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Welcome back to Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from point A to point B.
Well, it was a week! My head is still spinning here with Mobileye going live, Argo shutting down, and Elon Musk taking the reins at Twitter. Yes, there’s a transportation angle on Twitter beyond the less-than-happy reaction of Tesla shareholders. (GM temporarily suspended paid advertising on Twitter after Musk took over.)
Let’s jump right in, shall we?
Please email me at [email protected] to share thoughts, criticism, opinions or advice. You can also send a message directly to @kirstenkorosec
micromobbin’
of California State Legislature recently passed AB 371, the so-called “Kill Bikeshare Bill,” which imposes extreme insurance requirements on micromobility sharing companies beyond what is required of private car owners or rental car companies. This makes companies responsible for the conduct of anyone using their service and is likely to lead to many companies pulling out.
Citi Bike has a Bike Angel program that incentivizes people (with money!) to rebalance e-bike inventory at docking stations throughout NYC.
San Francisco is restricting shared e-scooter parking in certain tourist areas, notably a large stretch of the Embarcadero and a popular street in Fisherman’s Wharf. The move comes as the SFMTA is under pressure to roll out tougher enforcement of the crosswalk line.
Tesla Cyberquad for kids, a $1,900 mini ATV made by Radio Flyer, is being recalled due to safety concerns. About 5,000 units were sold.
You are reading an abridged version of micromobbin’. Subscribe to the newsletter for free and you will get much more.
Inside the Argo AI enclosure
Image credits: Argo AI
The sudden shuttering of autonomous vehicle company Argo AI was met like a bucket of cold water being dumped on the head. Of course, the autonomous vehicle industry is still frontier technology, which is years, even decades away from becoming a product used every day by most consumers. Profits, hell even income, are distant goals.
And yet Argo’s demise felt sudden, largely because it had deep-pocketed backers like Ford and VW ($2 billion in cash and a $1.6 billion takeover of VW’s Autonomous Intelligent Driving arm), some high-profile partners with active pilot programs, a large, highly talented workforce, and a presence in multiple cities.
The work culture was not toxic, based on accounts from multiple insiders at various levels of the startup. It was a widely respected company and considered one of a handful of companies prepared with the talent, support and technology to actually make AV commercialization happen.
So why did Argo die? Did its founders or backers make any fatal mistakes along the way? Or is it a larger systemic problem with the technology itself?
As I learn more about this (and keep digging), it appears to be a combination of several factors, including Ford and VW deciding to prioritize the short-term profits gleaned from advanced derivative assistance systems over a system that is still on the market. it works technology for which no company had found a business model. (or at least one guaranteed to be profitable)
Argo was apparently able to find some new backers (Ford said in his earnings call that Argo couldn’t find new outside investment.) But finding capital wasn’t the only problem. The terms of any new investor must be agreed by Ford and VW. I have received varying accounts of the health of that relationship.
TechCrunch editor Darrell Etherington argues that this proves self-driving cars aren’t coming anytime soon. Co-founder of Cruise and Kyle Vogt replied with some light trolling on Twitter.
Aurora co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson also delivered a message to the AV industry—it’s not doomed. “This is not a signal that the future with self-driving technology is not real or imminent. In fact, it’s quite the opposite,” he wrote, noting Waymo’s expansion of a fleet of robots in LA and Cruise charging for driverless rides in San Francisco. Urmson also gave an update on Aurora’s focus on self-driving trucks.
I don’t believe the AV industry is dead. I see – and have for two years now – consolidation, tightening capital markets and a shift in priorities from automakers, who were once some of the biggest drivers and supporters of AVs. It makes a tough one even tougher. And for now, that shuts down a lot of startups.
It would be a bit simplistic to say “it’s the profits, silly”. But this is not completely, nor is it wrong.
What do you think dear reader?
Offer of the week
On the day the Argo AI news broke, Mobileye made its official debut. The success of the IPO – the third largest this year – was seen by many as a vindication of Ford and VW’s decision to close Argo. The bottom line was that advanced driver assistance systems, not AV technology, is the real future (at least in terms of revenue and profits).
Mobileye was able to price 41 million shares at $21 and above its initial range, raising $861 million. General Atlantic agreed to buy $100 million of additional stock in a private placement. Investors seemed willing to pile in and helped the stock pop up and close nearly 30% above its IPO price.
I spoke with Mobileye founder and CEO Amnon Shashua on the big day. (Look for a longer piece this week.)
Some quick recommendations from Dr. Shashua:
“Things have changed and become more and more nuanced. You know, five years ago we would be talking about driving assistance and then robotics as two separate fields. We gradually built a product portfolio that bridges the spectrum between driving assistance and robotaxi.”
This bridge, a technology called Mobileye Supervision, is the critical foundation of the company’s future. This technology is not even appearing in the distant future. The system, which includes 11 cameras around the car that feed data to Mobileye’s system-on-chips, is in 50,000 vehicles in China. Shashua told me that they started in China because the country is “more ahead of technology and moving faster than anyone else.”
Other offers that caught my eye…
AM batteries, a Boston-based company that has developed lithium-ion dry electrode technology, raised $25 million in Series A round led by Anzu Partners. TDK Ventures, Foothill Ventures, Toyota Ventures, Zeon Ventures, SAIC Capital, VinFast, Doral Energy-Tech Ventures and Creative Ventures also participated.
Elements of adhesionlithium-ion battery recycling company, secured $300 million in equity and debt financing, including $200 million in a Series C equity round led by Fifth Wall Climate, and joined SK ecoplant.
beama shared micromobility operator in Singapore, raised $93 million in a Series B round led by Affirma Capital with participation from Sequoia Capital India, Hana Ventures, ICT Capital, EDB Investment, AC Ventures, RTP Global and Momentum Venture Capital.
BMW iVentures led a $20 million investment round for Fox Robotics, an Austin, Texas-based autonomous pickup truck maker. Japan Airlines, Translink Innovation Fund, Foothill Ventures, Zebra Technologies along with Menlo Ventures, ENIAC Ventures and SignalFire also participated.
Helbiz’s agreement to buy The wheels passed, and promises to double annual revenue and reach profitability in the next two years. Investors were not impressed, however, and the company’s shares are still down. If Helbiz can’t rally its shares, it could delist from Nasdaq.
Ionbloxa lithium-ion cell company formerly known as Zenlabs Energy, raised $24 million in a Series B round with investments from all-electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft developer Lilium, Applied Ventures, LLC and Catalus Capital.
Want more offers? A whole list of them was in the subscription version this week. Subscribe for free here.
Important news and other data
Autonomous vehicles
Andrei KarpatiTesla’s former AI director is interviewed by Lex Friedman.
cruiseGM’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary has opened a waiting list for a robotaxi service in Phoenix and Austin.
XPeng said its G9 SUV became China’s first mass-produced commercial vehicle to pass a government-run closed-field autonomous driving test.
Electric vehicles, batteries and charging
Bosch began manufacturing electric motors in Charleston, South Carolina. manufacturing facility and announced plans to invest more than $260 million to expand production there.
Wallbox has opened its first North American factory in Arlington, Texas to begin building electric vehicle charging and management solutions in the state.
Ride-barrage
Lyft relaunched its Lyft Pink monthly subscription plan at half its previous price. At $9.99 per month or $99 per year, the new membership offers benefits like free Priority Pickup and a discount of “at least” 5% on Preferred, Lux and XL travel.
Uber is rolling out a number of new safety features aimed at the driver, including freezing fake rider account names and piloting a front-end video recording tool to replace the driver’s camera.
People
Czinger vehicles hired the former Tesla and Faraday Future veteran Reckhorn Day as its head of production.
Jaguar Land Rover’s InMotion hired Mike Smeed as managing director. Smeed was previously from Chery Jaguar Land Rover, a Shanghai-based joint venture between JLR and Chinese carmaker Chery Automobile.
Mullen Automotive hired former General Motors executive John Schwegman as its chief commercial officer.
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