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Next week, Rebecca Bella will dominate the entire magazine show. Give her some love – aka tips and advice – by emailing her at rebecca.techcrunch@gmail.com.
You can also email me kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com To share ideas, criticisms, comments or suggestions. You can also send direct messages. @kirstenkorosec.
Micromobin
Supply chain constraints aren’t just hitting the automotive world. Micromobility is feeling the pain.
I reached out to about 20 companies that make electric scooters and bicycles, and most of them told me the same thing: It’s getting harder to get critical parts like motors out of China, and Russia’s war on Ukraine is making supplies like nickel more and more expensive. Difficult to find a source. The result? Many companies are trying to bring at least the final meeting as close as possible to the end consumer.
Watch this space. We may start to see new factories spring up in Europe and North America, boosting some economies while others suffer.
In other news…
Arsimoto Cybertrick Edition has unveiled an electric tilting E-Trick that it calls the Medium Tilt.
Dr. brought €32 million in 2021About 19 million rides in 29 cities.
The human forest Bumble did a deal with a mate that was pretty cool. To encourage people to try an active, outdoor day, the folks at Bumble gave them free 30-minute ride access.
TC is very much its own. Haje Jan Kamps Tried a prototype. of the cloud Three-wheeler, Mini-E.V. Despite being a small thing that’s clearly not quite ready for public service, the vehicle has real flair, and Hajee really wants to love it as much as I do. Fingers crossed this company will release the final design when the time comes.
Reasons It is starting a New fat tire, off-road e-bike Capable of 45 miles on dirt or road.
Shell it is. Making e-scooters and battery banks, i guess. Yes, Shell, the gas company that helped us pollute the universe for over a century.
Level It has introduced e-bikes to Ealing in London, adding to its existing e-scooter trial. First-time riders can use the code “EALINGTIER” on the app to get two free openings and a free 20-minute ride.
A few words on bike lanes…
A new study shows the bike lanes Increase the sales of local businesses Because they make the street more pedestrian-friendly, which increases foot traffic, so there! Shop owners should stop complaining to their local transport authorities when parking lots are repurposed for bike lanes. dead end.
Rutgers University Researchers are using VR. To help determine the feasibility of pop-up bike lanes in New Jersey.
Meanwhile New York CityA A bill is being considered to install bike lane cameras. To catch drivers parking in bike lanes and fine them $50. We love to see tech helping cyclists stay safe.
– Rebecca Belan
A little bird
We hear things and share information we can verify.
For a while we have heard rumors that everything is not over Helbyzincluding late payments to employees in at least two offices – one in the US and one in Serbia. The delayed US payment was four days late, but the Serbian workers were waiting until the second week of July for their June payment.
This was not the first time Helbiz was late paying workers. In early April, the operator missed paychecks to US workers, blaming a software glitch. A former employee told us that Helbiz had missed a paycheck in Serbia in December 2020, with employees not seeing a check until February 2021.
The issue seems to extend beyond late fees. Sources told us that the shipment of scooters is also very late and the company is unstructured, causing problems in the organization.
It’s especially concerning given the company’s plans to acquire another US scooter operator. Wheels. If you remember from last week, we reported that the Wheelers crew was getting angry. In late May/early June, Wills angered “at least 10 people,” according to one source.
– Rebecca Belan
Deal of the week
After much back and forth, the JetBlue-Spirit Airlines deal actually happened.
The concerned boards at JetBlue Airlines And Spirit Airlines It approved the merger agreement at an equity price of $3.8 billion. JetBlue will acquire Spirit for $33.50 in cash, including an upfront payment of $2.50 per share in cash when shareholders approve the transaction.
The deal is subject to a Justice Department investigation. If it closes, it will create the fifth largest airline in the United States.
Other offers this week…
Driver AIThe popular startup that uses camera-based computer vision systems to prevent scooter riders from riding on all sidewalks has closed a $5.4 million Series A round.
Everettythe EV conversion startup has received investment from former Nest CEO Matt Rogers, The Verge reports.
General Motors Bloomberg reports that $2.25 billion worth of green bonds have been sold — primarily for the auto industry.
Koinu, but the weather is not goodThe hypercar company has invested an undisclosed amount in Lightyear, the Netherlands-based startup developing the solar vehicle, which is expected to go into production this fall.
Next is GO MobileA German manufacturer of compact EVs, the blank check company Athena has announced a merger with the consumer acquisition company at a price of 913 million dollars.
Polymath Robotics, a fledgling startup that is part of the Y Combinator Summer 2022 cohort, has secured several angel investors, including Catapult Ventures Managing Director Darren Liccardo, Thursday Ventures General Partner Matt Sweeney, and Cruise Co-Founder. And CEO Kyle Vogt and Oliver Cameron, former co-founder and CEO of Voyage, are now at Cruise. (Polymaz did not disclose the total funding amount). Stefan Seltz-Axmacher, founder and CEO of Polymat, is well versed in the AV industry ecosystem. He co-founded and led the now-defunct Starsky Robotics.
Famous readings and other quotes
Automatic vehicles
Cruz In the year The Dubai Roads and Transport Authority has sent two Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles to Dubai to map the city in preparation for the planned 2023 operation.
Kodiak Robotics A commercial run between Texas, California and Florida has been completed 10 ways expressAs part of a pilot program with a USPS mail carrier.
Electric vehicles and batteries
Apple 20-year supercar maker Lamborghini has hired Luigi Taraborrelli to work on the tech company’s undisclosed electric autonomous vehicle program, Bloomberg reports.
Ars Technica It has issued guidelines for EV charging.
Bentley Motors It delayed the first EV.
General Motors Launched EV Live, a program and digital platform to educate car shoppers about EVs and target first-time buyers, the automaker is looking for ways to match and surpass rival Tesla.
Faraday Future It’s going downhill – again. The company has delayed production of the FF91 flagship electric vehicle due to a lack of funding and supply chain issues, according to a regulatory filing.
Rivian According to an internal email from founder and CEO RJ Scaring (and seen by TechCrunch ), it is laying off about 6% of its workforce (about 900 people) as part of a restructuring plan. Layoffs are hitting every department, with one big exception — regular, Illinois factory manufacturing jobs.
I am a motorist The Solar EV is finally here! Well, sort of; There is a sticky production business to contend with. The startup unveiled the final production design of the vehicle as well as a new product, the Solar Bus Kit, a series of solar panels designed to be mounted on 12m public buses.
TechCrunch’s Tim de Chant dives deep into the 725-page Manchin-Schumer bill, which includes some of the costs of EV transportation. He also wrote another TC+ (subscription) article that examines whether VW’s CEO has stalled the EV push.
US Department of Energy A old loan program revives it and the first recipient is the mutual battery work between them. GM And LG Power SolutionIt received a $2.5 billion loan from the agency to build new lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing facilities.
Ford It has released a law enforcement version of its all-electric F-150 Lightning truck.
Revenues
Major U.S. automakers reported earnings this week and the top themes that came up frequently were inflation, supply chain issues, China and EVs.
General Motors It started off with a disappointing Q2 report, where profits fell 40% year over year to $1.69 billion. The culprit? GM attributed the weak performance to reduced production in North America, supply chain disruptions and semiconductor chip shortages causing bottlenecks at its factories. And let’s not forget the pandemic-related factory shutdowns in China.
Other info: GM’s self-driving sub-Cruise is burning through cash, with expenses coming in at around $550 million, compared to $332 million in the same quarter last year. It came in at $605 million, up from a loss of $363 million last year. The price increase is due to the renewal of Cruise’s robotaxi service, an increase in headcount, as well as changes in compensation costs, CEO Kyle Vogt said.
Ford Losses were also seen in China, but gains in other regions helped the automaker bring in $40.2 billion in revenue, up 50% from the same period last year, and triple adjusted operating income to $3.7 billion.
Spotify During the second quarter earnings call, the company announced that it has discontinued production of the in-vehicle “Car Thing” that controls music.
The future of flight
Urban mobility labs In Los Angeles, he is collaborating with the South Korean Aerospace Industry-Academic Cooperation (IAAC) to explore research opportunities in air mobility planning and integration. IAIAC is working to integrate advanced air mobility in the Incheon metro region.
People
Bosch He is now reorganizing the Mobility Solutions business unit, led by Markus Hein.
Hyundai Motor North America He promoted Randy Parker to CEO of Hyundai Motor America, effective August 1.
The voiceAdvanced Materials, a company that makes lithium-sulfur batteries and other high-performance products, has hired Selina Mikolajczak as its chief battery technology officer.
Ride – praise
Uber Uber is expanding its “Comfort Electric” product, essentially electric rides, to seven more cities; Las Vegas, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Austin, Philly and Baltimore. Uber launched its luxury EV service in San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles in May.
as well as in Uber News, Ride-Ice Giant is not required to offer wheelchair-accessible service in every market, the judge said. This was a week or so after Uber settled a DOJ lawsuit over overcharging disabled drivers.
