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Before we transfer into the information of this week, we’ve got yet one more roundup of transportation tech at CES 2025. As I famous final week, autonomous car tech was in every single place. But there have been different themes, too. Check it out right here.
Now, on to the newest and biggest way forward for transportation tech information.
A little bit chicken
No little chicken this week, however figured this was the very best place to bid farewell to Hindenburg Research, the short-seller agency that investigated ideas from whistleblowers and used its personal analysis to root out fraud in publicly traded firms. Hindenburg Research founder Nate Anderson posted a observe Wednesday that the agency is shutting down.
In the transportation and local weather tech worlds, Hindenburg is known 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 change for contracts to a 12-gigawatt solar energy mission.
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 take a look at these directions to learn to contact us through encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.
Deals!
Just a bunch of offers this week! Here’s what stood out.
Caramel, a startup that helps automobile sellers and consumers full the ultimate steps of the transaction, is being acquired by eBay. Terms weren’t disclosed.
EV startup Harbinger raised $100 million in a Series B spherical co-led by early Tesla investor Capricorn Investment Group and Leitmotif, a brand new U.S. fund co-founded by the previous M&A head for Volkswagen. Also becoming a member of the spherical had been Tiger Global and mobility enterprise agency Maniv, each of which had been current traders.
Sarla Aviation raised $10 million in a recent funding spherical led by Accel and included angel traders resembling 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 Department of Transportation snubbed Tesla on its utility for $97 million to fund a big-rig charging hall from California to Texas. But Tesla, together with three different business 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 development fund Woven Capital. Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, Bpifrance Digital Venture, LFX Venture Partners, Shift4Good, and Yamaha Motor Ventures additionally participated.
Notable reads and different tidbits
Autonomous automobiles
Aurora Innovation is taking federal security regulators to court docket in a case that facilities across the somewhat commonplace apply of putting bodily warning triangles round semi vehicles stopped alongside highways. TL;DR: This may have far-reaching implications for self-driving truck firms working in a regulatory atmosphere designed round people.
The U.S. Department of Commerce introduced a last rule that might ban the sale or import of linked automobiles from China and Russia because of nationwide safety issues. The rule would additionally bar Chinese automobile firms, resembling WeRide and Pony AI, from testing self-driving vehicles on U.S. roads.
The National Highway Traffic Safety 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.
Electric automobiles, charging, & batteries
Arc Boats got here to CES 2025, and senior reporter Sean O’Kane took its Arc Sport boat for a pleasure journey on Lake Mead. Here’s what he considered the startup’s latest providing.
Tesla revealed a new-look Model Y meant for the Chinese 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 go the U.S. Department of Transportation, thinks house owners 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
Right earlier than the vacations, I had an opportunity to get right into a manufacturing prototype of the 2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz Pro S Plus. I plan to spend extra time driving the manufacturing model quickly, however for now listed below are just a few 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 is a ton of area — 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 loads of my expectations. But I’m wondering about its future. This car can be nice as a child and grocery hauler round city. I may see it being utilized in industrial fleets in city environments as nicely. But with a 91 kilowatt-hour battery that will get an estimated 234 miles of vary, I’m wondering if it can dwell as much as its previous as a roadtrippin’ machine?
Side observe: In the final e-newsletter, I supplied up just a few tidbits on my Zoox robotaxi rides. Here’s my full write-up on my Zoox expertise in Las Vegas.
What is “This week’s wheels”? It’s an opportunity to be taught in regards to the completely different transportation merchandise we’re testing, whether or not it’s an electrical or hybrid automobile, an e-bike, or perhaps a journey in an autonomous car.
