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Welcome back TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. This will be the last newsletter of 2024! But don’t worry, we’ll be back in 2025. Thanks for reading and your emails. I love buying them. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year.
I didn’t meet Jean Jennings until long after he had cemented his status as an icon of automotive journalism. By then, Jennings (formerly Lindamood) was editor of Car and Driver and helped found Automobile Magazine. – where he would eventually become editor-in-chief – and started a website called Jean Knows Cars. Jennings died on December 16 At age 70 after living with Alzheimer’s disease.
To say he is well known in the industry is an understatement. Ford CEO Jim Farley and Chairman Bill Ford to give you an idea of its impact issued an official statement Stellantis designer Ralph Gilles and many others in the industry posted their memories of Jean on social media.
And for good reason. Jennings lived and breathed cars, first as a mechanic and later as a journalist and editor. His articles and travels are part of automotive lore. When he got out of there, I was just dipping my toe in the puddle of car wash, but I still knew of Jennings. It wasn’t just his writing that was witty and delightful. It was the whole package of energy that sometimes made him a central character in other articles like Brock Yates. 1983 Baja Mexico Sedan Torture Test Article in C&D.
Of course, once you met him (which I was lucky enough to do), you couldn’t forget him. Hats off to you, Jean.
Before moving on to the rest of the news, check out TechCrunch The 51 most disruptive startups of 2024 learning about some interesting technologies and companies outside of transportation.
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A little bird
Do you have a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.comAt Sean O’Kane sean.okane@techcrunch.comor Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or check it out these instructions to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.
Deals!
The The Biden administration is racing to approve a number of initiatives, including clean energy credits, before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Recent Department of Energy (DOE) loan recipients include StarPlus Energy (a battery joint venture between Stellantis and Samsung) and Rivian.
This week, it’s EVgo startup’s turn to charge the electric car.
DOE approved a loan of 1.25 billion dollars Helping EVgo install 7,500 public charging units at 1,100 charging stations across the US over the next five years. The first deployments will include a 350kW DC fast-charging facility that can charge two cars at once.
Other deals that caught my eye…
Bikmoa UK start-up providing insurance for bikes and cyclists, It raised £4.75 million ($5.9 million) in a round led by Puma Growth Partners.
Honda and Nissan is said to be in merger talks. If they come together, the combination, which could include Mitsubishi, would be the world’s third-largest automaker. The intrigue surrounding the potential deal grew even more interesting when Bloomberg reported that discussions were accelerating after Taiwan-based iPhone maker Foxconn. applied to Nissan to buy a share in the company.
NanoramicAn advanced battery technology startup based in Boston, collected 44 million dollars In a round co-led by General Motors Ventures and Catalus Capital, with participation from existing investors including Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, Top Material and Fortistar Capital and WindSail Capital Group.
BackCroatian developer of advanced autonomous drone systems, It collected 5.8 million euros ($6 million) in a seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners with participation from Radius Capital, Decisive Point and existing investor Day One Capital.
Slip Robotics collected 28 million dollars The Series B funding round led by DCVC and saw participation from existing investors Eve Atlas, Tech Square Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Overline and Pathbreaker Ventures. DCVC’s James Hardiman joined the board.
VaeridionGerman aviation startup developing an electric aircraft for short-haul commercial flights has raised a €14 million Series A funding round led by the World Fund with participation from Project A Ventures, Vsquared Ventures, Andreas Kupke, Schwarz Holding and InnovationQuarter.
ZingbusIndian Intercity Bus Service, collected 9 million dollars in a Series A funding round from BP Ventures.
Notable readings and other information
Autonomous vehicles
Waymo continues to move into locations where previous competitors plan to set up shop. The latest example: Waymo is bringing it Robot taxi to Tokyo 2025 as part of a Japanese “road trip” with taxi service GO program and taxi company Nihon Kotsu with its partners. History lesson: Cruise planned to launch in Japan in 2026 through a partnership with Honda.
Waymo may dominate, but its robotics still has problems. One recently caught on the roundabout.
Reuters Trump’s transition team has obtained a document showing deep interest in ending a federal rule requires car manufacturers to report accidents when advanced driver assistance or autonomous driving technology is activated. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long opposed federal accident reporting rules. The timing of this is noteworthy. If successful, federal safety agencies would lose the ability to investigate and regulate the safety of vehicles with automated driving systems as more automation comes to public roads.
Drop the drama TuSimple continues. This time co-founder and former CEO Xiaodi Hou drives shareholders replace the board and replace him with new members who will support the liquidation of the company.
Zoox hired Zheng Gao as director of hardware engineering. Zheng was most recently at Tesla, where he worked for eight years and was the head of Tesla’s Autopilot hardware engineering team. Before Tesla, Zheng was at Apple for nine years.
Electric cars, charging and batteries
Canoo does suffering for cash. An EV startup has emptied its factory and laid off workers as it seeks emergency funding.
The Environmental Protection Agency (still under the Biden administration) will allow California ban most sales New gas and diesel cars and light trucks starting in 2035. However, keep in mind that the incoming Trump administration will surely reverse this.
Ram delayed the electric truck to 2026, and will instead put an enlarged truck known as the Ramcharger at the front of the line. Behind the decision is lagging EV demand.
Tesla brings back free supercharger to customers who purchase a new Model S. But it seems like a bit of a shell game, because Tesla also raised the price of the Model S by $5,000.
Technology in the car
Rivian has released a new software update that brings long-awaited apps for its cars, including the in-car experience. YouTube, Google Cast and SiriusXM (by subscription).
Other random transpo news!
Cocoa MobilityIt was the attraction division of Korean tech firm Kakao Fined 10.5 million dollars (KRW 15.1 billion) for restricting competitors’ access to the taxi app.
of the alphabet wing expands Partnering with DoorDash Bringing drone delivery to customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.
This week’s tires
TechCrunch reporter Rebecca Bellan spent time in 2025 Lucid Air Pure – twice! You can do it read the entire review here. But for those who want to get the gist, here it is.
The 2025 Lucid Air Pure is dreamy, sexy and luxurious — and has some decent tech to boot — even though it’s the cheapest trim in the EV maker’s current lineup. As Bella writes, “I felt elegant and sophisticated while driving, but in a simple way—like I was wearing designer sweatpants.” I guess that means the Lucid Air Pure is the equivalent of an expensive sport.
Again, did it turn out to be worth it? Bellan says yes, but only if Lucid continues to improve its software via over-the-air updates.
As someone who has driven the Lucid Air a few times, I was pleased to find that some of my biggest complaints, such as the car ping-ponging when the lane centering feature is engaged, have been addressed.
What is “Tires of the Week”? It’s a chance to learn about the different transportation products we test, whether it’s an electric or hybrid car, an e-bike or even a ride in an autonomous car. Future cars include a new generation Rivian R1S and Volkswagen ID Buzz. Stay with us.
