Ford prepares for next war, Waymo recalls its self-driving car software, another self-driving startup lays off employees
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welcome back TechCrunch Mobile — A central hub for news and insights about the future of transportation.This week’s news includes BMW Security breach exposes sensitive information, federal agencies fight back against Tesla super bowl ad and a new federal investigation Fisker.
But first, I want to talk about my recent visit to the law, where I met some people Ford Executives understand their priorities for 2024 and beyond.
It can be said with certainty Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer and Tesla is the most important; in the view of Ford executives, low-cost electric vehicles and cutting-edge software are the best ways to stop these threats. The company’s recently revealed Skunk Works project for electric vehicles is tasked with this task.
Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawlor In an interview at company headquarters, he didn’t mince words.
“We have to assume they’re going to be here eventually,” Lawler said. “China has been looking for its own global champion for decades. They couldn’t get there using traditional gasoline cars; they saw the writing on the wall as far back as 2010 that electric power was the way to go, and since then they’ve Just keep subsidizing and focusing on that.”
Lawler said Chinese automakers are now competitive. Now that China has the production capacity and “fantastic” designs, it is expanding into other regions.
“This is not a short-bet game; it’s long,” Lawler said. “So everyone is thinking about the next few years, they’re thinking about the next 25, 30 years. They’re not worried about what’s happening now. They’re going to continue to expand their footprint, build their brand, continue to develop their technology, advance There will, ultimately, be no obstacles to the advanced development of vehicles.”
China and Tesla aren’t the only issues causing collective gray matter concern.Ford CEO Jim Farley It also intends to recoup $2 billion in cost savings across the company’s industrial systems. A big part of that is improving the quality of new cars – which is directly tied to warranty costs – a point he emphasized in a recent interview at Wolf Research’s Global Automotive and Automotive Technology Conference in New York.
let’s go!
a little bird
A little birdie pointed us to a recent document about faraday future This caught our attention. For those unfamiliar, Faraday Future is an electric vehicle startup that went public in 2021 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company. There was a time when Faraday Future was the busiest place for a startup. But years of internal drama, a revolving door at the top and federal investigations have left the company in financial trouble.
Now it appears the company is at risk of losing its Los Angeles headquarters. After Faraday Future failed to pay rent, the company’s landlord filed a lawsuit seeking to reclaim the commercial space. The current bill is close to $1 million.
Any tips for us?e-mail Kirsten Korosek Send an email to kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or Sean O’Kane Sean.okane@techcrunch.com. If you wish to remain anonymous, Click here to contact uswhich includes SecureDrop (Description here) and various encrypted messaging applications.
Trades of the week
No deals this week! Instead, here’s a list of deals that caught my attention.
Sierra LeoneThe hydrogen fuel cell startup has raised $4.5 million in a seed round co-led by Maniv and Dynamo Ventures, with major participation from EPS Ventures.
revelThe Brooklyn-based startup, initially known for its fleet of rentable blue electric scooters, is reportedly trying to raise $200 million in equity, according to Bloomberg. The company shut down its shared moped business in November and is now trying to build an electric ride-hailing and electric vehicle fast-charging business.
roamingA Kenyan electric vehicle startup has raised $24 million in Series A funding, including a debt commitment of up to $10 million from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Equator, an Africa-focused climate tech venture capital fund, led the round, with participation from At One Ventures, TES Ventures, Renew Capital, The World We Want and One Small Planet.
Skyro TechnologyThe provider of direct-to-device satellite connectivity services has raised $37 million in a funding round co-led by Intel Capital and Innovation Endeavors, with participation from BMW i Ventures, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Seraphim Space and Next47.
speeda startup developing sustainable aviation fuel, raised $40 million from Carbon Direct Capital, Lightrock, GenZero and Kibo Investments.
Noteworthy Reads and Other Tidbits
Advanced driver assistance system
General Motors is expanding the use of Super Cruise, with plans to allow drivers to use the hands-free advanced driver assistance system on approximately 750,000 miles of roads in the United States and Canada. The expansion will nearly double the automaker’s Super Cruise network by 2025, which includes rural and smaller highways.
this National Transportation Safety Board Ordered Project Dawn The group stopped using its seal after it appeared in a Super Bowl ad calling for consumers to boycott Tesla.
self-driving cars
cruise named Steve KnollHe is a veteran of the self-driving car industry, having held senior safety positions at Kodiak, Locomation, Aurora and Uber’s now-defunct self-driving unit. first “Chief Security Officer.” My take: This is a position Cruise should have taken years ago. Cruise, meanwhile, lost another key employee. Cruise hardware chief Carl Jenkins resigned from the company.
May Liquidity 40 people were laid off, accounting for about 13% of the total number of employees.
san francisco giants Cruise robotaxi livery patches are being replaced with a less controversial livery patch that advertises Chevrolet, another GM brand.
Waymo The company voluntarily recalled the software that powers its fleet of robotaxis after two vehicles crashed into the same tractor-trailer pickup truck in Phoenix, Arizona, in December. This is the company’s first recall. As reporter Sean O’Kane points out, the recall comes as self-driving cars face intense scrutiny after a series of high-profile crashes and controversies, including one this week involving a group in San Francisco Incidents of people swarming, vandalizing and setting fire to Waymo robotaxis.
Electric vehicles, charging and batteries
electric car According to Automotive News , 2023 is shaping up to be a white-hot year, but December numbers show sales are cooling off. According to data from S&P Global Mobility, new registrations of electric vehicles will increase by 52% in 2023 compared with the previous year. Electric vehicles currently account for 7.7% of the U.S. light vehicle market, up from 5.7% a year ago.
Lucid Motor Company The price of its luxury Air sedan has dropped by thousands of dollars. Lucid is also getting attention National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this week.The supervisory authority has opened a case for investigation wide awake recalled windshield defroster in January and expressed “concerns” that the company’s over-the-air update solution would not be enough to fix the problem. Is NHTSA starting to boycott OTAs?
this National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Second survey of electric vehicle startups launched Fiskerof the Ocean SUV after the agency received four complaints about the vehicle rolling unexpectedly, including one person being injured.Fisker also received a request from New York Stock Exchange Because according to a regulatory filing, the company’s stock has closed below $1 in the past 30 days.
starThe parent company of Jeep, Chrysler and other brands announced that it will adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS). Stellantis is the last major Western automaker to announce NACS compliance.
Ride hailing and ridesharing
jump drivingThe youth ride-sharing startup will surpass two key new California emissions standards in 2023, an achievement it believes will support its increased reliance on shared ride-sharing vehicles to transport children and teenagers to and from school.
This week’s wheel
Image Source: Kirsten Korosek
On my short trip to Michigan I used 2023 Ford Mustang Mach-E Driving to Dearborn and Detroit for various meetings. (Press vehicle provided by Ford.)
my main interest is blue cruise ship, hands-free active driving assistance system. Thanks to multiple 20- to 30-mile commutes (most of which were on the highway), I had plenty of time to test it out. I’m testing version 1.3 of Blue Cruise, which accelerates or brakes to maintain a selected following distance from the vehicle ahead, keeping the vehicle centered in the lane and steering. When the driver signals, the vehicle will change lanes. It will also suggest passing if traffic is slow.
what do I like: Enabling Blue Cruise is easy and very clear while the system handles driving. Overtaking is crisp and cars don’t play ping pong in the lane, which is common in other systems. My one nitpick is that when Blue Cruise is activated, the word “Ready” lights up green in the dash just below Blue Cruise (see picture). This “ready” has nothing to do with Blue Cruise, but is to let electric vehicle drivers know that their vehicle is ready to drive. I’m sure drivers will get used to it, but I also find it can cause some confusion.
A feature I like: I can take over the wheel and Blue Cruise will keep working. I know this is frowned upon in some circles because drivers may get confused. However, I hate how often I accidentally disengage other systems, such as Tesla’s Autopilot, by moving the steering wheel even slightly.
from Tech Empire Solutions https://techempiresolutions.com/ford-prepares-for-next-war-waymo-recalls-its-self-driving-car-software-another-self-driving-startup-lays-off-employees/
via https://techempiresolutions.com/
from Tech Empire Solutions https://techempiresolutions.blogspot.com/2024/02/ford-prepares-for-next-war-waymo.html
via https://techempiresolutions.com/
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