Introduction to TechCrunch Mobility
Welcome to TechCrunch Mobility, your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. This week, we’re publishing an abbreviated version of the newsletter due to the 4th of July holiday. If you’re traveling, stay safe out there, as AAA projects 72.2 million people will travel at least 50 miles or more.
Important Announcement
We have an important announcement: TechCrunch Mobility is moving to the Beehiiv publishing platform in a few weeks. This move will provide lots of cool features, like polls, to help us better engage with you, the reader. To ensure you don’t miss a single newsletter, please add newsletters@techcrunch.com to your contacts and move it to your primary inbox.
A Little Bird
You may recall last week’s New York Times article reporting that Uber co-founder and former CEO Travis Kalanick is working with investors to buy the U.S. arm of Chinese autonomous vehicle company Pony AI. Several sources tell us that Kalanick ally and Uber ATG veteran Eric Meyhofer is involved. We’re poking around to learn more about this potential deal.
Notable Reads and Other Tidbits
Autonomous Vehicles
A new term was coined during a recent recording of the Autonocast podcast: MVAT, or minimum viable autonomy theater. This refers to when companies deploy the minimum viable autonomy product sufficient to perpetuate a narrative of progress. One possible example is Tesla’s recent "autonomous delivery" of a customer car, which may be an MVAT if it’s a one-off demonstration.
Electric Vehicles, Batteries, & Charging
The second quarter has ended, and that means sales and production numbers are in. While many automakers issue monthly reports, some EV companies only provide quarterly numbers. Notable updates include:
- The electric Hummer is almost outselling the F-150 Lightning
- Lucid sales are inching forward as the company pushes to ramp Gravity production
- Rivian has received the next $1B from Volkswagen as sales struggles continue
- Tesla is facing its second straight year of falling sales after another bad quarter
Additionally, Republican legislators have passed a reconciliation act that unwinds much of the Inflation Reduction Act, including incentives for solar, wind, and clean hydrogen. EV tax credits are also eliminated for new and used electric vehicles and the installation of home EV-charging equipment.
! Security
The FBI and cybersecurity firms are warning that the prolific hacking group known as Scattered Spider is now targeting airlines and the transportation sector. Qantas, the Australian airline giant, has experienced a data breach that compromised the personal information of at least 6 million passengers.
Conclusion
That’s all for this week’s abbreviated newsletter. We’ll be back to our regular schedule next week, bringing you the latest news and insights on the future of transportation. Stay safe, and we’ll see you then!
