FoT is the intelligence arm of Trucks Venture Capital.

Notable:

Seven automakers unite in a new EV charging joint venture (link). BMW Group, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz Group, Stellantis to open 30,000 charging points beginning in 2024. Having 'enough' chargers hasn't been a problem in years, just ones that work well. I'm curious if this new network will have a higher uptime standard. Alex Roy in a message to me: 'The first network to guarantee uptime/min speed will have nice talking point.'

The backup safety driver in the 1st death by a fully autonomous car pleads guilty to endangerment (link). 'Rafaela Vasquez pleaded guilty to an undesignated felony, meaning it could be reclassified as a misdemeanor if she completes probation. She accepted a plea agreement of three years of supervised probation for the Uber autonomous vehicle crash that killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg.'

Tesla owners have soured on Musk, but still love their cars (link). The top reason given by Model 3 owners who sold their cars and replaced them with another brand: 'disapproval of Elon Musk.' How much more valuable would Tesla be if Musk announced he would hand control over to Hau Thai-Tang, John Krafcik or Jim Baumbick?

Porsche says only the 911 model will retain a gasoline engine in its future product portfolio (link). 'Our strategy in the first place is switching to electric mobility and …we will produce the 911 as long as possible with a combustion engine.'

Waymo shifts to robotaxi focus as its trucking division appears to be minimized or on its way out (link). 'With our decision to focus on ride-hailing, we’ll push back the timeline on our commercial and operational efforts on trucking, as well as most of our technical development on that business unit.' With this update plus the demise of TuSimple and Embark over the last year, this now leaves Aurora, Gatik and Kodiak as the remaining major AV players majority focused on commercial trucks. Related: Brulte: 'Is Ruth Porat becoming de facto CEO of Waymo on September 1st?' (link)

What if all the EV chargers came from fast food restaurant parking lots? (link). A most American solution.

How RailVision became the 'Google Maps' for train operators in an effort to save fuel (link).

Reuters finds Tesla started internal team to suppress thousands of driving range complaints (link). 'Managers told the employees that they were saving Tesla about $1,000 for every canceled appointment.'

Video: HiAce Van Gravel-Rally at the Japanese Rally Championship Rally Kamuy, 2023 (link). Via Metacool. Audio: a classic episode of the Autonocast about recent AV developments (link). Audio: SAE to Standardize Tesla NACS Connector (link). Video: How to geolocate a street in 2 minutes (link). Video: Visiting a Megachager: Over 100 EV Chargers in Baker, CA (link). Video: The Acura NSX was Honda's most successful failure (link). Video: Abandoned Colombian drug boat floating around off the central pacific coast of Costa Rica (link). Video: if you have a pool but no fountain, now have an alternative (link).

M&A / Deals / Changes:

Chinese OEM Xpeng takes 5% equity investment from Volkswagen for $700M (link).

Computer vision startup Ubicept raises $8M (link). Led by Ubiquity Ventures and E14 Fund.

UK battery software startup About:Energy raises $1.9M (link). Led by HighSage Ventures.

Battery company Microvast had its $200M US DoE grant revoked over concerns over its alleged links to China (link). Via Jaan.

EV charging startup Alpha Grid raises $2.5M (link). Led by Asymmetric Capital Partners.

Board Changes:

Goodyear Tire & Rubber: Joseph Hinrichs, Max Mithcell and Roger Wood join board (link).

Lyft: Janey Whiteside joins board (link).

New Stuff:

Cruise plans AV service launch in Nashville, TN, its seventh city (link).

AutoNation Mobility is a new micro lease service that offers 6 or 12 month leases (link). 'The micro leases include routine maintenance, vehicle registration, a limited maintenance plan and roadside assistance through the vehicle manufacturer. Consumers are required to provide vehicle insurance.'

Uber's all-EV plans for London are slow going (link). 'It’s taken us almost three years to get to one [EV charger] in the ground.'

Tesla to use tribal land loophole to finally operate in Connecticut (link).

Google Street View’s cameras have returned to Germany more than a decade after a privacy backlash in the country pushed it to stop updating images (link).

Tesla finally confirms Supercharger V4 has 350 kW output (link).

EU passes law to blanket highways with fast EV chargers by end of 2025 (link). 'The chargers must be placed every 37 miles and allow ad-hoc payment by card or contactless device without subscriptions.'

Patents & Patent Applications:

Ford's patent application shows a vehicle door with obstacle avoidance to prevent curbing (link).

Toyota's patent for vehicle to vehicle sensor data sharing (link).

Featured Jobs:

EVSE Reliability Technician at ChargerHelp in Albany, NY, USA (link).

Financial Analyst (Junior to Intermediate) at Preteckt in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (link).

Lead Robotics Engineer at May Mobility in Ann Arbor, MI USA (link).

MobilityJobs is the No.1 job board for auto & transportation companies (link).

Statistics / Projections:

Retail sales of recreational vehicles (RVs) are on track to be the lowest since 2015 (link). Via Reuters.

Car sales in the US to reach 1.33 million units in July, up 18% year-over-year (link). Via Reuters / S&P.

Car sharing giant Turo has 165,000 active hosts, up from 114,000 a year earlier (link). 'About 15% of hosts last year listed three or more cars.'

Thank you:

Thank you to Nick Ayton (link), Jordan Greene (link) and Pete Gould (link) for offers of introductions to new founders, investors and friends over the last week.

Trucks portfolio companies mentioned in this issue:

ChargerHelp (link), May Mobility (link), RailVision (link). View the full portfolio of Trucks companies (link).

See you next week,

Reilly Brennan