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I’m back from holidays in Denmark and Germany, where I managed to try almost every mode of transport, from bicycles to scooters, to driving the Autobahn and taking the train. I also took a few ferries. It’s safe to say that Copenhagen’s bike culture made me jealous.
The TechCrunch team was busy as always thanks Tesla shareholder meeting, some financing deals and developments in the EV world. The big one: Fisker filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Here’s a timeline of the events leading up to the bankruptcy filing, as well as a senior reporter Sean O’Kane’s part about why Fisker failed.
And in case you missed it, I also highly recommend this deeply reported article (from late May) by O’Kane that exposed the many problems within Fisker.
A little bird
Do you have a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or see these instructions to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.
Offers!
This week’s biggest deal comes from self-driving truck startups Waabi. The company raised $200 million in a round from existing investors Uber and Khosla Ventures, along with a number of strong strategic investors such as Nvidia, Volvo Group VC, Porsche Automobil Holding SE and more.
Waabi plans to use the funding to reach a fully driverless commercial launch in 2025, but that’s not the only reason investors are so bullish on the young startup. Waabi’s underlying generative AI model is capable of reasoning almost like a human, without requiring reams of real-world data to train on, according to the startup’s founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun. This makes the AI ​​system more capital efficient and easier to scale to autonomous transportation and beyond.
Urtasun said AI’s ability to generalize and develop quickly means Waabi can expand the technology to other applications, such as robotaxis, humanoids or warehouse robotics.
Other offers that caught my eye…
Bitsensing raised a $25 million Series B to further develop its high-resolution radar technology for autonomous vehicles. Investors include Korea Development Bank, HL Mando Corporation, Industrial Bank of Korea and Aju Capital.
Carbon LD raised $28 million in a Series C round led by Toyota’s growth fund Woven Capital to advance the circular economy by diverting used tires from landfills. The startup also aims to develop recycled high-performance car parts, according to a statement sent to TechCrunch.
RBW EV, a London-based electric vehicle manufacturer of new classic British handcrafted sports cars, raised £10 million from Meson Capital Partners. The startup currently offers a Roadster model with a starting price of around $135,000 and plans to debut its GT model later this year with a starting price of $151,000.
Unigrid raised $12 million in a round led by Transition VC and Ritz Venture Capital to produce sodium-ion batteries, which promise to be a cheaper and safer alternative that can complement lithium-ion batteries.
Visible readings and other data
Autonomous vehicles
or University of Central Florida The study suggests that autonomous vehicles (AVs) are safer than humans in routine circumstances during daylight hours. But in other conditions they struggle, according to New Scientist.
California Sen. Dave Cortese shelved his bill SB 915 (which would have given cities more control over AV deployment) after an Assembly committee proposed amendments that would effectively strip the bill of its intent original. The AV industry sees this as a victory, but Cortese said he would eventually reintroduce it.
Project 3 MobilityCroatia-based autonomous vehicle startup co-founded by Mate Rimacis set to make what it describes as a “big reveal” on June 26. As a reminder, the company recently raised 100 million euros ($107 million) in a Series A round that included backing from TASARU Mobility Investments, a company wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
Electric vehicles, charging and batteries
Chinese vehicle and battery manufacturer BYD signed an MoU with Ampersand, an African EV technology company, to decarbonize Africa’s commercial motorcycle transport system. The deal involves Ampersand buying BYD’s battery cells to build around 40,000 e-motorcycles by the end of 2026.
ChargePoint is joining South Korea LG Electronics to install more EV charging stations in the US As part of the deal, ChargePoint will provide software to operate LG’s EV chargers, and LG will supply hardware to power ChargePoint’s network.
spree has hired several more former Tesla employees to leadership positions on its EV infrastructure team, the startup announced. This appears to be part of a growing trend by automakers and electric vehicle charging companies to scoop up top talent that Elon Musk seems to have released on a whim six weeks ago.
Ultium workers at GM’s Lordstown, Ohio, battery plant have voted to ratify a new contract that will give production workers $35 an hour through October 2027, as well as health and safety benefits and protections.
Tesla
Tesla held its shareholder meeting last Thursday after an unprecedented social media battle waged by fans of Musk and Tesla. It should surprise no one that investors voted to approve Elon Musk’s astronomical pay package. They also voted in favor of reincorporating Tesla in Texas.
Now Tesla has begun to fight for legal recognition of the shareholder vote. The automaker wrote to the Delaware judge who, in January, ruled that Musk’s pay package was unfair to say that the shareholder vote “significantly influences” its decision to cancel the pay.
This isn’t the only legal battle Tesla has been embroiled in over the past week. While some shareholders want to give Musk everything he asked for, others are resisting him. A group of shareholders sued Musk and Tesla’s board last week, alleging they breached fiduciary duties and unjustly enriched Musk by allowing the CEO to launch xAI, which they say is a competing AI company.
Different.
Fast trade startups promising 15-minute delivery rose and fell in US cities. But in India, the sector is growing alongside the rapid urbanization of the country. Will Indian e-commerce startups, which are increasingly moving into the e-commerce market, be able to find product-market fit and strong unit economics where US startups can’t? ?
This week’s wheels
What is “This Week’s Wheels”? It’s a chance to learn about the different transportation products we’re testing, whether it’s an electric or hybrid car, an e-bike or even a ride in an autonomous vehicle. In the coming weeks, we will share our views on Fiat 500esome e-bikes, 2024 Nissan Ariya Empower+and more.