Trucks | Future of Transportation for 2026.01.12
FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital

Notable

CES once again felt like a real 'auto show,' albeit less for the sheetmetal and more for suppliers, AV firms and Chinese OEMs (link). You had extreme optimism (at AV, ADAS and chip level) and extreme pessimism ('we can't let the Chinese sell these well-made SUVs here!') in concert. A roundup of notable announcements and happenings: NVIDIA's Alpamayo models and tools are a 3-part kit for AV (link, link to Jensen's explanation of how it differs from Tesla), China's Geely puts 'we'll be here in 2-3 years' on the bulletin board (link), Lucid/Nuro/Uber vehicle in the metal (link), Valeo's interior monitoring demos in partnership with Seeing Machines (link), Autoliv's foldable steering wheel (link, link to a video I took of this wheel inside the Tensor robocar-u-can-buy), Ford's shows upcoming AI chatbot and eyes-off ADAS announcement for 2028 (link), China's Great Wall shows off its V-8 engines (link). In addition to the big company announcements, we had a few dozen Trucks portfolio companies on the ground for meetings. CES is 'back' as a vital automotive and mobility show after a few quiet years.

Does it matter that Tesla doesn't keep its timeline promises for innovation? (link). One of the core brand values of Tesla appears to be that consumers don't believe them in the short term but mostly believe them in the long term. I'm not sure there has ever been a company like that before. A new model, perhaps -- discounted future truths.

Are plug-in hybrid vehicles green for daily use? (link). 'Infrequent charging markedly increases NOx, HC, and CO₂ emissions, challenging assumed PHEV environmental benefits. In the worst-case scenario, where users never charge their PHEVs, emissions rise by 62 % for NOx, 70 % for HC, and 46 % for CO2, respectively.'

The Tianma-1000 is China's new unmanned mid-altitude, low-cost cargo aircraft (link). 'It can reach a maximum altitude of 26,000 feet, fly a range of 1100 miles, and carry a payload of 1 ton.'

Waymo is paying people $20 to close car doors (link). Behold a headline from the future: software-defined minivan doors.

Alaska Airlines pilot who safely landed plane after panel blew out says Boeing unfairly blamed him (link).

Video: CES car tech roundup (link), EV and charging roundup (link). Video: Harry Metcalf at Dakar rally 2026 with the factory Land Rover Defender OCTA (link). Video: Toyota Gazoo's beautiful 'Wild Road' video (link). Audio: Why Europe fell behind in autonomous vehicles (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

VTOL startup Joby Aviation acquires Ohio factory from Capstone STS for $61M (link). 'This is Joby’s third manufacturing facility and more than doubles the size of its footprint as it looks to double production to four aircraft a month by 2027.’

Vehicle software platform startup Sibros raises $9M (link). Led by Niterra.

Israeli robotics startup Mentee acquired by Mobileye for $900M (link). Mentee was co-founded by Mobileye co-founder Amnon Shashua.

Italian auto retail software startup Motork raises $3.5M (link). Led by Atempo Growth.

Kodiak partners with Bosch for AV kits for trucks (link).

Finnish car transport startup Bahn Express raises $6M (link). Led by Node.

Board & Executive Changes:

Polaris: Kevin Farr resigns from board (link).

Frontier Airlines: James Dempsey promoted to CEO, continues as President, was CFO (link).

Sun Country Airlines: Stephen Coley promoted to COO (link).

Ford: Ian Gilkerson named Global Chief Engineer, Systems Engineering (link).

LiveWire: Bryan Niketh joins board (link).

Caterpillar: Joseph Creed promoted to Chairman, continues as CEO, succeeds James Umpleby who retires from Board (link).

Curated Jobs:

Robotics Perception Engineer at TorqueAGI in San Francisco, CA, USA (link).

Director of Product Strategy at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, MI, USA, hybrid (link).

Hiring? Post a job (link). If you're a startup, use code 'Trucks' for free standard listings.

Hunting? View all 252 postings on the MobilityJobs job board (link).

New Stuff:

Wedge-shaped Saudi Arabian auto startup Ceer prototype shown in spy photo (link).

Tesla owner David Moss records a coast to coast intervention-free FSD drive (link). Note this isn't an official 'Cannonball' as it was LA to South Carolina (not the traditional NY-LA route).

EV adoption has a U-shaped effect on air pollution (link).

Google's Wing aerial delivery service is coming to 150 more Walmart stores in the US (link). 'They currently operate at approximately 27 stores, and with today’s announcement, the goal is to eventually establish a network of 270 Walmart locations with Wing drone delivery by 2027.'

US lawmaker prepares bill requiring manual door handles in cars (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

Ford's patent application shows sun-flare recognizing vehicle controls (link).

Zoox's patent shows how interior microphones help the vehicle understand impacts on suspension (link).

Statistics / Projections:

Congestion pricing in New York City reduced traffic by 11% (link). Via NYT.

Chinese LiDAR maker Hesai doubles its production forecast for 2026 to 4 million units, up from 2 million units (link). Via Techcrunch.

Chinese auto imports hit 16-year low as domestic EVs reign (link). Via Nikkei. 'Automobile imports to China for last year are projected to fall 30% from 2024, with fewer than 600,000 vehicles entering the country for the first time in 16 years as low-priced domestic electric vehicles squeeze out luxury vehicles from Europe and the U.S.'

Thank you:

Thank you to Kersten Heineke (link), Mariano Menkes (link) and David Sesi (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Joby Aviation (link), TorqueAGI (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

To remember everything is a form of madness (Brian Friel),

Reilly Brennan