TechCrunch Mobility: Uber makes a guess on premium robotaxis

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!

Slightly chicken

If it wasn’t apparent earlier than, it’s now. Uber needs an enormous piece of the autonomous automobile expertise pie. The ride-hailing firm has spent the previous two years locking in partnerships with nearly each AV firm you possibly can consider, and throughout each sector, together with supply, robotaxis, and vans. 

And but, I wasn’t completely ready for the amount of cash Uber invested in its newest tie-up with EV maker Lucid and AV startup Nuro. Click on right here to learn my article on the partnership settlement and Uber’s plans for a premium robotaxi service.

We’re right here within the “Little chicken” part as a result of I’ve realized one thing new, and welp, I wished to share it with subscribers first. 

As a publicly traded firm, Lucid needed to disclose that Uber invested $300 million into the corporate. However Uber didn’t should share what it invested into Nuro, saying solely that it was a multi-hundred-million-dollar determine. One supply with direct information instructed me it was greater than Lucid’s $300 million. For the reason that article was revealed, I’ve had some little birds fly in to inform me it was round $400 million. 

Bought a tip for us? Electronic mail Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Sign at kkorosec.07, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. 

Offers!

When Waymo shuttered its self-driving vans program, I questioned the place that expertise would go. And I (accurately) assumed some may go off and begin their very own corporations. 

Final yr, I heard that Boris Sofman, who led the self-driving vans program at Waymo, had began an autonomous automobile expertise startup centered on heavy tools used at building websites. I had even written just a little nugget about it within the “Little chicken” part. However I used to be by no means capable of confirm precisely how a lot it raised and who else was hooked up to it. 

Now we all know. The startup, known as Bedrock Robotics, raised $80 million from traders Eclipse and 8VC. Sofman co-founded Bedrock Robotics alongside Waymo veterans Kevin Peterson and Ajay Gummalla, in addition to Tom Eliaz, who beforehand labored at Phase and Twilio.

Different offers that bought my consideration this week …

Amogy, a Brooklyn-based ammonia-to-power startup that may apply its tech to delivery, raised one other $23 million in funding, bringing its most up-to-date fundraise to $80 million. The spherical was led by the Korea Growth Financial institution and KDB Silicon Valley LLC with participation from BonAngels Enterprise Companions, JB Funding, and Pathway Funding.

Geely Auto will take its luxurious EV subsidiary Zeekr personal by way of a merger settlement, simply over a yr after the corporate debuted on the New York Inventory Change.

Gridserve, a U.Ok.-based cellular EV charging firm, raised £100 million ($134 million) from its present institutional traders, together with TPG Rise Local weather, Infracapital, and Mitsubishi.

Pronto, the San Francisco-based startup that developed a self-driving system designed for haulage vans and different off-road automobiles used at building and mining websites, acquired competitor SafeAI. Phrases weren’t disclosed. Co-founder and CEO Anthony Levandowski described the acquisition as a expertise and expertise play. The majority of the 12-person startup’s engineering crew and its IP will come over to Pronto.

Through, the transit software program startup, has filed confidentially for an preliminary public providing — once more. Historical past lesson: Through filed confidentially for an IPO in 2021 however by no means took the following official and regulatory steps to enter the general public markets. Now the corporate says it’s prepared. Will 2025 be the yr?

Notable reads and different tidbits

ADAS

Lucid is rolling out hands-free freeway driving to its Air sedans through a software program replace on the finish of the month, a significant step ahead for the corporate’s superior driver-assistance system.

Autonomous automobiles

Uber struck a robotaxi take care of Chinese language tech large Baidu to deploy 1000’s of autonomous automobiles in a number of markets exterior the U.S. and mainland China.

Electrical automobiles, batteries, and charging

GM is the newest automaker to companion with Redwood Supplies on its new vitality storage enterprise. Talking of GM, the automaker is upgrading the Tennessee manufacturing facility it owns alongside LG Vitality Resolution to provide cheaper LFP batteries. 

Public information requests can reveal the darndest issues. As an illustration, Rivian will resume prep work on its deliberate Georgia manufacturing facility in August and continues to be seeking to break floor early subsequent yr, in keeping with emails TechCrunch obtained by way of a public information request.  

In different Rivian information … Rivian co-founder and CEO RJ Scaringe transferred a portion of his possession stake and voting energy as a part of a newly settled divorce continuing. The submitting caught our curiosity for a couple of causes (I recommend you learn the story), notably that not like so many tech founders, Scaringe by no means had an incredible quantity of voting energy post-IPO.

The corporate’s latest software program replace provides its in-car navigation a brand new appear and feel. Briefly: Mapbox is out, and a personalized Rivian-meets-Google-Maps app is in. 

Senior reporter Sean O’Kane and I joke that we’re the one two folks left on earth who care about what’s occurring at Faraday Future. Oh! However wait, so does the SEC, and it seems the company is on the point of take motion.

Subaru unveiled its all-electric crossover mannequin known as Uncharted that has greater than 300 miles of vary and can go on sale within the U.S. in early 2026. Subaru stated it is going to launch pricing nearer to market launch. 

Tesla made its long-awaited entry into India with the opening of its first showroom — 9 years after CEO Elon Musk first teased the transfer and following years of delays and shifting timelines in one of many world’s largest automotive markets. Keep tuned for extra protection from our India-based reporter Jagmeet Singh.

Tesla Cybertruck gross sales have plummeted from their peak final yr. How far? Right here’s one level of reference: The GMC Hummer EV (which isn’t precisely a quantity vendor) outsold the polarizing steel-clad curiosity within the second quarter.

In the meantime, jury choice began for a federal civil lawsuit towards Tesla. At situation is whether or not the corporate’s driver-assistance expertise was in charge for a 2019 deadly crash in Key Largo, Florida. As you may anticipate, private emotions about Elon Musk loomed massive within the jury course of.

Way forward for flight

Joby Aviation has doubled the scale and manufacturing capability of its pilot manufacturing facility in Marina, California, because it pushes to commercialize its electrical vertical takeoff and touchdown automobiles by early subsequent yr.