Trucks | Future of Transportation for 2026.08.17
FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital

Notable

How much energy do AVs use for compute vs driving? (link, link to PDF). Researchers modeled the energy costs of AVs in a simulated Tel Aviv environment: across a fleet of 1,000 robotaxis, only about 57% of total energy consumption was used for vehicle propulsion in the ‘prototype AV’ configuration; the rest went to onboard sensing and compute, communications, fleet management and offboard infrastructure such as video storage and model retraining. The system consumed about 1.13 kWh per served request across a model of roughly 38,000 AV requests over a day. A 200-vehicle fleet could serve only ~53% of demand, 500 vehicles served ~93%, and 1,000 vehicles could serve essentially everyone.

'The robotaxi industry is adamant that the only type of metric that matters for safety is severe crashes per mile. And, while they’re at it, crashes they can blame on someone else shouldn’t count' (link). 'The reality is that there is more to societally acceptable safety than crashes/mile. Moreover, public opinion is likely to hinge more on stories than statistical abstractions, which might explain the significant negative public sentiment that shows up in surveys regarding robotaxi safety.'

California loves AVs again: DMV approves AV trucks for testing on roads, a change from its previous ban (link); CPUC approves Waymo’s service across 18 California counties, its largest expansion yet (link).

America wants to make its own robots, but that won't be easy (link). I asked Bloom's Justin Kosmides about this and he said: 'We should read China's dominance over the supply chain for robots and drones as closely tied to its history in mobility (ebikes, scooters) and the toy sector, too. It’s doable for the US in terms of speed and quality, but not cost. We need to bridge (better match) automotive to these drone and robotics players. No one has enough volume right now, though. That’s the real problem if we’re being honest.'

Two airplanes approacing an airport can have the same call sign, as confused Phoenix air traffic controllers found out on Friday (link). 'I’ve been working air traffic for 25 years. I’ve never seen two aircraft pretty much merge with the same call sign.'

How successful is Portland's e-bike rebate program? In the lede of this story, a car rotting in a driveway triggered a wellness check (link). Via Nick P.

What if we gave curb space over to AVs instead of personally owned vehicles? (link). Researchers show that allowing shared AVs to stage at curbs reduces extra driving by about 60% and helps lower congestion. The galaxy brain perspective here is that giving away free curb space appears to be as American as high healthcare costs, and that giving that space to AVs is a net benefit vs giving it up for free to personal vehicles. This is another chapter in how we are redefining pauking (link) for the AV era.

Flock reportedly pitched a plan to turn Uber and Lyft drivers into roaming surveillance vehicles (link). Via Carly.

Better-than-original heritage recreation brands (Singer, et al) started with the idea of improving engineering, but a new shift seems to indicate the next mountain for them is fashion and style (link). This isn't as inspiring.

A look at the development pathway of the next IndyCar, with some roads-not-taken along the way (link).

Video: Walking the car village at DEF-CON last week (link). Video: Morpho drone uses wind to its advantage (link). Video: the alt-cycles of the Tour de France at Alt d'Huez (link). Video: buying a cheap used Rivian van for $10k (link).

Ken Kesey's Furthur bus returns to San Francisco Sep 5 - Oct 25 (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Defense tech startup Resonant Sciences acquired for $500M by Joby Aviation (link). 'Upon closing, Resonant will become Joby's dedicated defense business and include its hybrid aircraft ⁠and autonomy ​technologies, while Joby's commercial aircraft business ​will remain focused on its electric air taxi initiatives.'

Boeing transfers its Wisk VTOL group, Insitu and Skygrid to Archer in a stock transaction worth a reported 20% of the startup (link).

Uber exits Serve Robotics stake as delivery alliance unravels (link). 'Serve's CEO Ali Kashani said the company doesn't intend to renew its agreement with Uber after it expires in early 2027, citing differing views on the operating model to scale their shared autonomous fleet.'

South Korea's Samsung SDI to buy out GM's stake in $3.5B battery joint venture (link).

Indian two wheeler startup Yulu raises $93M (link). Led by GEF Capital Partners.

Texas air cargo startup Clearjet raises $25M (link). Led by Edison Partners.

Ferrari Luce Chassis 0 sells at RM Sotheby's for $40M (link). Original estimate was $1.1M.

Trimble's transportation unit reportedly entertaining offers for acquisition (link). 'Trimble has received credible inbound interest for its $549 million transportation unit, CEO Rob Painter said on an earnings call Wednesday morning.'

Uber and China’s Pony AI partner to deploy 2,000 AVs in Europe (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Mobileye Global: Patrick Bombach resigns from board (link).

Southwest Airlines: Varun Krishna, Jason Liberty join board (link).

Group 1 Automotive: David Kimbell joins board (link).

SES AI: Paul Diemer joins board (link).

Curated Jobs:

View over new 1349 active job listings from companies, including Kodiak (link), AV Ride (link) and Nevoya (link).

AI Infrastructure Engineer – Agents & ML Systems at Havoc AI, remote (link).

New Stuff:

A new hydrogen land speed record: over 406 mph for JCB's Hydromax at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah (link).

Asus launches a clip-on ebike powertrain (link). 'Oxiis is a universal, friction-drive motor system that transforms any conventional bicycle into a smart e-bike.' No word on pricing but estimates are around $500.

BYD’s new Denza N8 hits 1,003km pure EV range with a 130.15 kWh LFP battery (link).

Applications close for Techstars EIT Urban Mobility cohort on Aug 26 (link). The 10-week program takes place in Spain and remote.

Road Reference lets you see vehicle changes before you make them (link). 'Enter a tire size, a wheel or a bolt circle (285/70R17, 18×9 ET30, 5×114.3) and get the geometry and what it changes.'

Heart Aerospace X1 did a test flight in upstate New York (link). 'The X1 aircraft is comparable in size to a small regional airliner and can achieve a maximum takeoff weight exceeding 25,000 pounds with the help of four wing-mounted electric motors. The battery-electric propulsion system delivered more than one megawatt of power during the maiden flight.'

After New Jersey's new laws require some ebike riders to register and pass licensing test, sales drop as much as 90% (link).

When housing is unaffordable, this artist’s device makes pedaling harder (link). Via Weans.

A new McLaren F1 = GMA S1 (link). I'm entirely OK with Gordon Murray copying himself.

Patents & Patent Applications:

GM's patent application shows robotic forklift vehicle (link).

GM's patent application shows tank-like tracked autonomous vehicle (link).

Statistics / Projections:

U.S. EV registrations fell 11% in June, the ninth consecutive monthly decline, to 100,515 vehicles (link). Via Automotive News / Mobility Global. 'Tesla's share of the EV segment surged to 61.5% as legacy brands posted a combined 31% drop.'

Automakers have recalled over 21 million vehicles due to issues with back up camera issues since the system became mandatory 8 years ago (link). Via Bloomberg.

Hybrids are outselling EVs in many global markets right now (link). Via Bloomberg / GlobalData Plc. 'Hybrids accounted for about 1 in 7 new cars sold in the US last year, up from less than 3% in 2020. In Spain hybrids make up almost half of all deliveries; in Japan, more than half. India, South America and Southeast Asia are expected to be the fastest-growing markets through 2035, according to research company GlobalData Plc.'

Researchers find aggressive driving is associated with over 2.5x higher battery aging in EVs vs eco mode (link, link to PDF). Via Nature.

Thank you:

Thank you to John Casesa (link), Max Doyle (link), Michael Dunne (link) and Ian Rust (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

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

‘If you believe in Utopia you also deal in Oblivion.’ (S. Valenti IV)

Reilly Brennan