Canoo craters and Trump is coming for EV

Welcome back TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Register here for free – just click TechCrunch Mobility!

We are new few days The Trump administrationand it’s already firing executive orders, proclamations, and even pardons. Some have moved on to the world of “the future of transportation.”

Now let’s first clarify the executive orders. Regardless of who is president, executive orders can be political theater and are often in direct conflict with constitutional law. But they can be useful signals about the priorities of the person sitting in the Oval Office.

It is clear to President Trump that he is not in favor of EV incentives of any kind.

Among the many executive orders he signed the first day of the second termTrump ordered all institutions stop disbursement immediately From the Inflation Relief Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. He specifically called for funding for EV charging infrastructure from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program and the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program. It should be noted that Tesla, led by Trump’s ally Elon Musk, benefited from these programs.

We will monitor and report how this plays out and which companies are most at risk.

A little bird

oh Canoo! What could you be? Canoo filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and ceased all operations. We’ll be watching as it goes through bankruptcy court.

Here are some details you might not know: A few months before Canoo took over, the company closed its former headquarters in Los Angeles. A couple of little birds told us that in the months before Canoo filed for bankruptcy, many employees were transferred from California to the company’s offices in Oklahoma and Texas, leaving them unemployed in a new location.

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 these instructions to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.

Deals!

Talk about making a deal at the 11th hour.

Rivian and Department of Energy (DoE) He finalized the loan of 6.6 billion dollars It was announced in November, a few days before Trump’s inauguration. The company will use the loan to help build its Georgia plant east of Atlanta, which will begin construction in 2026. The first R2 SUVs are scheduled to leave production in 2028.

The loan comes from the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, part of DOE’s Office of Loan Programs. ATVM is best known as the program that gave Tesla a $465 million lifeline in 2009.

Other deals that caught my eye…

Ati MotorsIndian autonomous robotics startup, collected 20 million dollars Walden in an all-equity Series B funding round co-led by Catalyst Ventures and NGP Capital. It also featured existing investors including True Ventures, Exfinity Venture Partners, Athera Venture Partners and Blume Ventures.

LytefloCanadian EV software sales startup, collected 3 million dollars In seed funding led by Chart. Whitecap Venture Partners and Amplify Capital also participated.

Meta fuelSwiss aviation fuel startup, collected 9 million dollars On a tour led by Celsius Industries. Other new investors include RockCreek, Fortescue Ventures and Verve Ventures, with existing backers Energy Impact Partners and Contrarian Ventures also participating.

Momentum EnergyEV battery reset, collected 15 million dollars In a Series A round co-led by Amazon Climate Pledge Fund and Voyager Ventures. In-Q-Tel (IQT), Version One Ventures, Overture Ventures, WovenEarth Ventures, Fika Ventures, MCJ, One Small Planet and Climate Capital also participated.

Netradinwhich provides fleet owners with AI-powered dash cameras that collect vehicle data and video to improve driver safety, collected 90 million dollars At a pre-money valuation of $1.35 billion in a Series D round. The round was led by Point72 Private Investments with participation from Qualcomm Ventures and Pavilion Capital.

Voltpostlight pole EV charging company, provided $2.6 million in grant funding US Joint Energy and Community Transparency Accelerator to deploy 75 chargers in a tri-state region – New Jersey, New York and Connecticut.

Notable readings and other information

ADAS

The National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationDefects Investigation Department “improved” his research included FordA silent advanced driver assistance system — known as BlueCruise — is a required step before the recall.

Autonomous vehicles

Torc RoboticsThe independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG is closing its original test site in Albuquerque and its technology center in Stuttgart while expanding elsewhere. It is a company creation of an autonomous truck center in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, particularly in the Hillwood AllianceTexas development. The Texas location will be a hub for autonomous testing, customer cargo pilots and future commercialization planned for 2027, the company said.

Electric cars, charging and batteries

UBCOThere is an electric motorcycle startup based in New Zealand accepted. A recent start Signed an agreement with Australia Post In order to provide a fleet of new dedicated electric motorcycles, it has suspended all operations due to current lack of funding.

Technology in the car

The Federal Trade Commission ordered with the proposal to ban GM — and its subscription-based in-car safety and security system known as OnStar — from selling such data to consumer reporting agencies for five years. The proposed order stems from allegations that GM collected, used and sold drivers’ precise geolocation data and driving behavior data from millions of vehicles without adequately notifying consumers and obtaining their consent.

Two security researchers (hackers) found a way to do this remote unlock, start and track millions Subarus. The Japanese automaker has since fixed the vulnerabilities.

The future of space and flight

Okay, space isn’t really transportation. But I will occasionally include notable space stories because there is some overlap with the industries. For example, Federal Aviation Administration should slow down “for a short time” and divert a number of planes A trail of debris was seen falling in airspace near Puerto Rico SpaceX’s Starship has exploded during a test flight last Thursday.

Meanwhile, on other issues related to the weather Amazon the test was terminated delivery drones after an accident involving two of its models.

This week’s tires

While running around Las Vegas during CES 2025, I saw a post from Lucid on social media. The EV manufacturer was in Vegas offering rides in its brand new vehicles Lucid Gravity SUV.

I spent about an hour with the Lucid Gravity SUV, which went into production last month. I’ll have a longer review in the next few days, but here’s a look: Lucid nails the interior. It’s spacious, luxurious and has lots of details that reflect Lucid’s development. The company seems to be maturing.

Here is another interesting impression. When I stood outside the car, it didn’t look like an SUV. It didn’t feel great either. Still, once I climbed inside this third-row EV, the spaciousness was hard to ignore. More to come!

What is “Tires of the Week”? 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.