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Earlier than we transfer into the information of this week, we’ve yet one more roundup of transportation tech at CES 2025. As I famous final week, autonomous car tech was all over the place. However there have been different themes, too. Test it out right here.
Now, on to the most recent and best way forward for transportation tech information.
A little bit fowl
No little fowl this week, however figured this was the perfect place to bid farewell to Hindenburg Analysis, the short-seller agency that investigated ideas from whistleblowers and used its personal analysis to root out fraud in publicly traded firms. Hindenburg Analysis founder Nate Anderson posted a notice Wednesday that the agency is shutting down.
Within the transportation and local weather tech worlds, Hindenburg is legendary for exposing Nikola Motors, Lordstown Motors, and billionaire Gautam Adani of The Adani Group, who was indicted over an alleged scheme to pay greater than $250 million in bribes to Indian officers in alternate for contracts to a 12-gigawatt solar energy challenge.
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Offers!
Only a bunch of offers this week! Right here’s what stood out.
Caramel, a startup that helps automotive sellers and consumers full the ultimate steps of the transaction, is being acquired by eBay. Phrases weren’t disclosed.
EV startup Harbinger raised $100 million in a Sequence B spherical co-led by early Tesla investor Capricorn Funding Group and Leitmotif, a brand new U.S. fund co-founded by the previous M&A head for Volkswagen. Additionally becoming a member of the spherical had been Tiger World and mobility enterprise agency Maniv, each of which had been present buyers.
Sarla Aviation raised $10 million in a recent funding spherical led by Accel and included angel buyers corresponding to Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, and Swiggy co-founder Sriharsha Majety.
Tesla was a winner and a loser within the newest spherical of federal funding for electric-vehicle charging infrastructure. The Division of Transportation snubbed Tesla on its utility for $97 million to fund a big-rig charging hall from California to Texas. However Tesla, together with three different trade companions, ended up being awarded a separate $100 million in funding to construct electrical truck charging stations throughout Illinois.
Shippeo, a startup that developed real-time monitoring software program throughout all modes of transport, raised $30 million in a funding spherical led by Toyota’s progress fund Woven Capital. Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, Bpifrance Digital Enterprise, LFX Enterprise Companions, Shift4Good, and Yamaha Motor Ventures additionally participated.
Notable reads and different tidbits
Autonomous automobiles
Aurora Innovation is taking federal security regulators to courtroom in a case that facilities across the relatively commonplace follow of inserting bodily warning triangles round semi vans stopped alongside highways. TL;DR: This might have far-reaching implications for self-driving truck firms working in a regulatory atmosphere designed round people.
The U.S. Division of Commerce introduced a remaining rule that may ban the sale or import of related automobiles from China and Russia attributable to nationwide safety considerations. The rule would additionally bar Chinese language automotive firms, corresponding to WeRide and Pony AI, from testing self-driving automobiles on U.S. roads.
The Nationwide Freeway Site visitors Security Administration closed its investigation into Cruise and whether or not the corporate’s robotaxis exercised acceptable warning round pedestrians. The company famous that Cruise had issued a recall on its software program and that the self-driving car subsidiary of GM had since ceased enterprise operations.
Electrical automobiles, charging, & batteries
Arc Boats got here to CES 2025, and senior reporter Sean O’Kane took its Arc Sport boat for a pleasure experience on Lake Mead. Right here’s what he thought of the startup’s latest providing.
Tesla revealed a new-look Mannequin Y meant for the Chinese language and different Asian Pacific markets, marking the primary main replace to the SUV since its launch in 2020.
Sean Duffy, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to move the U.S. Division of Transportation, thinks homeowners of electrical automobiles ought to pay to make use of roads. As reporter Rebecca Bellan explains, attaining that aim isn’t really easy.
This week’s wheels
Proper earlier than the vacations, I had an opportunity to get right into a manufacturing prototype of the 2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz Professional S Plus. I plan to spend extra time driving the manufacturing model quickly, however for now listed here are a number of ideas on this all-electric minibus that was priced at $69,595.
I’ve been ready for this electrical minibus since 2017 when it was introduced by Volkswagen as an idea. This reimagined microbus had a near-impossible mission. It needed to be immediately recognizable and provides a nod to its iconic previous whereas paving a brand new futuristic and EV highway ahead. And in some ways, the ID. Buzz does that. It’s eye-catching; folks stopped me continuously. It’s enjoyable whereas being sensible. And though it’s dearer than different minivans in the marketplace, it’s not fully outrageous.
The model I examined was all-wheel drive, with the Metro Silver Metallic paint and “copper” inside with leatherette seating. There’s a ton of house — actually cavernous — and good particulars all through, giving it an elevated feeling. It was straightforward to maneuver on tight metropolis streets, regardless of its 195.4-inch size. Which yeah, that’s lengthy!
It met lots of my expectations. However I ponder about its future. This car can be nice as a child and grocery hauler round city. I might see it being utilized in industrial fleets in city environments as nicely. However with a 91 kilowatt-hour battery that will get an estimated 234 miles of vary, I ponder if it’ll reside as much as its previous as a roadtrippin’ machine?
Facet notice: Within the final publication, I supplied up a number of tidbits on my Zoox robotaxi rides. Right here’s my full write-up on my Zoox expertise in Las Vegas.
What’s “This week’s wheels”? It’s an opportunity to study in regards to the completely different transportation merchandise we’re testing, whether or not it’s an electrical or hybrid automotive, an e-bike, or perhaps a experience in an autonomous car.
