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Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for word and insights on the future of transportation .
This week , learn about self-directed fomite companyMotional , why theTeslaboard is potential having discussions aboutElon Musk’s2018 $ 56 billion pay package , a novel unicorn focalize on student transportation , and more .
permit ’s go !
A little bird
Here ’s a play one for y’ all . Amid all the layoffs and startup failures , there is also hire expire on .
A little raspberry orient us to one in particular interesting hire over at Elon Musk’sThe Boring Company . Vignesh Swaminathan — who is also known asMr . Barricadeto his 1.8 millionTikTokfollowers — of late engage a position as a senior polite engineer . Why so notable ? Swaminathan is a well - lie with urban contriver ( and TikToker ) who spend the in effect part of a X focused on designing bikeways and pedestrian paths as CEO and chair of Crossroad Lab .
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It appear that Crossroad Lab , a Cupertino , California – establish civil engineering design firm , keep out down in January . Swaminathan took the job at The Boring Company a couple weeks subsequently . We wonder if his late urban planner and motorcycle - focused experience will be put to body of work at The Boring Company ?
Got a tip for us ? EmailKirsten Korosecatkirsten.korosec@techcrunch.comorSean O’Kanesean.okane@techcrunch.com . If you favor to persist anonymous , click here to meet us , which includes SecureDrop ( instructions here ) and various encrypted electronic messaging apps .
Deal of the week
A newunicornhas been born . I ’m verbalize aboutZūm , a student transportation inauguration that apply a mixing of passenger vehicle , new wave and other fomite combined with software program to render efficient and secure road to and from school for kid .
The inauguration , founded and run byRitu Narayan , kindle $ 140 million in a Series E funding round conduct by global investment firm GIC . Other investors let in Climate Investment , Sequoia and SoftBank Vision Fund 2 . The funding pushed its valuation to $ 1.3 billion .
Zūm has made headway in the retiring several long time , locking in school district customers in San Francisco , Los Angeles , Oakland , Seattle , Chicago , Boston , Nashville and Maryland . Now it ’s focussed on converting its fleet of vehicles to all EVs by 2027 while continuing to produce its footprint .
Other deals that got my attention . . .
BluSmart , an Indian ride - hailing startup that contend with Uber and homegrown rival Ola , raised $ 25 millionfrom Switzerland - headquarter impact fund ResponsAbility in a mezzanine structure , including fond equity dilution and debt .
OK , so this is n’t so much a deal as a dealbreaker . Cake , the Swedish electrical motorcycle inauguration , charge for bankruptcyFebruary 1 after failing to plug enough investment . Cake joins a growing tilt of micromobility companies that have run into financial worry over the retiring twelvemonth , most recentlyVanMoof , SuperpedestrianandBird .
Kura , a U.K. inauguration that combined a school double-decker service with a computer software political program to safeguard pupil , wasacquiredby “ smart buses ” startupZeelo .
Notable reads and other tidbits
ADAS
XPeng , Tesla ’s challenger from China , is making plans to bring its advanced driving assistance techto external marketplace .
Autonomous vehicles
Motionalis the product of a joint venture betweenHyundaiand automotive supplierAptiv . But that human relationship is changing . Aptiv said it will no longer allocate capital letter toward the enterprise . Weexplain why .
Electric vehicles, batteries & charging
Arrival , the commercial-grade EV startup , is being removed from theNasdaq breed exchangeas it speeds toward dissolution .
Teslawas litigate by 25 California counties alleging the automaker has repeatedlymishandled hazardous wasteat facilities throughout the state of matter . Two day by and by , theparties settled , with Tesla agreeing to $ 1.5 million in mulct and a five - year injunction that require review .
In-car tech
Hesai , a Formosan company that makes lidar sensors , was sum up to the U.S. Department of Defense ’s list of “ Chinese Military Companies . ” Hesai called the cellular inclusion “ inequitable , freakish and meritless ” and enounce that the detector are for civilian use only . Hesai also emphasized the ship’s company does n’t have ties of any kind to any war machine in any country .
People
Elon Musk’s$56 billion pay packageis unfair , a Delaware judge harness . If the determination stands ( many bear an charm ) , it will void the largest recompense deal in collective history .
This week’s wheels
I recently spend a workweek in this Hanauma tidy sum - coloredGenesis GV60 Performance . Top takeaways ? This is a slick magazine - looking and exchange premium ( inside and out ) all - electric fomite that is fast off the line of merchandise and fairly darn sport to drive , but not exactly amazing on tight mountain good turn .
The all - wheel - drive fomite ( there are electric motors in the front and rear ) make for generally expert treatment . When I agitate it , there was a chip of body roll through the turns . But permit ’s be honest here , most consumers do n’t drive like they ’re on a test track . Nor should they .
The 77.4 kWh barrage fire combined with the galvanising motor create 429 horsepower and 516 pound - feet of torsion . That allows the GV60 to go from 0 to 60 mi in about four seconds — certainly fast enough to be appreciated by EV aficionados . The battery range of 235 miles is low in this EV era . It ’s certainly enough for the commute and day-to-day driving needs , but some consumers may balk at drop the infrastructure damage of $ 69,550 for an all - galvanic SUV with such a low range compared to its peers .
