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Tesla released its earnings report, which largely fell into the expected category. Investors appeared taken aback by the $1.4 billion in free cash flow, causing a temporary rise in share prices, and revenue met or slightly outstripped forecasts, depending on which group of analysts one considered. 

However, the earnings call did present a moment that raised eyebrows, prompting contacts from readers (including former Tesla engineers and industry founders) who reached out with schadenfreude-laced remarks. CEO Elon Musk acknowledged that millions of Tesla owners would require hardware upgrades to utilize a forthcoming, more sophisticated version of its Full Self-Driving software that operates without human intervention. 

This has financial and legal ramifications for Tesla. As senior reporter Sean O’Kane detailed, Tesla owners with Hardware 3 vehicles have for years been pressing the company and Musk for a definitive response regarding their ability to operate this advanced rendition of Full Self-Driving — which, it’s pertinent to highlight, has yet to be launched or even demonstrated as feasible. Tesla sold these Hardware 3 vehicles between 2019 and 2023.

Then comes the intriguing part, which made me chuckle. Musk stated the company would need to physically upgrade each of these cars, a task that would necessitate Tesla establishing microfactories across numerous major cities to service possibly millions of vehicles. 

Microfactories? Indeed, that’s correct. This undertaking won’t come cheap, and it could be a line item in Tesla’s capital expenditures plan, which has grown to an impressive $25 billion this year. 

A little bird

Senior reporter Sean O’Kane received (and confirmed) an internal memo from Redwood Materials founder and CEO JB Straubel announcing layoffs and a restructuring. (Thanks to the little bird who tipped us off.) Straubel is a former Tesla CTO.

The firm laid off approximately 135 employees, or around 10% of its team, while shifting its focus to better support its expanding energy storage sector. O’Kane later discovered that several executives have also exited recently. Chief operating officer Chris Lister is retiring, along with at least three other VPs, with the company indicating to TechCrunch that there has been an emphasis on flattening management layers.

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Last week, I mentioned that a new startup developing autonomous haulers (think driverless large trucks) supported by Eclipse was on the verge of making its debut and announcing a seed round, thanks to a little bird. Well, that occurred just days later. 

The San Francisco-based startup, named Humble Robotics, secured $24 million in a seed funding round. Eclipse spearheaded the funding, which also attracted investment from Energy Impact Partners and RedBlue Capital, a smaller early-stage VC firm that has been notably active. 

As I was informed, Humble is indeed filled with Silicon Valley luminaries, including founder Eyal Cohen, who has held positions at Apple special projects, Uber ATG, Pronto, and Waabi. He also founded Spark AI, which was acquired by John Deere in 2023. 

Other key personnel include Drew Gray, who possesses a likewise impressive background, having spent early years at Cruise, before shifting to the self-driving trucks startup Otto, later acquired by Uber. After leaving Uber, he served as CTO at Voyage, which was then bought by Cruise. 

A full-circle situation, underscored by this interesting nugget: Humble Robotics occupies the same building Cruise inhabited immediately after moving out from founder Kyle Vogt’s garage. I know, we keep retracing our steps to 2016.  

But it’s not 2016 anymore, and Cohen and Gray discussed with me how much has transformed since then, the reasons this is the ideal moment to launch an AV startup, and the direction the industry is heading. Look forward to that story next week.

Have a tip for us? Reach out to Kirsten Korosec at [email protected] or via Signal at kkorosec.07, or contact Sean O’Kane at [email protected]. 

Deals!

Lyft primarily focused on the North American markets throughout its history, whereas Uber pursued a global, expand-at-all-costs approach. Lyft has been attempting to catch up since last year when it acquired the German multi-mobility app Freenow from BMW and Mercedes-Benz Mobility for approximately $197 million in cash. 

Now it’s purchasing the U.K. operations of ride-hailing app Gett. Lyft states this acquisition will provide it with the majority of registered black cab drivers throughout Greater London on its platform. The company did not divulge the deal’s specifics, but Calcalist indicated it was valued at $55 million. 

The firm is also enhancing other transportation options in the area, including its recently renewed collaboration with Serco to supply bikes and stations for Europe’s bike-sharing system, Santander Cycles. Lyft is also gearing up to start trials of autonomous rides in London with Baidu later this year. 

Additional deals of interest …

A&K Robotics, based in Vancouver, Canada, a producer of autonomous vehicles for airports, secured an $8 million CAD Series A funding round led by BDC’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund and Vantage Futures.

Decade Energy, which supplies power infrastructure at logistic hubs, raised €22 million in funding spearheaded by Eiffel Investment Group and SET Ventures, along with contributions from existing investors.

Reliable Robotics, a startup in Silicon Valley developing autonomous aircraft systems, garnered $160 million in a round led by Nimble Partners, with existing backers Eclipse, Lightspeed, Coatue, and Pathbreaker Ventures, along with new investors such as Island Green Capital, Socium Ventures, AE Ventures (a strategic partner of Boeing), RTX Ventures, Presidio Ventures (Sumitomo Corporation), UP.Partners, KAS Venture Partners, What If Ventures, Calm Ventures, Gaingels, and Mana Ventures. Historical note: Co-founder and CEO Robert Rose briefly worked at Tesla as senior director of Autopilot and was instrumental in launching its first iteration in 2015.

PlusAI and the blank-check company Churchill Capital Corp IX have ended their SPAC merger arrangement due to market circumstances.

Porsche is divesting its stake in the Bugatti Rimac joint venture, established in 2021, along with its share in electric vehicle manufacturer Rimac Group. Porsche, holding a 20.6% stake in Rimac and 45% in the joint venture, is selling to HOF Capital. Financial details were not revealed.

Noteworthy reads and other bits

Einride is adding 75 of its electric heavy-duty trucks to Amazon’s Relay freight network as part of a deal that gives the Swedish startup a foothold in the e-commerce titan’s logistics. 

Ford and the Chinese automaker Geely reportedly engaged in discussions about extending a European partnership into the U.S., as reported by the Wall Street Journal. The consequences, of course, would involve Chinese vehicles entering the U.S. market. However, it appears that talks have stalled, leaving this significant deal in uncertainty. Bloomberg noted that Ford has refuted these claims. 

Porsche is introducing another electric vehicle to its range. The Cayenne electric coupe is set to hit the market in late summer. There’s some fascinating data in my article on why this model could be a success for Porsche. 

The first customer-ready Rivian R2 SUVs emerged from the production line at its facility in Normal, Illinois, just days after being affected by an EF-1 tornado that damaged part of the roof. Founder and CEO RJ Scaringe stated that Rivian does not foresee any delays for the R2, expected to be delivered to customers in June. 

One more thing …

As attentive readers of this newsletter are aware, I evaluate a considerable number of vehicles, and sometimes they aren’t electric. Take the Aston Martin Vantage Roadster, for example. I was eager to experience this roadster, not just because this $205,000 chiltern-green beauty is stylish, powerful, and convertible. I was keen to test the Apple CarPlay Ultra, the state-of-the-art infotainment system that displays iPhone content on the vehicle’s screens (including the instrument cluster) and integrates controls for the radio, performance settings, and climate. CarPlay Ultra initially debuted in the Aston Martin, which isn’t exactly easy to access. 

My initial experience with Apple Ultra CarPlay last summer was a bit of a mixed bag. It worked well — when it operated, but it frequently didn’t. The issue appeared to stem from a glitch that displayed two iterations of the vehicle in the Bluetooth settings. 

This time, the setup was immediate and it functioned flawlessly. Hooray. And it operated consistently. This is crucial for Aston Martin, which has been stuck for years with Mercedes-Benz’s outdated COMAND system. (Mercedes phased out that system in 2018 for its new MBUX one).