Trucks | Future of Transportation for 2026.08.31
FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital

Notable

China speed: BYD installed 10,000 hyper-fast 1,500kW chargers in just 5 months (link). It took Tesla a little less than 6 years to do the same with their Superchargers.

Waymo's 200M AV mile lesson: cameras alone aren't enough (link). This threw fresh gasoline on the Tesla v Waymo debate in all the dark corners of the internet. An FoT subscriber pointed to a new surface area I hadn't seen before: Waymo engineers publicly entering the fray (link, link).

A Google Research field experiment quietly rerouted under 2% of Google Maps trips away from 100 congested segments in 10 US cities (link). The results produced a roughly 2% speed gain on those segments plus a 0.7% network-wide travel time drop.

Rabbit-sheep future: After its hardware aspirations fall short, Sony looks to build in-vehicle AI assistant (link). 'Sony has created Wichef, an original rabbit-sheep character specifically for AI applications. Displayed on an in-car screen, Wichef will serve as a conversational companion for drivers. The company is exploring a wide range of uses for the conversational AI, including navigation assistance, casual conversation and acting as a brainstorming partner.' Sammy in the Wedding Singer: ‘All I really want is someone to hold me and tell me that everything is going to be all right.’

Consumers are appreciating new car tech, as long as it's not that noticeable (link). 'For example, smart ignition ranks highest in overall satisfaction and has one of the lowest problem counts. Similarly, smart climate control and smart driver preferences account for high levels of customer satisfaction and desirability, and low overall problem counts.'

Video: An old Subaru GL taking on the Mud Fun 4x4 Challenge in Africa (link). Via Diego. Video: slow-mo of the winning 400m humanoids in China (link). Video: GM CEO Mary Barra in discussion with Condoleeza Rice for the Hoover Institute (link). Video: GE and Beta cross Atlantic in hybrid-electric Saab 340B airplane (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

AV middle mile startup Gatik raises $200M (link). Led by Qatar Investment Authority and Koch Disruptive Technologies.

AI freight broker startup Tai acquired by Descartes for $100M (link).

Indian aerospace startup InspeCity raises $12M (link). Led by Speciale Invest and Ashish Kacholia.

Honda and Nissan reportedly close on vehicle software joint venture (link).

Indian trucking startup TrucksUp raises $8.2M (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Rivian: CFO Claire McDonough to depart for CFO role at GE Vernova; Derek Mulvey to become interim CFO (link).

Ford: Dave Carroll named President of Ford Energy (link).

JetBlue Airways: Jesse Lynn and Steven Miller resign from board (link).

CDK: Sudhakar Ramakrishna to become CEO; Brian MacDonald to retire (link).

Curated Jobs:

View over new 1300 active job listings from companies, including Flexport (link) and Waabi (link).

Senior Systems Safety Engineer at JetZero in Long Beach, CA USA (link).

New Stuff:

Researchers built PIMENet, a multi-camera system that detects driver distraction more reliably under occlusion and poor lighting than single-camera approaches (link, link to PDF).

FAA floats Special Conditions for Skyryse fly-by-wire R66 (link). 'The FAA has published proposed special conditions for the certification of Skyryse’s fly-by-wire flight control system in the Robinson R66 helicopter. It notes that the fully digital system is a novel design feature not addressed by existing FAR Part 27 regulations for control margin awareness — a cue pilots normally feel, and one the fly-by-wire system will have to synthesize.'

US to create new Space Academy (link).

NHTSA is not eliminating federal fuel-efficiency standards for heavy trucks, but it is saying it no longer believes it has legal authority to regulate truck engines separately from the vehicles they go into (link).

PlateRadar connects to official state DMV databases to check real-time availability of vanity license plates (link). Via John I.

Patents & Patent Applications:

Tesla's patent application shows a new film that absorbs chemical fumes to keep cameras clearer longer (link).

Statistics / Projections:

A new Ohio study is a reminder of how slowly safety tech reaches rural roads: of 1,971 vehicles in rural sideswipe crashes from 2017–2023, 54% had no ADAS at all and just 3.3% had a system actually running at the moment of impact (link, link to PDF). Via Journal of Safety Research.

1/2 of British consumers would consider buying a Chinese car, even one that they didn't know 3 years ago (link). Via Carscoops / Carwow.

Test drivers for Waymo and Zoox sustained more than two dozen injuries in 2024 and 2025 from hard braking or other sudden movements made by autonomous vehicles (link). Via Techcrunch / Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

The average price of diesel in the United States was $5.62 a gallon last week, 53% higher than a year earlier (link). Via NYT / AAA.

More Americans oppose police license plate cameras than support them (link). Via Techcrunch / YouGov. '46% of respondents opposed the company’s surveillance cameras in their communities, while 38% supported them. This is a reversal from last year, when the majority of survey respondents said they were in favor.'

75% of new 2027 Toyota Prius models sell before they even arrive at dealerships (link). Via Visor.

July EV registrations rose 13% across 16 European markets, where EVs account for 25.7% of new car sales in those markets (link). Via Reuters.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Gatik (link), Skyryse (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

'The total amount of wisdom in the world is a constant; the population is increasing' (Cole's Axiom)

Reilly Brennan