texas, and Texas is where the action is now: Waymo’s fleet there has grown by nearly half in the past three weeks, fueled by a new Chinese-built minivan the company is betting will help it scale, even as tariffs drive up its costs.' To put this in perspective, the next largest AV-only fleets are Pony and WeRide in China (about 2000 cars each).

Saudi Arabia's first car brand, Ceer (a PIF-Foxconn JV, with tech licensing from BMW), launches its wedge-shaped sedan and SUV EV (link). We will know if Ceer has a long term impact on the region when we see suppliers building more engineering there.

China speed: Geely's new EV battery can charge up to 70% in 4.5 minutes (link).

The US is expected to announce new fuel mandates on Monday, rolling back Biden-era decisions (link). 'Under former President Joe Biden’s standards, automakers would have had to increase the fuel efficiency of their passenger cars and light trucks to roughly 50 miles per gallon by 2031.'

'In the private jet age, the quiet allure of private rail' (link). 'Chartering the car without Amtrak fees, food or crew costs $2,750 per day. He said he spends $50,000 per year on maintenance, though he declined to say how much he paid for the car. It sleeps six people, fits 20 in its dining room, and eight in its lounge.'

Video: first drive in a Tesla Semi (link). Video: visualizing every French passenger train on a normal Tuesday (link). Video: the rise and fall of Schwinn bicycles, as told by the great grandson of the founder (link). Via Diego. Video: riding along in Aurora's AV truck (link). Video: Waymo drives through farmers market in Denver (link). Video: Woof: archival footage of the first tests of the Lancia Delta S4 Group B prototype in 1984 (link). Via Phil F.

On the 2026 Pittsburgh Parallel Parking championship (link). As authored by Mark Slavonia who attended (finished somewhere in the middle of a field of 41).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Wayve partners with Mercedes-Benz on ADAS system, to debut within 2 years (link). All of these Wayve ADAS deals w/ OEMs are a signal that Mobileye's ADAS leadership was temporary.

Skyryse and BAE Systems Australia are partnering to explore automated flight systems for helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft (link). The partnership will target defense, government, and commercial customers.

Indian EV two-wheeler startup Ultraviolette raises $85M (link). Led by Yali Capital.

Florida’s private railroad Brightline files for bankruptcy (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Vertical: Fabrice Bregier named chairman (link).

Lithia Motors: Heidi O’Neill resigns from board (link).

Curated Jobs:

View over new 1338 active job listings from companies, including Avride (link) and Atoms (link).

Senior Power Electronics Controls Engineer at Auriga Space in Garden Grove, CA, US (link).

New Stuff:

A new $3,000 mini truck sold at Tractor Supply is an adult go-kart (link). Via Nick K.

Add-on ADAS device Comma under federal investigation after fatalities (link).

Researchers show that an attacker can slowly corrupt a self-driving car's bird's-eye-view perception (link). Tiny frame-by-frame changes interjected are too small to catch, achieving an 84.3% success rate at making the system drift.

FAA ends single-pilot Cessna flight exemptions after crashes (link). 'Some Cessna aircraft that typically require two pilots will no longer receive a waiver to be flown by just one, following several fatal accidents and widespread noncompliance with rules for maintaining exemptions, the US Federal Aviation Administration said.'

Patents & Patent Applications:

Ford's patent application shows laser guidelines as lane lines when one isn't available (link).

Statistics / Projections:

Chinese automakers made up nearly 12% of total new-car sales in Europe in August (link). Via Bloomberg / 'Demand for battery and hybrid cars jumped 27% in August.'

Researchers studied whether an external 'small blue light' signaling that a car's ADAS is active changes how closely other drivers follow it (link). A China study of 203 car-following events found that drivers increased their following distance more sharply as speeds rose: 1.60 meters per additional 10 km/h, versus 0.76 meters with the light off.

Thank you:

Thank you to Drake Dukes (link), Charles Hudson (link), Ryan Sells (link) and Qasar Younis (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Auriga Space (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

It is amazing how many drivers, even at the Formula One level, think that the brakes are for slowing the car down (Mario Andretti),

Reilly Brennan