Trucks | Future of Transportation for 2026.09.14
FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital

Notable

Tesla's Semi seemed to stay out of the spotlight for years, but high diesel prices and an acceptance of AV tech could mean it will be among Tesla's most important (link). From Morgan Stanley's research note: 'The most important takeaway of this note for a Tesla investor: Tesla can generate ~$12-18k/month from its autonomous trucking software ($0.85-$1/mile subscription fee x 18k miles driven per month). This compares to ~$100/month for FSD on consumer vehicles today.'

The US car industry's rules for China are anyone's guess: 'Trump says he would be OK with China building cars in US' (link), but on the other hand 'Trump administration blasts Ford's business deals with Chinese firms' (link). Via HK.

Autonomous vehicles are the next 'general purpose technology' (link). 'Vehicle autonomy is likely to be the first mass application where AI becomes physical.'

It can't get any higher than this: $9.99/gallon diesel in California only limited by 3-digit display board (link).

The unusual ways cities are protecting themselves against small drones, testing everything from nets and signal jammers to multimillion-dollar missiles (link).

On the new rebranding of 'climate change' as 'resilience' and 'stabilization' but without pointing to the cause (link). Via Tony K.

Lyft is now offering Waymo rides within its app in Nashville (link). This is a small but important step for Lyft to be more involved in how AVs are deploying. I believe there is a non-zero chance that Waymo and Lyft become one company in the future.

An MIT paper argues that the next frontier in driver assistance is not better object detection, but systems that adapt warnings, interfaces and automation limits to each driver’s behavior and condition (link).

Video: a live Caltrain traffic camera plays music (link). Video: a new NASCAR pit stop record of 7.86 seconds by 23XI Racing (link). Via Bozi. Video: Icon's Dodge D200 truck (link).

Toyohiro Akiyama, Japan’s Chain-Smoking ‘Space Antihero,’ Dies at 84 (link). Via NP.

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Georgia vehicle financing startup Carputty raises $40M (link). Led by TTV Capital, Fontinalis Partners, and Kickstart Fund.

Trucking software startup Motive pulls its public offering plans after $1.3B late-stage private financing (link). Led by General Catalyst.

Belgian vehicle safety startup Ivex raises $5.8M (link). Led by The Faktory and Dedicated.

Saudi used vehicle startup Carly raises undisclosed round from Pinnacle (link).

Aviation startup Poseidon Aerospace raises $60M (link). Led by TQ Ventures.

Buffalo's ACV Auctions agrees to take-private acquisition by Copart for $1.9B (link). ‘The per-share purchase price represents a premium of approximately 45% to ACV’s unaffected closing stock price on August 10, 2026'.’

Positioning startup Tern wins $11M US Army contract (link).

Board & Executive Changes:

Lyft: Michael Brous to be named CFO; Erin Brewer to retire in December (link).

Vinfast: son of founder, Pham Nhat Quan Anh, named CEO (link).

Hertz Global: Michael Moore promoted to President, Services Division, was COO; Chris Berg promoted to President, Rental Division (link).

Joby Aviation: Sergey Novikov promoted to Chief Accounting Officer, continues as Controller (link).

Curated Jobs:

View over new 1344 active job listings from companies, including Mobileye (link), Humble Robotics (link), Divergent (link).

Lead Stress Engineer at Auriga Space in Garden Grove, CA, US (link).

New Stuff:

Toyota's GR group launches “GR KART,” an entry-level racing kart (link).

Hyundai Motor to roll out in-house driver-assist system in 2029 (link).

California closes the 'Montana loophole' for plate registration and tax evasion, charges 14 (link).

Patents & Patent Applications:

IP assets of positioning startup Canyon go up for sale (link). 'Fiducial technology for use in autonomous navigation in GPS-degraded environments.'

Statistics / Projections:

The average 3-year-old car in the US costs about $33,000 (link). Via NYT / iSeeCars.

Due to higher gas prices, 56% of drivers have raised their interest in EVs (link). Via Axios / HERE Technologies and SBD Automotive's annual survey.

Tesla is back to having a majority of the U.S. EV market, with a 52% share in 2026 through August, up from 43% a year earlier (link). Via WSJ.

Across US hospitals in 2025, there were around 19 e-scooter injuries for every 1 unpowered scooter injury (link). Via USA Facts.

Although 70% of manufacturing leaders expect to manage a robot fleet in the next five years, only 4 in 10 have a formal strategy in place (link). Via Manufacturing Dive / Intel.

Thank you:

Thank you to John Sirhal (link) and Chris Thomas (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), Joby Aviation (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

‘I accept chaos, but I'm not sure whether it accepts me’ (Bob Dylan),

Reilly Brennan