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I was in Los Angeles earlier this week where I interviewed Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana on stage at the StrictlyVC LA event. You can watch the entire interview here, which covers her views on the Apple Car project, the company's “community tour” in Los Angeles, whether Waymo has learned anything (or changed) in the wake of the Cruise debacle and whether it's committed to staying with the company. San Francisco even if its robot continues to be vandalized.
The next morning (and quite coincidentally), the California Public Utilities Commission approved Waymo's application to operate a commercial robotaxi service in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Peninsula, and on San Francisco freeways. The approval removes the final hurdle for Alphabet to charge for flights in these expanded areas. More importantly, it opens up a new territory for Waymo in one of the country's largest cities and opens a route to San Francisco International Airport, which is located south of the city.
This week's news also includes Ford giving owners of its electric vehicles access to Tesla Superchargers, the SEC charges Lordstown Motors for misleading investors, Toyota practically paying people to buy its Mirai hydrogen fuel cell car, and more!
Let's go!
Little birds
Electric vehicle startup Fisker has been dealing with a lot lately — underperforming its sales goals, dealing with quality and customer service issues, and shifting from a direct sales model to trying to contract with dealer partners.
The company announced last week that it would be cutting 15% of its staff as part of this transformation and needs more cash to survive. Reuters reported on Friday that it is in talks with Nissan to collaborate on an electric pickup truck, in a move that could save the startup.
A few little birds told us that these talks have been going on for over a year, and that they weren't the only Japanese automaker to talk to Fisker about a potential collaboration — Fisker has also been in talks with Mazda. But Nissan is the last one standing, and its continued interest comes at a crucial moment for the struggling startup.
Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or Sean O'Kane sean.okane@techcrunch.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, click here to contact us, which includes SecureDrop (instructions here) and several encrypted messaging apps.
Deal of the week
Polestar has more breathing room now that the Swedish EV company — owned by China's Geely Holdings — has secured a $950 million loan from dozens of banks.
why does it matter? This is significant money needed to keep Polestar EV plans moving forward following Volvo's decision to withdraw its financial support for the electric car maker. The company had about $770 million in cash at the end of 2023, according to regulatory filings.
However, financing doesn't solve all of Polestar's financial problems. Even with this new infusion of capital, the company said it will continue to cut costs and look for efficiencies, including laying off workers. Polestar, which has cut 10% of jobs since mid-2023, said it plans to cut another 15% this year. The company previously revealed a 15% job cut, which will affect about 450 people.
Other deals that caught my attention…
Range Energy, a startup developing electric-powered trailers for commercial trucking, has raised $23.5 million in a funding round led by Trousdale Ventures, with participation from UP.Partners, R7 and Yamaha Motor Ventures. The band has raised $31.5 million to date.
Notable Readings and Other Stories
Self-driving vehicles
Goodbye Apple Car; We never knew you Yes, that's right, Apple has ended its plans to build and sell a self-driving electric car. Don't worry, months from now we will definitely receive rumors of the game's return. ;Dr
Reporter Sean O'Kane has learned that Apple will likely fire hundreds of employees from the team and halt all work on the project. Some will turn to Apple's generative AI projects, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the project's cancellation. Others will have 90 days to find reassignments to other roles within the company, or they will be let go. The car project still has about 1,400 employees working on it, according to one employee who was granted anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about their work. Side note: Below is a timeline of the decade-long project.
General Motors is disposing of its custom-built Cruise Origin SUV at a Mitt plant in Michigan.
Motional has told employees it will cut about 5% of its workforce (less than 70 people), TechCrunch has learned. The cuts mostly affect management roles and some employees working in Boston, one of several cities where it is testing self-driving vehicles. Another very important detail from the sources is that the company needs to secure more financing. This means either Hyundai pays the entire bill to the joint venture company it shared with Aptiv or finds another partner.
Electric vehicles, batteries and charging
Xiaomi showed off its first electric car, the SU7, at the Mobile World Congress.
Technology inside the car
Amazon has stopped selling the Ring Car Cam.
Wheels this week
Image credits: Allen J. Chapin/Getty Images
This week I wasn't driving; I was riding in a driverless Waymo robo-taxi. I've taken many trips in a Waymo robot car, but never one in Los Angeles. This flight provided an interesting test of how these robots handle unexpected sieges.
Moments after boarding the Waymo, the car was approaching a stop sign when it was involved in a minor collision between two human-driven cars. Funnily enough, another driverless Waymo car was right in front of me. A postal worker, who was also stuck, ended up backing into the U-turn lane.
My driverless car stayed in place and I began to wonder if it would ever move. Soon, a message appeared on the touchscreen informing me, “Our team is working on your move.” A moment later, the car backed up a few feet and performed the same maneuver as the postal worker. This was likely an accident when remote guidance was provided. About 2 minutes were added to my commute due to traffic.
We will post a video of the trip soon!
