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Week 1, Apr 2022 Mobility News Archive

News

Automotive

  • Tesla delivered 310K+ vehicles in Q1, meeting expectation; less production from previous Quarter

  • Tesla to seek shareholders' approval for share count increase, potentially for stock splits

  • Tesla halted production in Shanghai factory due to COVID; to resume it from Apr 4

  • Aptive sent workers home at Shanghai factories due to gov't COVID measure

  • Ford & GM to halt production in Michigan plants for 1-2 weeks due to parts shortages

  • Ford recalls 737K vehicles in the US due to a potential oil leak and a software error for break control

  • Volkswagen to recall 100K+plug-in hybrid cars globally due to a fire risk

  • VinFast to build its factory in North Carolina, US, by 2024 with 150K annual vehicle production capacity

  • Xpeng, Nio and Li Auto delivered more EVs in Mar than Feb despite COVID measures in China

  • US NHTSA to increase fuel efficiency requirements by 8% in 2024-25, 10% in 2026

  • US NHTSA to review whether Pony.ai complied with reporting requirements for self-driving crashes

  • US car & light truck sales may decline 18% YoY in Q1 due to parts shortages, high fuel prices interest rates; Toyota sold more cars than GM in the US

  • Volvo hired former top executive of BlackBerry and Dyson as CEO to turn vehicles into rolling smartphones

  • Volvo Trucks received an order of 110 e-trucks from Maersk to be delivered by early 2023

  • Volvo's first fully-electric car 2022, C40 Recharge: 226 miles (364 km) range, pricing at $59K

  • Lotus, a British & Chinese automaker unveiled Type 132, its first EV; 600 HP, target maximum 600KM range

(Source: Lotus)

  • Faraday Future's executives are subpoenaed by US SEC for the investigation

  • BrightDrop changed vehicles' names to Zevo 600, Zevo 400 and Trace

  • Kia's Concept EV9 to be turned into a production model for EU by 2023

  • Kia's EV6 Unplugged Ground won in Red Dot Award 2022

  • H2 Mobility, a German hydrogen station operator, raised additional €110M to expand infrastructure


Lastmile_Micromobility_Logistics

  • Waymo is testing fully self-driving taxis in San Francisco with its employees

  • Tier Mobility acquired Fantasmo, a US-based computer vision e-scooter parking startup

  • BeepBeep, a Singaporean quick commerce startup, raised $6M pre-seed funding

  • Migrante, a Chile-based vehicle & device leasing startup for gig workers, raised $30M funding

  • Boston Dynamics' Stretch for warehouses and distribution centers is available for commercial purchase


Location_Technology


Battery_Chips_Materials

  • Tesla singed a deal with Vale S.A., a Brazilian mining company, to mitigate high nickel price risk

  • CS Energy in Queensland, Australia, chose Tesla's Megapack batteries for its wind & solar power energy storage project

  • Sumitomo expects the demand of nickel for batteries will rise 20%+ globally in this year

  • Tata Motors observed 20% increase of battery cells cost due to high raw material prices

  • Span, a smart electrical panel startup, raised $90M funding


Aviation_Space

  • Rocket Lab sent 2 private Earth-observation satellites via Electron launcher in Apr 2

  • Slingshot Aerospace awarded a $25M contract by US Space Force for digital twin space development

  • SpaceX ended production of new Crew Dragon capsules

  • SpaceX launched 4th rideshare mission in Apr 1

  • FedEx Express partners with Elroy Air to test VTOL air cargo system for operations by 2023

  • Flytrex to expand drone delivery service in Granbury, Texas, in a partnership Brinker


Reports & Articles

  • Volkswagen's plans for new EV factory with $2.2B investment: to be open in 2026; large die casting; 10-hour car production time to meet Telsa's production capacity (Reuters)

  • 43% of Uber & Lyft drivers are still driving less or completely stop working due to high gas prices despite fuel surcharges to customers (TechCrunch)

  • An interview with Northvolt, a Swedish battery startup, who recently announced new factory plans in Germany and Sweden for starting operations by 2025. Expecting more demand than supply over coming 5 to 10 years on battery, raw-material and components. (EmergingTechBrew)


More Readings...

  • Volvo's new CEO says automaker must be smarter on software (Automotive News Europe)

  • 'A ghost is driving the car' - my peaceful and productive experience in a Waymo self-driving van (CNBC)

  • This startup's novel tech promises to boost battery capacity for EVs (TechCrunch)

  • Transit-oriented development catches on as cities need to boost ridership and housing supply (Smartcitiesdive)

  • Biden calls for greater Amtrak, public transportation funds (Smartcitiesdive)


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