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Welcome back to The Station , your central hub for all past , present and succeeding agency of moving multitude and packages from Point A to Point B.
TheUnited Autoworkersofficially clinch probationary agreements withGMandStellantis , officially ending a six - week smash that affected the Big Three U.S. automaker and send nigh 50,000 workers to the picket course . UAW reached a provisional deal withFordon October 25 . Days afterward , the UAW reached a tentative agreement with Stellantis , the automaker that owns Jeep , Ram and Chrysler . GMfollowed October 30 .
The result for the UAW can only be discover as a triumph . Workers will see record salary raises , the return of monetary value - of - life adjustments and the end to a tiered wage system — to name just a few of the big concessions that car manufacturer made .
On top of that , UAW successfully push the automakers to make more investment in plants . For instance , GM ’s tentative agreement includes about$13 billion in investments U.S. mathematical operation , including next EV plants .
You would be mistaken to think the UAW is now operate off to racket in its victory . UAW President Shawn Fain has brought up Toyota — and the company ’s decision toraise wages for its non - Federal actor — and Tesla several fourth dimension in the past week . Once the Big Three ’s bargaining arrangement are ratified , expect UAW to lead its endeavour towardsTesla , Toyota and all those joint venture electric battery factory popping up in the emerging Battery Belt .
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Micromobbin’
It ’s the end of a short stint of electrical moped sharing in the United States — or at least in New York City and San Francisco . revelry , the companionship that start with around 70 divvy up mopeds in Brooklyn in 2018 and grew to a fleet of nearly 6,000 across multiple city by 2021 , is officiallyshuttering the tocopherol - mop sideof the stage business . The company will put all its efforts into its EV drive - hail overhaul and building out EV tear hubs .
As we ’ve get along to learn together , the shared micromobility business is hard . That ’s especially unfeigned with a cast cistron like mopeds , which demand a higher price point for passenger to bear . No society has truly point — and I ’m talking with balance sheets in public useable — that the succus is worth the squeeze when it comes to shared micromobility vehicles . revelry certainly found that to be the case . Ridership decline 30 % YoY from summertime point , making the business unsustainable and pushing Revel to shut down operations .
On a personal note , I ’m foiled . Not in revelry or Lime or any of the companies that tried to make mopeds run in the U.S. , but in the situation . Mopeds are a green and exhilarating agency to travel in thick urban environments , and I wish Americans would get on panel already !
— Rebecca Bellan
Deal of the week
Digital freight networkConvoymight be dead , but its assets will hold up on under supply Ernst Boris Chain logistics startupFlexport .
Flexport is not onlybuying Convoy ’s assets ; the ship’s company also plan to restore Convoy ’s trucking logistics service for customers in the amount weeks , harmonise to a memoranda Flexport CEORyan Petersensent to faculty , and shared by Freight Waves . Petersen say Flexport wo n’t acquire the business or any of its liabilities , but does plan to retain “ a pocket-size group of squad member from their core Cartesian product and engine room squad . ”
Terms of the mint have n’t been shared in public , but Petersen order in the memoranda that “ the purchase Mary Leontyne Price relative to value is modest . ” As a admonisher , Convoy reach a $ 3.8 billion valuation in April 2022 after raising $ 260 million in a Series E cycle .
And plot twist ! Convoy Colorado - founder and CEO Dan Lewis might be one of the team fellow member get together Flexport , accordingto The Wall Street Journal , which cited a person familiar with the agreement . Perhaps Lewis , who cut his tooth at Microsoft , Google and Amazon , will have good luck with Petersen than Flexport ’s former , and recently ousted , CEO Dave Clark .
Other flock that get my attention this week …
Fordhasacquired Auto Motive Power , or AMP , to bolster its charging , electric battery management and power spiritual rebirth tech . Financial term were not disclosed . The secretive energy inauguration ’s tech , talent and adroitness in Santa Fe Springs , California will now be close into Ford .
SkyCell , a Swiss startup , raised $ 57 millionat a $ 600 million valuation to build smart containers for pharmaceutic exaltation . Catalyst , a division of M&G Investments , led the bout and is the only investor being disclosed . The party has antecedently raised around $ 133 million , include rung of $ 62 million and $ 35 million ; angel have include insurance companies , financiers from the Middle East and medical specialist health care investors .
pace , the Park City , Utah - based startup that developed an AI - power car upkeep subscription , raise $ 4.6 million to expand into 16 new cities by the end of 2023 . The seed round was led by Mucker Capital , with participation from Kickstart Seed Fund , Peak Venture , Royal Street Ventures and Convoi Ventures .
Windrose Technology , a Formosan electric motortruck maker , has reportedly set out talks with banking concern as it eyes aninitial world offeringin the United States in 2024 .
Notable reads and other tidbits
ADAS
Teslawas handedanother winafter a jury sided with the automaker over allegations that its Autopilot advanced driver assistance scheme led to a demise . The showcase was filed by two rider who pull round a 2019 crash and allege that Tesla knew its product was defective . Tesla argued that the collapse , which result in the death of the driver Micah Lee , was the result of human error — the same stance it ’s make in other Autopilot lawsuits .
Autonomous vehicles
Cruiseco - father and CEOKyle Vogttook to Hacker News to clarify some information about the party ’s distant guidance exercise , follow an clause in TheNew York Times . I ’ll depart the whole comment here :
Cruise CEO here . Some relevant context follows .
Cruise Av are being remotely wait on ( RA ) 2 - 4 % of the time on middling , in complex urban environments . This is low enough already that there is n’t a vast cost benefit to optimizing much further , specially give how useful it is to have human review thing in certain situations .
The stat quoted by nyt is how often the AVs initiate an RA session . Of those , many are resolved by the AV itself before the human being even look at thing , since we often have the Ab initiate proactively and before it is certain it will necessitate supporter . Many sessions are ready confirmation postulation ( it is ok to proceed ? ) that are resolved in arcsecond . There are some that take longer and involve guiding the AV through tricky situations . Again , in aggregate this is 2 - 4 % of prison term in driverless mode .
In footing of staffing , we are intentionally over staffed given our small fleet size so as to handle localise explosion of RA demand . With a larger fleet we carry to handle explosion with a smaller proportion of RA operator to AVs . Lastly , I believe the staffing numbers quoted by nyt include several other functions demand in operating fleets of Ab beyond distant assistance ( people who clean , kick , maintain , etc . ) which are also something that improve importantly with scale and over time .
JiYue , Baidu ’s JV robocar brand , launch its flagship fomite and first AI - powered electric robocar , the JiYUE 01 , at a brand event in Shanghai . It ’s a consumer role model powered by Baidu Apollo ’s full rooms of L4 self-governing drive solutions . The cable car also includes “ SIMO , ” Baidu ’s intelligent AI fomite concierge for part command and support .
MayorKaren Basssays Los Angeles — not a state office — should have the power to decidehow robotaxi companies expand in the city . The mayor send an open missive to the Public Utilities Commission , which govern commercial-grade robotaxi operations in California , arguing that Los Angeles should hold that ultimate dominance .
Electric vehicles, charging & batteries
Arrivalset out eight years ago to make electric vehicle yield “ radically more effective . ” TechCrunch reporter Harri Weber looks at the last15 month of hope and pivotsthat has send the once $ 13 billion valuation company to a marketplace cap of $ 20 million .
GMwill deliver theChevy Equinox EV , an all - electric compact SUV aimed forthright at the mass market , to dealerships in 2024 with a battery range and thorn toll that could propel its EV cut-rate sale and even contend with Tesla .
Nio , the Formosan automaker known for its sleek , premium electric SUVs , is expected tocut “ around 10 % ” of its job positionsafter weeks of discussions over the firm ’s two - year in operation plans , agree to an internal letter view by TechCrunch .
Subaruwill take over Tesla ’s so - calledNorth American Charging Standardand will incorporate the institutionalize porthole in its vehicle start in 2025 .
Toyotawillinvest another $ 8 billioninto its first EV battery manufactory in North America . Total investment in the North Carolina - based factory , which is slated to go into production in 2025 , is now $ 13.9 billion — quite the jump from Toyota ’s initial plan to make a $ 1.29 billion investiture in a facility that will make barrage for intercrossed electric vehicles and electric battery electric vehicles .
In-car tech and software
Volkswagen’ssoftware unit Cariad will retard the launch of its new software architecture yet again and islaying off about 2,000 worker . These delay are remind Porsche to turn to Google or else . The brand say next models would have Google built - in , which relies on the Android Automotive operating organization to integrate Google service of process like Maps , Assistant and other apps straight into the fomite .
Ride-hailing
UberandLyftagreed to yield drivers in New York a combined $ 328 million tosettle wage - theft complaint . The settlement is a win for driver — and not only because it provides backpay for allegedly steal wages . The outcome also helps drivers secure a statewide right field to lower limit wage and provide paid sick benefits .
