Welcome back to Navigation TechCrunch – Your central hub for news and ideas about the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility!
Kirsten Korosek is still on vacation, so she’s got me again! Today is the big day Tesla Shareholder vote. We’ll finally learn, among other things, whether investors think Elon Musk deserves his $56 billion pay package. If they don’t, will Musk carry out his threats and leave Tesla so he can focus on xAI, SpaceX, or just X?!
You may have seen the eager and eager pleas from Tesla’s board members, shareholders, and Musk himself asking investors to vote in favor of the compensation package. Musk and his supporters claimed he deserved such astronomical wealth because he hit whatever agreed-upon targets they say he hit. But before the shareholder vote begins, we think it’s worth taking a second look at why Chancellor Kathleen McCormick called off the “recertification” of the package in January.
Its dominant theme? Musk has so much influence over Tesla and its board of directors that there were no substantive negotiations when the company reached this deal with him in 2017-2018.
We’ll be monitoring and reporting, so check back for updates.
-Rebecca Bellan
Little birds
A little bird came up to chief reporter Sean O’Kane and told him so stronghold He was poaching employees at electric vehicle startup Canoo. That led O’Kane down the rabbit hole of LinkedIn, where he learned that Ford was too busy amassing talent from competitors and tech giants like Rivian, Tesla, Formula 1, and Apple. The result? Ford is taking advantage of recent chaos in the auto industry to form a secret team for low-cost electric vehicles.
Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or see these instructions to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.
Deals!
General Motors It is giving Sea trip An $850 million lifeline as robotaxi slowly begins to return to markets. The money serves as a bridge to help Cruise fund its day-to-day operations so it can “find the right long-term capital strategy, including new partnerships and outside financing.”
While this seems like a significant capital outlay, especially since GM has already invested more than $8 billion in the Cruze, $850 million is hundreds of millions less than the automaker was likely to spend on the Cruze this year. GM told investors at the end of last year that it would cut spending on Cruze after a series of safety incidents that culminated in Cruze grounding its entire fleet in November 2023.
Other deals that caught my attention…
Descartesacquired the logistics company Boxtop Technologiesa company that provides freight management solutions to small and medium-sized logistics providers for $13 million, the company told TechCrunch via email.
FloThe electric vehicle charging network operator has secured $136 million in long-term capital, mostly from a Series E round led by Export Development Canada. The funds will help FLO accelerate the deployment of its charging network in the US and Canada and boost the rollout of new charging products, according to a statement from the startup.
Fly by e-bike, a New York City-based e-bike retailer focused on last-mile food delivery, went public on the Nasdaq last week with an opening price of $4.78 per share. The stock has since fallen about 20%.
General MotorsThe board approved a new stock repurchase plan to repurchase up to $6 billion of outstanding common stock to create more upside for investors, according to a news release. The automaker also increased its dividend by 33%, from $0.09 to $0.12 per share, in the first quarter.
Turn IGPS aims to provide a low-cost alternative to the Global Positioning System (GPS). The startup just raised a $4.4 million seed round from Scout Ventures, Shadow Capital, Bravo Victor VC, and Veteran Fund.
Start-up of Belgian transport and logistics management Cargo It raised $14 million in a Series A led by Balderton Capital. Qargo’s goal is to help the logistics industry digitally transform to create efficiencies, reduce costs and reduce emissions.
Notable Readings and Other Stories
Self-driving vehicles
Aside from scoring financing from GM, Sea trip She also announced that she had returned to Houston with a small fleet of vehicles. They’ll have a human safety driver behind the wheel while Cruise slowly and carefully rechecks his technology.
May navigation will be launched Independent shuttle service In Detroit for residents with disabilities or who are 65 or older. Starting June 20, May will deploy three autonomous vehicles, two of which are wheelchair accessible, to help participants access healthcare facilities, shopping centres, work and social activities.
Waymo The company issued its second recall after one of its automated vehicles in Phoenix crashed into a telephone pole. Waymo has updated the software on more than 600 vehicles as they return to the warehouse for routine maintenance and recharging.
Electric cars, charging and batteries
Aptera He is the perfect example of how Crowdfunding can go wrong. The startup has raised more than $100 million from retail investors who leveraged flashy social media campaigns. So far, Aptera doesn’t have anything to show for it.
the European Commission he have I finish The Chinese electric vehicle industry suffers from unfair subsidies that make it a threat to EU electric vehicle producers. So it imposes more tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. For example, BYD It will see a fee of 17.4%, jellyIt will be 20%, and Psych“A staggering 38.1%.”
Well, we definitely saw this coming. Fisker It has issued its first recall for its troubled Ocean SUV due to problems with warning lights. The recall comes as Fisker is on the brink of bankruptcy and has cut its workforce to the bone.
Rivian At first it seemed like it was a little all over the place. But with a modified version of its first two consumer cars (which you can read more about below!) made more efficiently and Rivian’s decision to scrap plans to build a factory in Georgia, the startup’s path to survival has become clearer.
horseback riding
revel Tesla is launching an all-employee ride-hailing service in New York City in 2021. Now the company is ditching the employee model in favor of a gig worker model similar to competitors Lyft and Uber. In the process, Revel will have to lay off 1,000 drivers from its staff.
Wheels this week
What are “This Week’s Wheels”? It’s an opportunity 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 a self-driving vehicle.
Before Kirsten went on vacation, she drove Rivian’s refurbished R1T and R1S. Let’s see what you’ve learned.
I recently got behind the wheel of the next generation Rivian R1T And R1S. For those who want to dig deeper, you can read my story on why this update is important and what new bits and features customers can expect.
For people looking for highlights, here are some quick notes on some of the important changes.
Ride quality, specifically road and suspension noise, is much improved in the next-gen R1 line. The ride quality of the first-generation R1S has been a source of complaints, so this improvement couldn’t come at a better time.
I also had the opportunity to test the advanced driver assistance system. The first generation R1 cars also had ADAS, but this car is powered by a lot of new sensors, computing and software. The automaker calls it the “Rivian Autonomy Platform,” but I won’t do that because I’m a stickler for what is and what is not independence. This is a practical system today and the driver is always expected to be in control.
However, there is a lot of potential here. The visualization suite includes 11 cameras, five radars, computing 10 times more powerful than what’s found in first-generation vehicles, and what the company describes as “AI prediction technology.” This system comes as standard.
Rivian will also offer a premium version of the system, called Rivian Autonomy Platform+. I had the opportunity to test one feature in this premium version called “Lane Change on Command”. The feature, only available on divided highways, will shift the car to another lane if the driver presses the signal indicator. The feature worked, although I noticed that it took a moment for the car to stabilize in the center of the track.
Rivian says more automated driving features will be rolling out to this premium system in the coming months.
Correction: Waymo clarified that its recall did not include an over-the-air software update.