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Welcome back toTechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and penetration on the time to come of transportation . Sign up here for barren — just clickTechCrunch Mobility !
I spend the last week at SXSW , the annual technical school , film , comedy , and music fete in Austin . I recommendscrolling through our resilient blogto catch up on all the transportation , AI , social medium , Godhead economy — essentially technical school — word that fall out during the conference .
I ’ve watched Austin evolve over the yr with some good and big outcomes . protect bike lane have been one positive development , which I appreciated as I rode a few Lime scooters and two Mod Bikes atomic number 99 - bikes around the city . Austin is also becoming a hub for autonomous fomite activity with Avride headquartered there , Zoox examination on public roads , and Waymo launch a commercial-grade robotaxi service .
I was lucky enough to be match with two Waymo robotaxis — all drive - hails fall out through the Uber app , so it ’s never a guarantee . I also had one coordinated match courtesy of Waymo . As I wrote originally this week , it is absolutely baseless that Waymo and Uber are working together . Here ’s why .
Oh , and here is what Idiscovered in my Waymo - Uber robotaxi ride . Hint : some updates to the drug user interface .
A little bird
sustain a baksheesh for us ? Email Kirsten Korosec atkirsten.korosec@techcrunch.comor my Signal at kkorosec.07 , Sean O’Kane atsean.okane@techcrunch.com , or Rebecca Bellan atrebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com . Or arrest outthese instructionsto find out how to get hold of us via encipher messaging apps or SecureDrop .
Join us at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI
Deals!
Senior reporter Sean O’Kane took a rich dive into a new venture firm calledLeitmotifthat ’s been quietly make loads of slew for the preceding 16 months . The firm , which has funded around 20 inauguration , generally focus on decarbonization with a portfolio that admit EV companies , space and battery plays , and four nuclear fusion startups .
That ’s not the interesting part . Here ’s what is : All of the money in its fund descend from the Volkswagen Group . Check out the full storyabout why the German automotive giant has committed $ 300 million to Leitmotif ’s first monetary fund .
Other pot that puzzle my tending …
Carpool Logistics , a fomite logistics platform , raised $ 12 millionin a Series A funding round led by Wavecrest Growth Partners , with involvement from CarMax , Impel founders Devin Daly and Michael Quigley , and self-propelled diligence veteran David Metter .
Daqus Energy , a inauguration make on barrage fire materials , raised $ 6 millionin a source round led by Morningside with participation from unnamed individual investors .
Nirvana , an AI - based insurance platform that use tangible - fourth dimension driving telematics and 20 billion miles of truck drive data point to build up and manage insurance policies for trucker , raised $ 80 millionin a Series C round of golf of financing led by General Catalyst . Lightspeed Venture Partners and Valor Equity Partners also enter . The investment funds prize Nirvana at $ 830 million post - money .
Northvoltfiled for bankruptcyin Sweden , the latest blast to Europe ’s endeavor to create a battery - manufacturing juggernaut that could rival the Chinese whale .
Notable reads and other tidbits
ADAS
Rivianrolled out ahands - free versionof its number one wood - assistance system for highway driving , which founder and CEO RJ Scaringe discussed onstage at SXSW in Austin . The new hands - free feature puts Rivian in competitor with Ford and GM , which have similar workforce - free system that hold in steerage , speedup , and braking under certain conditions and locations .
Autonomous vehicles
Hugging Faceteamed up with AI inauguration Yaak toexpand LeRobot — a collection of exposed AI models , datasets , and tools to help work up existent - world robotics system — with a training set up to allow robots and cars to pilot environment like city streets autonomously .
Trucks VC general partner Reilly Brennanhad an interesting pillar , Don’t error ridehailing for Ab ridehailing .
Travis Kalanick , the former CEO of Uber , thinks the company ’s decision toabandon its autonomous drive programwas a mistake . admonisher : Uber ATG was burn up through cash when it wassold to Aurora in 2020 .
Waymokeeps flesh out — this prison term inSilicon Valley . And that expansion has come withhundreds of parking ticket .
Electric vehicles, charging, & batteries
TheMint 400off - route slipstream put two electron volt — a Rivian R1 liothyronine hand truck and a Chevrolet Silverado EV ZR2 off - road race motortruck construct — to the test .
Rad Powerlost its CEO andgained a new onein a span of a few Day .
President Donald Trumpsaid he will label violence against Tesla dealerships asdomestic terrorism — yet another sign of his deep support for Elon Musk . As reporterSean O’Kanenotes , “ Tesla Takeovers ” have been breaking out across the globe at Tesla franchise as citizenry protest what they see as a unfriendly takeover of the federal governance by Musk ( who is CEO of Tesla and its largest shareholder ) and hisDepartment of Government Efficiency . Some of the protests have ensue in graffiti on Tesla sign , charging stations set on fervor , even Molotov cocktail being thrown in one dealership ’s lot .
This week’s wheels
This workweek I tried two Es - bikes from Austin - basedMod Bikes . I ’ll centre on its newest one , theGroove , whichlaunched before this week .
I spent 24 hour with theGroove , an all - electric step - through wheel with a souped - up beach cruiser look and feel . The Groove survive before , but Mod bike discontinued it . Now it ’s back and has been updated throughout , admit the skeletal frame , battery , torsion sensor , overbold exhibit , and motor .
The bicycle itself is sporting and refined with lots of heedful detail that make the$1,999 priceseem like a steal . The invention is thoughtful with easy - to - read and well-to-do - to - function controls and an incorporate bike lock that fold neatly on the frame .
The Groove is a throttle and treadle assist bicycle , and I find it prosperous to switch between the various modes . I rarely trust on the accelerator alone because the help provided plenty of oomph . The bike has a shipment capacity of 275 lbf. and reaches a top swiftness of 28 miles per minute . The Groove has 50 miles of range ; however , there is a double - stamp battery option that belt down it up to 100 mile .
One note , though : Wow , this bike is powerful . And while that is generally a in force matter , ethnic music should give themselves a bit of time to adjust to its weightiness .
I also testedMod Connect , which take into account users to wirelessly pair off a Lumos ultra - smart helmet to synchronise and control condition twist signals directly from the bike . The connected cycle helmet made me finger far more visible to drivers as I voyage the fussy street of business district Austin .
What is “ This workweek ’s wheels ” ? It ’s a chance to learn about the dissimilar transportation product we ’re test , whether it ’s an electric or intercrossed automobile , an e - cycle , or even a drive in an autonomous vehicle .
