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Short week, shorter newsletter. For all the readers based in the US, I hope you had an enjoyable Labor Day.
Before jumping into the news fray, here’s an ingenious article that combines robotics, mobility and accessibility. Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials featured a robotic wheelchair with large, deformable wheels that can handle rocks, stairs and other obstacles. Check it out.
Now, on to other news. Let’s go!
A little bird
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Offers!
Talk about the path.
Zeptothe 3-year-old Indian shipping and e-commerce startup has raised $1 billion in the past 90 days, TechCrunch has learned exclusively. This confirms our previous report that the startup was finalizing a $340 million funding round led by General Catalyst. Other backers include Nexus Venture Partners, Lightspeed, Avra, YC Continuity, Contrary and StepStone Group.
A couple of other notable offers…
And Fathera UAE-based firm that manufactures two-wheeler EVs in Dubai, has raised $15 million in a round of funding.
Oxylus energya startup that emerged from a Yale chemistry lab last year, worked to refine the production of so-called green methanol. Now he has some capital. The startup raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Toyota Ventures and Azolla Ventures with participation from Earth Foundry and Connecticut Innovations. TechCrunch reporter Tim De Chant dig because its founders believe they can help airlines and shipping companies reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
WeMoba fleet management and SaaS telematics company in Iberia, has been acquired by Alerce for an undisclosed amount.
Notable readings and other tidbits
ADAS
A woman who allegedly killed two people using the hands-free driver assistance product Ford BlueCruise he was charged with DUI manslaughter.
Autonomous vehicles
Tesla They plan to unveil their robotaxi at an event at the Warner Bros. movie studio. Discovery Inc. in the Los Angeles area, Bloomberg reported. A hacker, known as greentheonly, followed with enough insight on the social media site X. He noticed that Tesla started a large data collection in the “WB Studio” area 4. This suggests that Tesla can be pre-mapping the area before the October 10. event.
Electric vehicles, charging and batteries
Tesla deleted all his blog posts before 2019 (the headline is for all those 1984 fans out there). Those blog posts are a digital history of the company, covering everything from CEO Elon Musk’s original master plan, to the first Autopilot fatality in a Model S, to statements about the capabilities of its EVs. Neither the company, nor Musk, explained why.
The future of flight
Archer Aviation said it has completed 402 test flights so far this year. The company said it was increasing flight test operations in advance of flight tests to credit with the FAA.
Ride-hailing and car-sharing
Lyft it maintains its micromobility business, but it comes at a cost. The company is restructuring its operations and laying off about 1% of its workforce (Lyft employed about 2,945 workers by the end of 2023). The company expects to incur $34 million to $46 million of restructuring charges. The big change, besides an integrated unit and a new name, is the end of dockless riders. Anchor or bust!
Uber has announced a strategic plan to double down in South Korea, a move that directly challenges market leader Kakao Mobility, the majority-owned ride-hailing unit of South Korean tech and messaging giant Kakao.
Come ona startup that put a teleoperated twist on car-sharing in Berlin and Las Vegas, is expanding into commercial and business-to-business services promoted by recent deals with automaker Peugeot and car-sharing company Poppy. Thomas von der OheCo-founder and CEO of Vay, he told me that the startup will soon announce some specific delivery partnerships, including with trucks, light commercial vehicles and last-mile delivery companies.
Small note from the startup world: Some of the technology buried in Vay’s teleoperated Kia Niro vehicles comes from Polysync Technologies, a now-defunct startup out of Portland that I discovered waaaayyyy back at the first auto-racing event at Thunderhill Raceway in 2016.
This week’s wheels
I spent a few days in the 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV 2LTand I’m happy to report that the software worked! And no, this is not snark; last year, GM experienced what one employee recently described to me as a “centennial moment” when it launched the Chevrolet Blazer EV and was plagued by buggy software that left an auto reporter stranded.
The 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV 2LT, which is front-wheel drive and comes with an 85-kilowatt-hour battery that provides an estimated range of 319 miles, has a suggested retail price of $45,995 (including destination charge). My version also includes the advanced driver assistance system, called Super Cruise.
I was skeptical after my experience with the Blazer EV, which left me a bit meh. The Equinox EV is not the Blazer. It’s just a better EV — and yes, even without Apple CarPlay. There were a few more steps to ensure you have the same digital experience as smartphone mirroring CarPlay and Android Auto products provide. And that might turn some people off. But once I checked all the controls and changed all the right toggles, I had a perfect experience.
An odd item of note: Super Cruise started automatic lane changes on the freeway, but by my second day behind the wheel (and on the same freeway lane), I had to manually move the vehicle into the road
What is “Wheels of the Week”? It’s a chance to learn about the different transportation products we test, whether it’s an electric or hybrid car, an electric bike or even a ride in an autonomous vehicle. Future vehicles include some e-bikes and the GMC Sierra EV and the Chevrolet Equinox EV.