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Welcome again to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for information and insights on the way forward for transportation. Enroll right here without spending a dime — simply click on TechCrunch Mobility!
Okay, okay — bear in mind final week after I urged Tesla was being a bit additional in its bid to persuade shareholders to vote in favor of relocating the corporate to Texas and to approve CEO Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay deal?
I used to be fallacious, y’all. Or extra precisely put, I used to be untimely in my declaration. As a result of this week Tesla took it to a complete new stage by dangling the prospect to win a manufacturing facility tour with Elon and chief designer Franz von Holzhausen. That’s proper, we’ve obtained a sweepstakes-for-votes scheme occurring. Shareholders who vote might win a tour of the Tesla manufacturing facility in Austin and an invite to the June 13 annual assembly.
What is going to they provide up subsequent? Dinner with Elon? A Cybertruck? The stakes are excessive and the June 13 annual shareholder assembly is approaching — two substances that promise to bake up some entertaining developments.
Earlier than we leap into the information, only a heads-up that I will probably be handing the wheel over to reporter Rebecca Bellan subsequent week as I head off for some idle time.
A little bit hen
So many little birds got here to us — and posted on social media — a couple of new spherical of layoffs at struggling EV startup Fisker. Based mostly on our accounting, a whole bunch of staff had been laid off.
Fisker has been in a tailspin for months and has made a number of rounds of layoffs. This newest minimize is getting near the bone. The corporate employed about 1,135 workers as of April 19. Sources inform us that after layoffs in late April and this new, deeper minimize, solely about 150 individuals stay on the firm.
Acquired a tip for us? E-mail Kirsten Korosec at [email protected], Sean O’Kane at [email protected] or Rebecca Bellan at [email protected]. Or try these directions to learn to contact us by way of encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.
Offers!
Only a good old style roundup of offers this week. Right here’s the place the cash is headed.
Orca AI, a London-based startup that claims to have powered the world’s first autonomous industrial ship voyage in congested waters, has raised $23 million in a spherical led by OCV Companions and MizMaa Ventures.
Redwood Supplies inked a deal to recycle EV battery manufacturing scrap for Ultium Cells, the joint battery manufacturing enterprise between GM and LG Vitality Resolution.
Relectrify, an Australian startup growing an inverter-free battery, raised $17 million in a spherical led by One Ventures. Toyota Ventures, the Australian Clear Vitality Finance Corp., Vitality Innovation Capital, GS Futures, Artistic Ventures, and NOAB Ventures additionally participated.
Zypp Electrical, the Indian EV fleet startup, raised $15 million as a part of a Collection C spherical that its founder tasks will ultimately be between $35 million and $40 million when it closes this summer season. Japanese oil and vitality conglomerate Eneos led the funding.
Notable reads and different tidbits
Autonomous automobiles
The U.S. Nationwide Freeway Visitors Security Administration has added 9 extra incidents to its investigation into Waymo’s autonomous automobile software program.
Electrical automobiles, charging & batteries
Cylib has a compelling pitch for automakers that its founders say will give the Germany-based battery recycling startup an edge over larger rivals.
Lucid Motors introduced it was shedding about 400 workers, or roughly 6% of its workforce, as a part of a restructuring forward of the launch of its first electrical SUV later this yr. The layoffs come a little bit greater than a yr because it minimize 1,300 jobs.
A reader reached out greater than a month in the past and requested, What occurred to Onyx Motorbikes? TC reporter Rebecca Bellan spent weeks unraveling the story of what occurs when the proprietor and CEO of an organization out of the blue dies with out a succession plan.
Archer Aviation continues to snap up companions in its bid to commercialize electrical flight. This time, Archer and ride-hailing and parking firm Kakao Mobility have agreed to work collectively to deliver electrical air taxi flights to South Korea beginning in 2026.
In-car tech and apps
Apple and the Paris space transportation authority, generally known as Île-de-France Mobilités (IDFM), rolled out help for transit passes in Apple Pockets, which is able to enable individuals to make use of their iPhone or Apple Watch as a Navigo go to journey the metro, prepare, tram or bus. That is noteworthy on two fronts: The Apple integration is the results of years of negotiation between the tech large and IDFM, and it’s coming on-line simply two months earlier than tens of millions of persons are anticipated to return to Paris this summer season for the Olympic Video games. And yep, Android customers have been ready to make use of their cellphone as a Navigo go for some time.
Chinese language EV makers haven’t made vital inroads within the U.S. simply but, however that doesn’t imply individuals aren’t apprehensive. U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin will introduce a invoice to Congress that will restrict or ban the introduction of linked automobiles constructed by Chinese language corporations if they’re discovered to pose a risk to nationwide safety.
Keep in mind Spotify’s huge launch into {hardware} with its Automotive Factor gadget? It was short-lived. Spotify stopped making the gadget in July 2022 however mentioned it will help present house owners of the $100 gadget. Welp, these days are over. Spotify advised prospects that the Automotive Factor will cease working after December 9, 2024.
This week’s wheels
What’s “This week’s wheels”? It’s an opportunity to study in regards to the totally different transportation merchandise we’re testing, whether or not it’s an electrical or hybrid automotive, an e-bike or perhaps a journey in an autonomous automobile.
This week, TC contributor Emme Corridor shared her views — and first-look impressions — of the 2025 Cadillac Optiq EV. That is the fourth EV that Cadillac has revealed since 2022, though it must be famous that just one — the Lyriq — is at the moment on the market.
Corridor goes into depth right here, so please test it out. For many who need the tl;dr: Cadillac clearly needs to draw new, youthful patrons in a bid to breathe new life into the luxurious model. The Optiq seems to be its reply — no less than for now. As Corridor notes, the automobile is a “looker” and is the most affordable EV within the Cadillac lineup. In different phrases, Cadillac designed a thirst entice to hook younger patrons. However will it work? With so many midsized crossovers in the marketplace right this moment, it’s robust to face out and entice patrons.
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