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Welcome back to The Station , your key hub for all past , present and future means of moving multitude and packages from Point A to Point B.
Your usual host Kirsten was shredding off - road at the Rebelle Rally this week , so I ’ll be assume over the newssheet . Let ’s chute in with a few actor’s line about Tesla .
Ah , but before Rebecca goes . . . it ’s me , Kirsten , popping in here to share a bit of what I run across and experienced atRebelle Rally 2023 , a 2,120 - kilometer off - road and navigation competition . In its eighth year , the Rebelle has become a proving priming of sort for the 65 all - women teams who take part as well as stock manufacturer vehicles . The catch ? GPS and other electronic devices are strictly prohibited .
So what am I check out out at thisseeminglynon - tech consequence ? EVs and technical school , of row . Oh , and gullible hydrogen , believe it or not .
There were 10 vehicles out of the 65 that fall into the electrified family such as the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 4xe . Four of those fomite — all of themRivianR1 T pickup — were galvanising . And this twelvemonth , one Rivian squad took first place in the 4×4 grade ( there are two classes in the Rebelle ) — the first time an all - electrical vehicle was on the top ambo . The first place finisher , number one wood Lillian Macaruso and navigator Alexandra Anderson , are both employees ofRivian .
OK , Rebecca , back to you .
Teslareported its third - after part profit this week , and once again , all heart were on the car manufacturer ’s marginsamid ongoing price cuts .
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Tesla ’s portion , which are price more as a tech stock than as an automaker ’s stock , were down after Q3 earnings . investor were intelligibly feel skittish after Tesla reported a gross margin of 17.9 % , down from 25.1 % in the same period last twelvemonth . That ’s also down from Q2 ’s perimeter of 18.2 % . As a effect , profits come down 44%to $ 1.85 billion in Q3 from the same twelvemonth - ago full point .
investor see the falling leeway and Tesla ’s price snub as test copy that demand is lessening for the vehicles as other EVs take market place plowshare and rising interest rates make it difficult for many buyers to afford giving just the ticket purchases . The troupe also reported thatsolar deployment slipped 48%in Q3 from the same period last twelvemonth . But the company made up for it by pulling in a 90 % capitulum in energy storage deployment .
Tesla also break some update about its long - delayed Cybertruck . Initial bringing are jell for an effect at Giga Texas onNovember 30 . Elon Musk mention that scaling the Cybertruck will be arduous and it will take 18 monthsbefore the pickup is profitable .
“ I mean , we poke our own grave with Cybertruck , ” said Musk .
The billionaire executive also said Giga Texas will be able-bodied to produce about 250,000 Cybertrucks a class initiate in 2025 . But lease ’s remember that Musk is n’t great at take a leak predictions . After all , he ab initio said the Cybertruck would be on the market by 2021 . Expect some of these numbers to be pushed out , too .
Want to reach out with a tip , gossip or complaint ? Email Kirsten atkirsten.korosec@techcrunch.comor Rebecca at rebecca.techcrunch@gmail.com .
Reminder that you could cut down us a musical note attips@techcrunch.com . If you prefer to remain anonymous , click here to reach us , which includes SecureDrop ( instruction here ) and various encrypted electronic messaging apps .
Micromobbin’
This workweek was the craft showMicromobility America . Here are some of the unspoilt bits that came out of it :
Birdis now doing e - bikes again ? But instead of the VanMoof clone of previous years , Bird has partner withTradeHubb , an e - bike provider , andSpring , a strategical retail increment fellowship , to establish the wheel . You might recall that Bird last yearditched its retail bike offeringto focus on shared rides in an attempt to reach profitability . The struggling company was also recently delist from the stock market place . Who bonk what ’s run on behind the conniption ? I tried reaching out to find out more , but no answer . If you have a top , pip me up !
The squad atRide Reviewlaunched theRider ’s Choice Awardsagain , for those who want to vote . victor will be announced January 25 .
The folks behind Micromobility America also launched theElectric Rider Alliance , a 501c6 membership organization that is set up to “ create a level playing field in the transport industry for the small galvanizing fomite ecosystem through standards , lobbying and government activity . ”
In other news . . .
Bolt Mobilityis introducing aloofness - based pricing for some of its micromobility vehicles . The aim here is to incentivize rider to slow down down and tantalize more safely , rather than racing the clock .
An e - scooter that take care like a Cybertruck ? Check outInfinite Machine ’s first product , the P1 , which ison sale now .
MeetShane , atwo - wheel EV conception place - pod - looking thingfrom the Almighty of the original hoverboard , Shane Chen .
Deal of the week
Kirsten here again!Convoyisn’t a traditional flock of the week , but its crash sure got my attention .
The digital freight broker told employees this retiring week it was shutting down due to what executive director described as a “ massive freightage recession . ” It wrench out that disrupting the freight business organization is hard .
The sharp closure , which pass over out investors , derive about 18 months since the Seattle - ground companyraised $ 260 millionin fresh financing that pushed its valuation to $ 3.8 billion .
I go back and learn aninterview TechCrunch conductedwith Convoy cobalt - founder and CEODan Lewis . A few things he say stuck out , namely what led him to start the company in the first stead . The former Amazon and Google administrator , who has a scope in scheme and management consulting , told TechCrunch that when he was hit by the impulse to start a company , he researched the money - pull in industry of the populace , and then , using AngelList , saw how many companies were trying to cut off those industries .
Here ’s the nugget :
His search yielded thousands of fellowship that were work on industriousness place from telecommunication and fashion to video games and food . jillion of dollar were going into trucking each year but fewer than 30 startups depict an stake in the field .
“ I saw a monolithic opportunity and few masses going after it , ” Lewis told TechCrunch .
And then later , when asked if his method of settle on a direction for a startup is still a good method , Lewis articulate , in short , yes . Readthe whole interviewfrom May 2022 here .
Other mass that dumbfound our attention . . .
Hayden AI , an AI and geospatial analytics society , stir $ 53 million in a Series B funding round lead by the Drawdown Fund . The society ’s technical school is being used by administration agencies to impose traffic violations that obstruct transit charabanc and enchant information to aid increase ridership and improve traffic efficiency .
Commercial fleet insurance policy startupNirvana Insurancehasraised a $ 57 million Series Bto lucubrate its big data point platform , hire newfangled staff and grow its patronage in the trucking industry . Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round , with General Catalyst and Valor Equity Partners also participating . The round of drinks doubles Nirvana ’s valuation to more than $ 350 million post - money .
Supply concatenation logistics companyTransfixraised a $ 40 million Series F. The troupe is backed by New Enterprise Associates , G Squared and Canvas Ventures .
EV charging companyWallboxhas acquired the operations and assets of German - base EV charging solutions companyABLfor € 15 million . Together the architectural plan is to deploy more than 1 million courser globally .
Volta Trucksfiled for bankruptcy proceedings in Sweden as difficulty with provider evidence a hindrance to provoke funds . Volta say the failure in August of Proterra , an EV parts provider , and the dubiety over its own battery provider means it needed to cut down the phone number of trucks it could farm . Conte Alessandro Volta , which is based in Sweden but has operations in the U.K. , also say it would file for failure in Britain .
Notable reads and other tidbits
Autonomous vehicles
Cruise , General MotorsandHondaare set in motion arobotaxi service in Japanunder a new joint venture . The service will launch with Origin vehicle in Tokyo in 2026 .
Speaking ofCruise , theNational Highway Traffic Safety Administration ( NHTSA)hasopened an investigationinto the GM subsidiary ’s AV arrangement following several incidents involving pedestrians in San Francisco . The most late one bequeath a cleaning lady adhere under a Cruise robotaxi after being hit by a human - driven fomite .
FoxconnandNvidiaare edifice “ AI mill ” to help accelerate Av , robotics and other smart lotion . The AI manufactory put the two against Tesla , which is build the Dojo supercomputer to do more or less the same affair — take in huge amounts of data , prepare it , tweak codification and mail it back out to ego - drive cars .
Waymoreleased alightweight simulator squall Waymaxfor the AV enquiry residential district . The simulator is designed to educate multiple agentive role to do complex , naturalistic behaviors .
Electric vehicles, charging & batteries
BMW Groupsays it will assume the NACS charging monetary standard in the U.S. and Canada . Drivers of BMW , Mini and Rolls - Royce make will gain access to Tesla Superchargers in former 2025 , and in that same class , BMW says it will implement NACS in EVs sold in the U.S. and Canada across those same brands .
speak of NACS , global EV charging networkChargePointhas officially opened its AC and DC tons and is now deploying NACS connectors across its web .
General Motorsisdelaying its $ 4 billion planto commute the Orion Assembly flora into an EV truck mill to previous 2025 amid buffer EV demand and , we ’re guessing , the ongoing UAW strike .
Kiahas startedtaking reservations for its EV9full - sized SUV . Reservations are $ 750 and can be apply to the purchase of the society . This is one of the first fomite Kia has allowed customers to hold in advance .
Lucidmissed Wall Street delivery estimatesin the third one-fourth by about 500 vehicles . The auto manufacturer delivered 1,457 of its sumptuousness Air sedans , reporting flat increment year - over - yr . The final result mail shares down as investors worried about softening need for Lucid ’s only EV .
California - based EV startupPebbleunveiled aprototype of its flagship all - electric locomotion trailer . The $ 100,000 EV is design to support a digital nomad looking to get recede in the wilderness — it can subsist off - grid for seven days .
Commercial EV startupREE Automotivehas account an order book that now add together $ 25 million for its modular battery EV program , dedicated to B2B client .
About 10,000 ofRivian ’s all - galvanising vans aredelivering packagesthroughout the U.S. forAmazon .
Teslahas advocate the Biden administration to adopt rigorous fuel economy standards than the NHTSA has proposed . Most other auto maker have already aver the NHTSA ’s proposal was unfeasible , so Tesla ’s call on regulators to duplicate down seems to be yet another agency theEV manufacturer can one - up its challenger .
Toyotahas also joined the NACS bandwagon . The automaker will progress certain Toyota and Lexus vehicles from 2025 onward with an NACS port .
Future of flight
EVTOL companyArcher Aviationplans tostart air taxi operations in Abu Dhabiin 2026 . From there , Archer say it will expand across the UAE as part of a memoranda of understanding with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office .
Miscellaneous
TheUnited Auto Workersstrike isaffecting CES.Stellantiscanceled its planned presentations for the technical school craft show in January , citing the monetary value of on-going UAW strikes .
Zipcarisgetting hit with a finefrom the NHTSA for “ renting vehicle with open , unrepaired recall . ” One recollection worry 2015–2017 Ford Transit Vans , which continued to appear on Zipcar ’s platform despite safety issues with the vehicle .
People
Autobrainshired Uri Yacovy , a former SVP at Mobileye , as its master operating policeman .
Logistics companyFlexportislaying off 20 % of prole , or about 600 people , go past off a upsurge of faculty upheavals at the party .
