Trucks | Future of Transportation for 2026.03.09
FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital

Notable

9 minutes to 97%: BYD's new chargers are as quick as gas (link). A friend at an OEM writes: 'This thing is so rad: Overhead charger, ambidextrous, weightless cable, damage resistant, fast as gas.' The next frontier for EVs isn't 0-60 times (because now every EV is as fast as a Ferrari), but charging times -- and the Ferrari of EV charging is BYD. A fully integrated EV ecosystem (including retail, vehicle, charging) is so different from today's three-layer model that EVs still feel both value destructive and hugely beneficial for the consumer. Imagine if all the recent EV write-downs by carmakers were instead used to replicate Tesla's Supercharger network (an estimated $5-6B in investment over the last 13 yrs)?

Calif. dad gets felony charge over son's 60 mph e-motorcycle crash (link). Via Rex. 'During the investigation of the crash, it was determined that the child had been using a Talaria X3 e-moto, or electronic motorcycle, that had been modified by the father, the DA’s office said. The bike’s governor, which is installed to specifically limit the vehicle’s top speed, had been cut, and the pedals on the bike had been swapped out. Per the DA’s office, the modified e-motorcycle was capable of reaching speeds of 60 mph.'

Inside the low-cost drone war (link). 'The LUCAS was produced by SpektreWorks, a small start-up in Arizona, and defense analysts believe it is using a military version of Starlink in Iran called Starshield to navigate, or another satellite communication system. It is a sign of how advances in commercial technology can yield simple new weapons as useful as the complicated systems that defense contractors have spent decades building.'

Are automated vehicles headed for the same political divide as EVs? (link). Feels like they already are.

How Wayve built is production calibration infrastructure (link). Via Tangram / Metrical.

Overhead view of Waymo/Magna's final assembly in Arizona: today vs Dec 2025 (link). Via GK.

California getting wiser on Montana registration for luxury cars (link). 'Those who wrote those messages were among 14 people charged in a tax-evasion scheme — called the Montana Loophole by California regulators — that concealed the purchase of more than $20 million of vehicles in Montana, which has no statewide sales tax, so that buyers could dodge about $2 million in California levies, state officials said on Friday.'

China's Li Auto trolls VW's new extended range EV (link). 'Congratulations to Volkswagen for successfully mass-producing a technology that is outdated, very environmentally unfriendly, and had little development potential in just 6 years.'

The ultimate Innovator's Dilemma experiment at Volkswagen as it tries to outmaneuver franchise dealers for its Scout brand (link). 'What makes Scout alarming to dealers is the company’s connection to Volkswagen. If one of the world’s oldest automakers can create a new brand with no dealer ties, what is to stop Ford Motor, General Motors or Toyota Motor from doing the same?'

Man who petitioned for traffic light dies at same intersection where his wife was killed (link).

Video: understanding inventory in today's bicycle market (link). Video: Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X -- under 9 second quarter mile time (link). Video: miniature camera car on miniature track filing miniature car (link). Video: JR Hildebrand and Brian Scotto in a discussion about motorsport fundamentals (link).

The secret handshakes of car owners (link). Via Diego.

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Toyota group's Denso makes bid to acquire chipmaker Rohm for up to $8B (link). Related: why Denso wants to buy Rohm: 'Acquiring Rohm would help Denso build out its semiconductor capabilities and broaden its sales. Rohm ranks 12th worldwide in power semiconductors, with a 2.5% market share. Its customers extend beyond the auto industry to makers of PCs, servers and other products.' (link).

African swappable EV bike network Zeno raises $25M (link). Led by Congruent Ventures.

Rad Power Bikes acquisition by Life EV complete after $13M post-bankruptcy asset sale (link).

Hyundai-back VTOL startup Supernal cuts 80% of workforce (link).

GM merging its CPO dealer sales program with CarBravo (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

OpenAI: Robotics leader Caitlin Kalinowski resigns, reportedly over concerns about surveillance and autonomous weapons amid Pentagon contract (link).

Delta Air Lines: John Laughter retires as Chief of Ops & President, Delta TechOps; Peter Carter to become President, Daniel Janki to become COO; Erik Snell promoted to CFO, was Chief Customer Experience Officer succeeds Daniek Janki (link).

Vontier: Chris Klein to retire from board (link).

QuantumScape: Ross Niebergall joins board (link).

Curated Jobs:

Head of Manufacturing at Gatik in Mountain View, CA USA (link).

Advance Product Concepting Specialist at Ford in Dearborn, MI USA (link).

Supply Chain Business Analyst at GM in Warren, MI USA (link).

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

Hunting? View all 212 postings on the MobilityJobs job board (link).

New Stuff:

Tank Trackers monitors ship movements (link).

Tesla opens its first Megacharger station to Semi customers in California (link).

European groups show test of gigabit-per-second laser link between aircraft and satellite (link).

'Deflock' shows Flock license-plate-reading cameras around the US (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

GM's patent application for its own internal closed-course autonomous readiness test for a vehicle (link).

Statistics / Projections:

Subprime borrowers made up 15.31% of total vehicle financing in Q4 2025, up from 14.54% the previous period in 2024 (link). Via FT / Experian.

Oil prices surge above $100 a barrel for the first time in almost 4 years (link). Via NYT.

Thank you:

Thank you to Darren Liccardo (link), Mark Norman (link) and Haley Prout (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

Tangram Vision (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

Profound belief in something allows every individual to find an immense inner force, and to overcome his or her failings (Soichiro Honda),

Reilly Brennan