The Station - Uber sexual assault survivors score a win, down goes another SPAC and why EV battery plants remain a UAW sticking point

Sunday, October 15, 2023

Welcome back to The Station, your central hub for all past, present and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B.

The United Autoworkers strike is entering its fifth week and one of the remaining sticking points is around EVs. Specifically, all of these joint venture battery factories that GM, Ford, Stellantis are building with battery makers like LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI and SK On.

Even with a surprise work stoppage and strike expansion at Ford’s Kentucky Truck Plant, industry watchers and insiders say the UAW has inched closer to a deal with automakers GM, Ford and Stellantis, gaining wage increases between 20% and 23%, guaranteed cost of living adjustments and even securing a faster path for temporary employees to gain full-time status.

However, as I noted in my article about the Ford-Samsung SDI joint venture raising wages at its planned EV battery factories, one of the last remaining issues holding up a deal is a biggie. The UAW wants the four-year master agreement with automakers to include present and future joint venture EV battery plants.

Will automakers bend on this? It’s a concession that the UAW has already won from GM. It’s unclear if others will follow suit. But with strikes expanding, it’s possible UAW will succeed.

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Micromobbin'

A lighter than usual week in the world of scooters, e-bikes and other small forms of electric mobility, although we expect that to change as the Micromobility America 2023 conference, scheduled for October 19 and 20, gets underway.

Let’s go.

Glasgow is offering a free app to let users locate protected bike parking, make reservations and complete payments.

India’s government is demanding that six companies, including Hero Electric Vehicles, return $60 million worth of subsidies for violating its localization rules. Some manufacturers imported ready-to-use parts from China and thus had little control over the quality of their end products, which resulted in a spate of battery fires. Ola emerged unscathed from the investigation and is now India’s dominant e-scooter company.

Toyota may have been slow to build electric vehicles, but the automaker is speeding up its output of e-bikes. Specifically, electric cargo bikes, which the automaker will start selling at 170 of its French dealerships, with the goal of growing to 300 sites.

— Rebecca Bellan

Build better user experiences with Foursquare Places data

Deal of the week

Let’s call this dead deal of the week. I’m talking about Shift Technologies filing for bankruptcy. What went wrong? I dug into the first day motions of the bankruptcy filing, a document that tends to shed some light on the chain of events preceding a business failure.

The short story is that the company’s deteriorating cash position and inability to obtain further financing drove the company to file for bankruptcy and begin the process of closing down the business and liquidating assets. But reading through the filing shows how the company, which went public via a SPAC merger, made a big investment into its tech platform, including an acquisition and a merger, which crushed its cash position.

Down goes another SPAC.

Other deals that got my attention this week …

ChargePoint raised $232 million support its path to EBITDA profitability in 2024.

Didi Autonomous Driving, which sits under parent company Didi, raised $149 million in funding from two investors affiliated with the municipal government of Guangzhou, a southern Chinese metropolis: GAC Group’s wholly owned subsidiary GAC Capital and Guangzhou Development District Investment Group. When the autonomous vehicle subsidiary was created in 2020, the venture was seen as a Chinese counterpart to Uber’s AV unit. As TC’s Rita Liao reports, Didi’s AV unit remained in the shadow during Beijing’s data security probe into its parent firm, but it has finally weathered the storm, now freshly pumped with financing.

EVPassport raised $200 million from Northleaf Capital Partners, a private equity firm that has acquired a controlling stake in the startup. The company touts its app-less charging infrastructure, which is designed to be more user friendly. Since launching in 2020, the startup has deployed 5,000 chargers across 35 states in the U.S., as well as Canada and Mexico.

Glydways, the on-demand Personal Rapid Transit company, raised a $56 million Series B round, including the conversion of notes valued at more than $28 million. The round was led by New Science Ventures with participation from The ACS Group and Gates Frontier. Khosla Ventures, Glydways first investor, is also participating in this latest round. The company has raised more than $70 million, to date.

Volteras, a London-based EV startup that wants to bring Tesla-level control to vehicles and charging, raised about $2.9 million and has landed partners, including Mercedes, BMW, Volvo and solar energy company Enphase.

Notable reads and other tidbits

Autonomous vehicles

Cruise opened a limited robotaxi service to users in Houston, an expansion that comes amid increasing criticism of the company’s operations in San Francisco, it’s first launch city.

Waymo is expanded its service area in San Francisco, while Cruise feels the heat. Although I should note that opponents to robotaxis, including Waymo, are making their voices heard in other cities. For instance, the Teamsters protested this week Waymo’s move into Los Angeles.

Electric vehicles, charging & batteries

Arrival, the cash-strapped EV company that went public via a merger with a blank check company, laid off workers again. This is after about 50% of workers were cut in January. How many are left?

Generative AI is creeping into EV battery development. No really. Here’s my feature on a startup called Aionics.

MotorTrend has a really interesting story about China’s big bet on Mexico and how that might lead to Chinese EVs being sold to U.S. customers.

What’s the upcoming 2025 Porsche Macan EV like? Contributor Emme Hall took a prototype out on the road to find out.

Stellantis and Samsung SDI plan to build a second $3.2B EV battery factory in Kokomo, Indiana — the same town where the first plant is already under construction.

Tesla now sells $8,000 vinyl wraps, hinting at clever Cybertruck solution. As Matt Burns’ notes, these urethane-based films feature self-healing properties that would provide extra protection on the Cybertruck’s scratch-prone stainless steel body.

Toyota’s EV strategy hinges on a partnership with a petrochemical company, TC+ reporter Tim de Chant writes.

WM Motor filed for bankruptcy, highlighting the challenges faced by EV startups in China.

UFODrive, an EV rental company, has launched UFOFleet, its native fleet management platform, which aims to help fleet managers to keep track of EV drivers, vehicles, energy and operations.

In-car tech

GM revealed new vehicle services definition called “uServices, essentially a set of APIs for developers to build apps that can work across its brands and even other automakers. The company says this is an effort to standardize software and has even submitted this new definition to the Connected Vehicle Systems Alliance.

Ride-hailing

Uber sexual assault survivors scored a win this week when a panel of judges consolidated their separate lawsuits into one federal case. As Rebecca Bellan notes, technology — and specifically, a call for in-car cameras — is at the center of this very human story. The result could have widespread implications for Uber and its riders and drivers.

Uber Eats now lets you order from two nearby stores at the same time.