Welcome again to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for information and insights on the way forward for transportation. Enroll right here totally free — simply click on TechCrunch Mobility!
In case you missed it, Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned the corporate would launch a paid ride-hailing service with a fleet of driverless automobiles in Austin in June. For these holding monitor, that’s 5 months away. Musk dropped this announcement throughout Tesla’s fourth-quarter and full-year earnings name.
Musk supplied virtually no particulars about this upcoming service, together with what its geo-fence (environmental, geographic, and operational constraints) shall be at launch. However maybe that’s the purpose: drum up pleasure and distract from its relatively flat automotive enterprise.
I like to recommend scrolling via our dwell weblog of the Tesla earnings report and name, as there are many nuggets in there which will have been misplaced within the ether, from bitcoin and lithium refinery progress to Dojo’s absence and the way Tesla is coaching FSD in China. Oh, and at last, Elon admitted that sure, all of these {hardware} 3 automobiles will want an improve to completely unlock future capabilities in its Full Self-Drive software program (which is a complicated driver-assistance system).
A little bit fowl
A few little birds have shared some behind-the-scenes coloration over at Cruise, which we included in a current article about GM and the estimated $1 billion financial savings the automaker expects from shutting down the robotaxi growth program.
Tucked inside that article have been some tidbits shared by sources at Cruise who advised us administration started extending retention presents to staff — virtually all of whom have been engineers — in mid-January.
“While our plans remain subject to Cruise board approval, I wanted to share that we completed our first wave of notifications to those employees whose roles we expect to need as part of the go-forward Cruise,” CEO Marc Whitten mentioned within the e-mail, which TechCrunch has seen. He additionally referred to as for continued endurance as senior management labored out what the subsequent steps could be and waited for the Cruise board to make a name.
Whitten added that those that haven’t but acquired a notification aren’t essentially susceptible to dropping their jobs.
Sources at Cruise advised TechCrunch the board ought to be assembly in early February, at which period they’ll hopefully provide you with a plan for the 1000’s of now-idle and nervous staff.
Acquired a tip for us? E mail Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or take a look at these directions to learn to contact us by way of encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.
Offers!

In the event you’re not already taking note of Moove, the African mobility fintech firm backed by Uber, you have to be. The corporate has had explosive development in 5 years. In 2020, Moove had 76 vehicles in Lagos, Nigeria; at the moment it has 36,000 vehicles working in 19 cities throughout six continents.
You would possibly recall that Moove introduced a partnership with Waymo final 12 months to supply driverless car fleet operations in Phoenix and Miami.
Now the corporate, which presents car financing to ride-hailing and supply app drivers throughout six continents, is increasing by way of acquisitions. Moove mentioned it has acquired Kovi, a Brazil-based city mobility supplier.
The worth of the deal isn’t being disclosed, however Moove confirmed it was an all-share transaction, and Kovi is now wholly owned by Moove. Moove co-founder and co-CEO Ladi Delano advised TechCrunch that the deal bumps the mobility fintech’s annual income to $275 million.
Different offers that acquired my consideration …
Angell, a French sensible electrical bike startup, is nearing chapter.
Bonsai Robotics, an autonomous agriculture startup primarily based in California, raised $15 million in a Collection A funding spherical led by Bison Ventures. Cibus Capital, Acre Enterprise Companions, Congruent Ventures, Fall Line Capital, E14 Fund, SNR, and Serra Ventures additionally participated.
TravelPerk, a Barcelona-based enterprise journey administration platform, has raised $200 million at a hefty $2.7 billion valuation — virtually double the $1.4 billion valuation at its earlier fundraise final 12 months. The Collection E spherical was led by European enterprise capital agency Atomico, with participation from EQT Development, Noteus Companions, Kinnevik, Common Catalyst, amongst different present buyers. Alongside the increase, TravelPerk additionally introduced it has acquired Swiss startup Yokoy for an undisclosed quantity.
UVeye, the Israeli startup that developed a vision-based “MRI for cars,” raised $191 million in an extension to its 2023 Collection D spherical led by Toyota’s Woven Capital development fund. The spherical contains a mixture of $41 million in fairness financing — with participation from UMC Capital and MyBerg — and a $150 million debt facility structured by Trinity Capital.
Voi, the Swedish shared micromobility big, eked out its first worthwhile 12 months in 2024, in accordance with preliminary unaudited outcomes.
Notable reads and different tidbits

Autonomous automobiles
GM mentioned it expects to save as much as $1 billion yearly by ending its Cruise robotaxi growth program.
Kodiak Robotics handed off two autonomous vehicles to buyer Atlas Power Options — for driverless operations in an off-road setting within the distant Permian Basin — marking the startup’s first industrial launch.
Waymo had a busy week. First up, a hidden Waymo characteristic in its app allowed a safety researcher to show no matter characters she wished on the robotaxi’s high show. The identical safety researcher additionally discovered a new tipping characteristic whereas “reverse engineering” Waymo’s Android app.
On the growth entrance, Waymo mentioned it should start testing driverless automobiles on Los Angeles freeways; for now, solely staff shall be allowed to trip in them. And it additionally plans to convey its robotaxis — in handbook mode — to 10 U.S. cities this 12 months. In the meantime, Waymo has elevated its lobbying exercise in San Francisco, and one main goal seems to be unlocking entry to the airport.
Electrical automobiles, charging, & batteries
Lucid Gravity SUV house owners will achieve entry to Tesla Superchargers on Friday. Here’s a roundup of Tesla Supercharger-NACs information, together with which automakers now have entry to the community.
Tesla is bringing its redesigned Mannequin Y SUV to the U.S., Canada, and Mexico in March, with a beginning worth simply shy of $60,000.
You would possibly recall our reporting final month on a handful of lawsuits filed towards Rivian by staff who declare they have been harassed by executives. Listed below are some updates on a number of of these instances: One, filed by former clay sculptor Nathan Facciolla in October 2024 towards Rivian and chief designer Jeff Hammoud, is now being moved to arbitration. A second, filed in February 2024 by former coloration, materials, and end staff director Elizabeth Curran towards Rivian and Hammoud, is now monitoring towards a possible September 2025 trial date — although Rivian is making an attempt to get the choose to rule on the case previous to that occuring.
In-car tech
Apple admits next-gen CarPlay is late, however says it’s nonetheless in growth.
House and way forward for flight
Amazon is increasing its drone supply service to the U.Ok., beginning with a north England city of Darlington.
Increase Supersonic went supersonic. The startup’s XB-1 demonstrator airplane cleared Mach 1 and stayed supersonic for about 4 minutes within the skies above California’s Mojave Desert.
This week’s wheels
Nothing this week, however search for a write-up within the subsequent e-newsletter.
What’s “This week’s wheels”? It’s an opportunity to study concerning the totally different transportation merchandise we’re testing, whether or not it’s an electrical or hybrid automotive, an e-bike, or perhaps a trip in an autonomous car.