\nChina EVs rising, Tesla loses profit ground and Lyft preps for deep cuts<\/br>
\n2023-04-24 22:08:25<\/br><\/p>\n
The Station is a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation.\u00a0Sign up here \u2014\u00a0just click The Station<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 to receive the full edition of the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n If there was any doubt that China<\/strong> is a leader in EVs, the Shanghai Auto Show<\/strong> should have erased those thoughts. China is developing and producing compelling EVs and reaping the sales as a result. (Eight of the top 10 best-selling EV models in China are from Chinese automakers.)<\/p>\n And unlike the U.S. market, these are not just premium and luxury brands that only a slice of society can afford. BYD<\/strong>, the Warren Buffet-backed Chinese automaker, unveiled its Seagull EV<\/a> during the show and the unassuming vehicle attracted some of the largest crowds at the show. Industry watchers believe that this vehicle , which starts at 78,000 yuan ($11,300), is poised to become the top-selling EV in the country.<\/p>\n China is already the world\u2019s biggest market for EVs. But as the Financial Times noted<\/a> in its coverage of the auto show, China is also set to push Japan out of the top spot for global car export volume this year after overtaking Germany in 2022.<\/p>\n This development creates a two-fold challenge for foreign automakers. After years of dominating the premium and luxury market in China, foreign brands Buick, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and others are facing homegrown competition. And now that China is exporting its vehicles to Europe, these same automakers are facing pressure in their own territory as well.<\/p>\n To be clear, I don\u2019t expect Chinese brands to make a big play for the U.S. market just yet. But I am closely watching how these brands fare in Europe.<\/p>\n Some of our Shanghai Auto Coverage:<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2022 Chinese luxury EV brand Zeekr expanding to Europe by end of 2023<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 The Polestar 4 replaces a rear window with a high-def screen<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 Luminar wants to light up China\u2019s smart vehicles<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 XPeng\u2019s G6 SUV aims to be a premium EV for the masses<\/a><\/p>\n \u2022 Volkswagen pumps 1B euros into China electric vehicle center<\/a><\/p>\n Want to reach out with a tip, comment or complaint? Email me at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com<\/span><\/a>. You also can send a direct message to @kirstenkorosec<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n Reminder that you can drop us a<\/span>\u00a0note at\u00a0tips@techcrunch.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/i>If you prefer to remain anonymous<\/i><\/b>,\u00a0<\/i>click here to contact us<\/i><\/a>, which includes SecureDrop (<\/i>instructions here<\/i><\/a>) and various encrypted messaging apps.<\/i><\/p>\n Acer\u2019s<\/strong> Ebii is an AI-assisted e-bike<\/a> with sci-fi vibes. It\u2019s got an onboard brain that adapts to riding conditions, has a rear collision warning radar sensor, an integrated headlight and taillight that turns on automatically at night and crash detection built into the app. All that, plus 70 miles of range. It\u2019ll launch in Europe starting September for \u20ac1,999 ($2,194).<\/p>\n Arcimoto<\/strong> is seeing another leadership shuffle<\/a>. Board member Chris Dawson<\/strong> is replacing interim CEO Jesse Fittipaldi, who will stick around as president and report to Dawson going forward.<\/p>\n Austin<\/strong> is providing rebates of up to $600 on e-bikes<\/a> bought by Austin Energy customers.<\/p>\n Curtis Motorcycle Co.<\/strong> introduced The 1<\/a>, its debut electric two-wheeler that it\u2019s calling the \u201cTesla of Motorcycles.\u201d Only for $120,000, that\u2019s around three times the cost of a Tesla Model 3. I\u2019ll grant, it\u2019s a pretty bike \u2014 part retro, part Mad Max. And it has a range of 120 miles for highway riding, 75 miles for city cruising. I\u2019d be curious to see what, if anything, could possibly warrant such a price tag.<\/p>\n Electric Bike Company<\/strong> launched the Model J<\/a>, a small, nimble, moto-inspired e-bike with a reasonable limited time price tag of $1,199. Built in California, the bike has a minimalist hipster feel about it \u2014 a colorful matte aluminum frame with a leather seat and option for wooden trimmings. That and a battery range of up to 200 miles make it an attractive deal.<\/p>\n Gazelle\u2019s<\/strong> new line of e-bikes<\/a> are aimed at commuters and casual long-distance riders. They\u2019ve got stepless (or automatic) gearing that puts the assist at the right level for the rider at that time.<\/p>\n Gogoro<\/strong> is working with Enel X to add its battery swapping stations in Taiwan to Enel\u2019s virtual power plant network<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lyft<\/strong> pretty much has a monopoly on bike share in U.S. cities. But the company is struggling to stay afloat and has had to make drastic cuts to programs and staff to stay in the ride-hail game. (And Friday the company\u2019s new CEO said more cuts are coming.) Curbed digs into the potential consequences<\/a> of one tech company controlling bike share.<\/p>\n Neuron<\/strong> found in a recent study<\/a> that 5% of riders have a disability or mobility impairment and use e-scooters to overcome pain and other issues on their daily commutes.<\/p>\n Swapfiets<\/strong>, a Dutch micromobility subscription service, has introduced a fast-charging, heavy-duty e-bike for delivery workers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Unagi<\/strong> has secured Best Buy as a partner to sell its e-scooter subscriptions<\/a>.<\/p>\n Startups in the ground transportation business have another source of funding to chase: Autotech Ventures<\/strong> has closed a $230 million fund<\/a>.<\/p>\n The $230 million fund, its\u00a0third since launching in 2017<\/a>, will be used to invest in seed through Series C mobility-related startups, according to the company. A mixture of financial and corporate LPs, including Allison Transmission, American Axle, Iochpe-Maxion and Shell\u00a0participated in the fund.<\/p>\n The VC firm is still sticking to its\u00a0early-stage ground transportation startup roots. But the firm\u2019s investors are expanding that strategy and going after what they believe are the next big opportunities in automotive and mobility.<\/p>\n Fintech, logistics, supply chain and the circular economy are at the top of the list.<\/p>\n Other deals that got my attention this week \u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n ChargeLab<\/strong>, an EV charging software management startup based in Toronto, secured $15 million in new financing to their Series A, doubling funds previously raised and bringing the round\u2019s total to $30 million. The expansion included $10 million in new equity financing and $5 million in venture debt. The company\u2019s first Series A tranche of $15 million led by King River Capital was previously announced in May 2022.<\/p>\n Cowboy<\/strong> successfully raised \u20ac1 million<\/a> ($1.1 million) in two days through a crowdfunding campaign.<\/p>\n Evermile<\/strong>, a local delivery platform built for small businesses, raised $6 million<\/a> in a seed funding round led by 10D. Mensch Capital Partners also participated.<\/p>\n Miovision Technologies<\/strong>, a Canadian traffic management technology company, acquired<\/a> Global Traffic Technologies LLC<\/strong> from Vontier Corp. for $107 million. GTT-developed technology allows emergency vehicles and transit to trigger traffic signal changes. Miovision also raised $260 million in a funding round led by Telus Ventures with participation by Maverix Private Equity and Export Development Canada.<\/p>\n Novalith Technologies<\/strong>, an Australian startup that has developed a novel lithium extraction method, raised A$23 million<\/a> ($15.4 million) in a Series A funding round led by Lowercarbon Capital. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC), the Grantham Environmental Trusts\u2019 Neglected Climate Opportunities Fund, TDK Ventures and Investible also participated.<\/p>\n Skarper<\/strong>, a London-based company that developed technology to convert bikes into e-bikes, raised nearly $5 million<\/a> in a round led by the Starry Group and Mobilitech Capital.<\/p>\n SK On<\/strong>, a South Korean battery maker, could raise 1.5 trillion won<\/a> ($1.1 billion) from BlackRock, Singapore-based Hillhouse Capital, Qatar Investment Authority, North Asia-focused MBK Partners and other financial investors. The deal would give the consortium a 5% stake in SK On.<\/p>\n Whisper<\/strong>, which developed a quiet and efficient electric propulsion device for eVTOLs and delivery drones, raised $32 million<\/a> in a Series A round led jointly by Menlo Ventures, EVE Atlas, Capricorn\u2019s Technology Impact Fund and Connor Capital. Additional participation came from Kindred Ventures, Abstract Ventures, Moving Capital, AeroX Ventures, Cosmos Ventures, Linse Capital and LaunchTN, a public-private partnership with the state of Tennessee.<\/p>\n Tesla<\/strong> scored a victory after a California jury determined the automaker was not to blame<\/a> for a 2019 crash that involved its advanced driver assistance system, known as Autopilot. The jury awarded no damages to Justine Hsu who sued Tesla in 2020.<\/p>\n Apollo Go<\/strong>, Baidu\u2019s robotaxi service, has hit some milestones recently. The service now has more than 100 fully driverless vehicles operating in Wuhan, and in 2022, the company doubled its active users, with some riders taking nearly 1,000 trips.<\/p>\n Kodiak Robotics<\/strong> is partnering with truckload carrier C.R. England<\/strong> to autonomously haul Tyson Foods products<\/a> between Dallas and San Antonio, Texas. (A human safety operator is still behind the wheel.)<\/p>\n Uber<\/strong> is expanding its partnership<\/a> with sidewalk delivery robot startup Cartken<\/strong> to Fairfax, Virginia.<\/p>\n BorgWarner<\/strong> will invest $42 million into the expansion of its Seneca, South Carolina production facility, including the development of new manufacturing lines to launch the production of 3GWh of annual battery module capacity.<\/p>\n Bugatti<\/strong> is getting ready to go electric<\/a>.<\/p>\n Einride<\/strong> is expanding to the U.K<\/a>. Its first U.K. deployment will be in partnership with PepsiCo snack-food subsidiary Walkers, which will use Einride\u2019s trucks and platform to deliver goods between the cities of Leicester and Coventry.<\/p>\n Jaguar Land Rover<\/strong> has rebranded to JLR<\/a> with four main brands: Defender, Discovery, Jaguar and Range Rover. Yup, that\u2019s right, you did not see the Land Rover in there. The company is also continuing its push into EVs. The first car under the Jaguar brand will be a four-door electric GT with a range of about 435 miles (under WLTP) and a more than $124,000 price tag.<\/p>\n On a side note: JLR also selected<\/a> Elektrobit<\/strong> to supply its software platform and automotive OS for its next-gen EVA Continuum electrical architecture that will come to JLR\u2019s full line of vehicles beginning in 2024.<\/p>\n The U.S. Treasury<\/strong> updated its list of electric vehicles eligible for a $7,500 EV tax credit<\/a> per its new rules for battery sourcing. It initially appeared that Rivian would lose the entire tax credit. The EV company clarified<\/a> that current model year 2023 R1T and R1S vehicles\u00a0qualify<\/a>\u00a0for $3,750 in federal tax incentives, as the batteries are compliant with the critical mineral sourcing requirements passed in the Inflation Reduction Act.<\/p>\n Tesla<\/strong> kicked off Q1 earnings season<\/a> on a bit of a down note. The company\u2019s EV price-cutting strategy boosted sales, but at the expense of profits. Tesla earned $2.51 billion in net income in the first quarter, a 24% drop from the same period last year.<\/p>\n Tesla has repeatedly reduced the price of its four EVs \u2014 the Model S, Model X, Model Y and Model 3 \u2014 in the United States as well as Europe and China (including the day before earnings<\/a>). That strategy has helped push revenue in the first quarter to $23.3 billion, a 24% pop from the same period last year. But it has also squeezed the automaker\u2019s traditionally robust automotive gross margins.<\/p>\n Aston Martin<\/strong> appointed Ferrari\u2019s former chief manufacturing officer Vincenzo Regazzoni<\/strong> to the newly created position of chief industrial officer and Giorgio Lasagni<\/strong> as chief procurement officer.<\/span><\/p>\n Hyzon Motors<\/strong> named Dr. Bappa Banerjee as chief operating officer effective May 1, 2023. He was most recently vice president of mining equipment at GE Transportation.<\/p>\n Lyft<\/strong> is about to make some deep cuts<\/a> to its workforce \u2014 as many as 1,200 people, or 30%, according to WSJ, which cited unnamed sources. We know the layoffs are coming, per an email sent to employees by newly appointed CEO David Risher, who informed them that the company is \u201csignificantly reducing its workforce\u201d as part of a restructuring effort.<\/p>\n Risher said the restructuring is part of Lyft\u2019s plan to \u201cbetter meeting the needs of riders and drivers.\u201d That\u2019s code \u2014 at least for me \u2014 that other programs and services outside of ride-hailing will be axed.\u00a0What\u2019s less clear is how this might affect its bike-sharing service.<\/p>\n Redwood Materials<\/strong> hired Cal Lankton<\/strong> (former Tesla exec focused on energy sales\/infrastructure and most recently Lyft\u2019s EVP of fleet and global ops) as its chief commercial officer, per his post on LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n <\/br><\/br><\/br><\/p>\n
\nMicromobbin\u2019<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nDeal of the week<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nNotable reads and other tidbits<\/h2>\n
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<\/a><\/p>\nADAS<\/h3>\n
Autonomous vehicles<\/h3>\n
Electric vehicles, batteries & charging<\/h3>\n
Earnings<\/h3>\n
People<\/h3>\n