Welcome back TechCrunch Mobility — A central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up for free here. Just click TechCrunch Mobility!
Anyone who pays even a little bit of attention Tesla You've probably heard of Dojo. Tesla CEO Elon Musk In repeatedly mentioning Dojo over the past few years, we've often mentioned that AI supercomputers are essential to the company's future.
But what exactly is Dojo? TechCrunch reporter Rebecca Bellan digs into what is believed to be the cornerstone of Tesla's AI ambitions. Check out her explanation here.
Of course, there are plenty of other things to read besides Elon Musk and Dojo. Let's take a look at the news.
dickey
Recently a little bird told us some interesting stories. Monarch TractorA startup developing an electric, self-driving tractor, Monarch’s leadership team appears to be undergoing significant changes. We learned that Monarch’s Chief Revenue Officer Kent Carroll left in August, Chief Commercial Officer Sam Abidi and VP of Product Danny Beck left in June, and Daron Hovanessian, who led product design, left in July. Abidi and Carroll had only been at Monarch for a year.
Their departure could mean anything. We’re not here to speculate, because there’s always some turmoil in the AV industry and the tech sector as a whole. But it comes at a strange time of layoffs and new funding.
Monarch Tractor recently raised $133 million in a Series C funding round co-led by agri-food technology impact company Astanor and Foxconn’s affiliate fund HH-CTBC Partnership LP. The new round values the startup at over $500 million. Monarch CEO Praveen Penmecha The latest layoffs, which represent less than 15% of Monarch's 250-300 employees, are part of a much-needed restructuring to support the young company's growth, TechCrunch reported last month.
Have a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec (kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com), Sean O'Kane (sean.okane@techcrunch.com), and Rebecca Bellan (rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com). Alternatively, check out these instructions to learn how to contact us via an encrypted messaging app or SecureDrop.
Special price!
Lucid Motors Lucid may have set a new sales record for electric luxury sedans in the second quarter, bringing in $200 million, but that doesn’t mean the EV startup is in a comfortable financial position. Lucid lost $643 million in the second quarter and is burning through cash to bring its second EV, the Gravity SUV, to market.
Simply put: Lucid needs money. Saudi Arabia Public Investment FundIt owns 60% of Lucid's stock. The country's national wealth fund invested an additional $1.5 billion, half in the form of a private placement and half in the form of a loan facility.
As Senior Reporter Sean O’Kane points out, the deal will further strengthen the relationship between Lucid and its largest shareholder, who has pledged to buy at least 50,000 electric vehicles in the coming years and is helping the company build a new factory in Saudi Arabia.
Note: This is the second time since Lucid's CEO took over that company that it has turned to Saudi Arabia for more funding. Peter Rawlinson In a March 2024 interview with the Financial Times, he warned against relying too much on the kingdom's national wealth fund.
Other deals that caught my attention…
3V InfrastructureEV charging infrastructure company has raised up to $40 million from affiliates of Greenbacker Capital Management.
Aurora InnovationThe self-driving technology startup, which went public in 2021 by merging with a special purpose acquisition company, recently announced it would sell up to $420 million worth of stock. The young company exceeded its target and raised $483 million. CEO Chris Umson We published a blog post that provides a little more context about where the company is headed.
NOTE: The new funding comes just over a year after Aurora raised $820 million in equity through a public offering and private placement of stock.
H3XThe electric motor startup has raised $20 million in a Series A round led by Infinite Capital, with participation from Hanwha AM, Cubit Capital, Origin Ventures, Industrious Ventures, and Venn10 Capital, along with existing investors Lockheed Martin Ventures, Metaplanet, Liquid 2 Ventures, and TechNexus.
Notable Reading and Other Information
Self-driving car
Waymo We are adding 10 more square miles to our robotaxi service area to include cities around San Francisco. The move, which includes Daly City, Broadmoor, and Colma, brings our total commercial service area to about 55 square miles. Waymo is also expanding its service area by 16 square miles in Los Angeles.
Do you remember last week when I highlighted the following story? Only Are you ready for a comeback? The AV company recently received approval from California regulators to expand its driverless testing area. Now, it’s dropping some hints on social media. The company posted on X that its self-driving system, called the Nuro Driver, is being tested on highways. The tweet reminded us that Nuro acquired self-driving truck startup Ike in 2020.
Electric vehicles, charging and batteries
Libyan It reported second-quarter results, showing increased financial losses as the EV maker pushed out the last of its first-generation R1 trucks and SUVs in favor of newer, more cost-effective versions. The cash burn was notable, confirming what some thought: a $5 billion deal with Volkswagen Group that came at the perfect time.
Ride sharing and the sharing economy
Uber and lift They reported their second-quarter results this week, and there were some notable highlights, including the fact that both ride-sharing companies are rolling out self-driving cars.
lift Lyft reported a GAAP profitable first quarter, but its success was tempered somewhat by a weaker outlook for Q3. Lyft also announced plans to pilot a new feature that would allow riders to purchase a monthly subscription that caps prices on specific routes at certain times. CEO David Richer Lyft says this is part of a broader plan by the company to “go wild on prime time,” which is the term Lyft uses to refer to its price hikes.
meantime, Uber (which reported strong Q2 results, with both gross bookings and net income up) highlighted the success of its autonomous vehicle efforts. The company said the number of trips taken by its autonomous vehicles has increased six-fold compared to a year ago. Important note: Uber did not provide a baseline for this figure.
Wheel of the week
TechCrunch senior reporter Sean O'Kane is tackling this problem. Pedago motto. Here are his thoughts on the new e-bike:
I haven't ridden an e-bike much, so I was eager to put in a few miles on Pedego's new moto.
For the past few weeks, I've used it almost exclusively as a daycare shuttle. It's a good option for trips that are only a few miles and usually take about 10 minutes by car. I can basically make the trip by bike in the same amount of time.
My 3 year old loves this experience and I can’t blame him since the bike resembles a motorcycle. It’s a sleek bike that’s similar in style to Super73 bikes (and their many imitations), but the step-through design makes it easy to get on and off without risking kicking my son in the face.
Thanks to the shock absorbers (front and rear), the ride is surprisingly smooth, even on brick roads (we live near the historic district) or on the rough roads leading to the kindergarten (the soil here is sandy, so there are a lot of uneven or broken asphalt).
The moto is heavy, making it a bit tricky to maneuver, and the weight seems to affect how slow it can be when starting off using just the throttle (even with the 750W motor set to top speed). But those are compromises I'm willing to make for the bike's solid performance. The huge tires always feel close to the ground, and they're even more stable when a kid is on board.
I love this product so much that I drive my kids to and from school in my truck even in hot and humid weather. It's not easy at all.
What is “Wheel of the Week”? It’s a chance to learn about the different transportation products we’re testing, whether it’s electric or hybrid cars, e-bikes or autonomous vehicles.
