This week is very AV - Tesla launch, MOIA strategy, Applied Intuition $600M and Waymo keeps expanding

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Autonomous & remote-driving 🤖℡

Tesla’s highly anticipated AV launch finally happened, on June 22th. Bottom line: it works but we don’t know how much intervention there is (or not); there are mishaps and quite a few; but nobody got hurt so far (knock wood); and, ultimately, so far it does the trick. 

We also know that:

• Fleet of circa 10 Model Y SUVs

• Invite only access, $4.2 flat fee per ride

• Safety “monitor” sitting in the right front passenger seat; which raises the question - were there additional safety measures, such as brakes, specially installed? 

• Nothing was said about remote driving, but we can assume that there is in the background

• Also Tesla delivered (video) a vehicle to a customer, autonomously 

Youtube is full of videos of complete rides, and another one, of vehicles braking without need, there are lists of mishaps and what not; and you can also check the Tesla’s AV page.

Applied Intuition raises $600M at $15 billion valuation. Back in March the company announced a partnership with TRATON (Scania, MAN, International, and Volkswagen Truck & Bus); the company also entered the defence industry, working with the US army. 

MOIA has a new (publicised & inferred) strategy: it is the AV sales and implementation arm of Volkswagen. MOIA will sell a one-stop-shop solution to public transport agencies, everything from fitting (Mobileye) sensors to remote driving tech and passenger apps to employee training. At UITP, VW unveiled its new series production version ID. Buzz AD, a vehicle fitted with 4 seats - VW/MOIA is planning on AVs for rural mobility use cases, similar to the ones DRT is mostly active in today. 

And an update on the EU’s ALIKE project (AVs in Hamburg): originally targeting MOIA and HOLON autonomous vehicles testing in mid-2025; MOIA is right now in employee testing, expected to open to closed group experiments “soon”; HOLON expected to launch only toward end-of-year.

Travis Kalanick is looking to buy the US arm of Pony AI - and might get Uber to back the acquisition. Pony AI went public on Nasdaq back in November 2024; in 2022 the company had plans to spin-off its US arm. It is an obvious step for both - Kalanick is an advocate of autonomy, and during his time at Uber, he advanced its autonomous program; Uber could use a large stake in an AV company, to hedge its AV partnerships. Is this for real? TBC. 

IndiGo, OEM of lightweight commercial vehicles, acquires Clevon, autonomous delivery technology. 

Waymo and Uber begin commercial autonomous ride-hailing service in Atlanta; all demand - booking, payment, operating the AV - will be done via the Uber app. Uber also manages all the fleet management aspects (I.e. maintenance, cleaning). Lyft and May Mobility are expected to launch in the city soon. 

Also Waymo applies for a permit to operate in NYC; for now testing only, safety driver included, as state law mandates. NYC poses a whole different level of driving complexity, Waymo seems to be OK with it. And Waymo expands robotaxi service areas in SF and LA.  

Baidu's Apollo Go approved to expand autonomous driving tests in Hong Kong. The company is also planning expansions to Singapore and Malaysia. WeRide signs MOU with Dubai's Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) and Uber, to deploy commercial Robotaxi. Initially with a safety driver, the service is expected to be fully autonomous in Q1/26. Cambridge driverless bus trial launches, using a ADL bus fitted with Fusion Processing technology.  

Robobus crash at Hong Kong airport. These BYD AV buses were introduced in May 2023 and operate 12 hours a day.

Kodiak and Vay partner. Vay will provide remote-drive services for Kodiak on its autonomous trucks. This is purely the announcement - the companies have been working together since at least 2024. Also Kodiak selects Roush as its OEM partner. Roush will upfit trucks to get them AV-ready. 

Zoox opens its first major robotaxi production facility. The facility, located in California, is planned to be able to build up to 10,000 vehicles a year. 

FACTUAL are organising an Autonomous Vehicle study trip to China. Leaving 27th of October for six days - Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhengzhou - to see ride-hailing, public transport and car-sharing autonomous solutions. Interested? More here.

Ride-Hailing & Taxi, Buses & DRT  🚙🚐

Zeelo raises a Series B $23M. Funds will be used to grow in North America, maintain UK&I leading position, develop new AI products, grow EV fleet and pilot autonomy. 

Evera Cabs (India) raise $4M in convertible and debt to grow its EV fleet. The company has 600 vehicles and plans to buy an extra 1,000. 

umob raises €3.5M; partners with Dutch employee benefit platform Alleo to offer mobility employee benefits; and connects to supply from Dott, Voi and Cooltra.  

Tencent (🇨🇳) bids to acquire a ±40% stake in Kakao Mobility; the company has been valued roughly at $4.4 billion. In the race to acquire are also Uber and Grab. Tencent denies. 

InDrive makes its first revenues from advertising. 

Careem suspends ride-hailing in Pakistan, citing increasing competition and macroeconomic conditions. Pakistan was one of Careem's earliest markets, launching in 2015 and creating a new market; InDrive’s entry to the market and its bidding model made it the winner. Uber left the market back in April 2024, now Careem. 

Ola rolls out a 0% commission model, across all its vehicle types. The model, which is based on revenue from daily subscription (/other time frame) , is wide-spread and popular in India, already implemented by Namma Yatri, Rapido and Uber (with rickshaws).  

Bolt gearing up to enter Uzbekistan. Bolt introduces Comfort in Kenya - the solution includes vehicles 2017+, mandatory AC and 4.8+ driver rating. Uber expands in Spain. Lyft expands in Canada, going into Quebec. Uride launches IslandLink, an island service. Freenow and Uber both are trying to enter Ibiza. Rapido starts offering Delhi metro tickets via the ONDC. Moovit partners with Terravision to allow its travellers to plan, book and pay in 15 European airports. BluSmart app not working anymore. 

New DRT report by Lukas Foljanty, looking at main KPIs for Q1 &Q2-to-date / 2025. Main takeaways: 

• 160 new projects launched; +82 net market growth (in terms of projects)

• North American markets are very strong

• Over 60% of new services are part of the regular public transport network, which indicates growing commercialisation of DRT services

• For the full report. 

Car Sharing/renting 🚗

 🇫🇷 French 2025 Carsharing Barometer - key takeaways: 

• Vehicles grew +3.7%, to 13,662 (January 2025 figures)

• Of those, 1,709 are electric - down from 2,694 in 2023

• Users grew +11.5% to 1.02 million (Jan. 25)

• Unique active users grew +6.3% in 2024 to 388,000  - less than the 458,841 in 2022

• And unique/total users in 2024 was 37.7% - that’s down from 46.5% in 2022 and 39.6% in 2023. Does that indicate a growing churn?

• 90% is station-based

• Note that Europcar On Demand (formerly Ubeeqo) exited France mid-2024

• For the full report (French). 

🇬🇧 Research from CoMoUK - the UK national organisation for shared transport (about), on 2024 car-sharing (or car clubs, as they are called in Britain). Key takeaways: 

• 873,499 car club members, up 11% from 2023

• 5,477 vehicles. 3% YoY increase

• 30% are electric (down from 35% in 2023) - for benchmarking - 3% of UK cars are electric. 

• For the full report. 

FREENOW exits car-sharing in Cologne. MOL Limo partners with Siemens to implement rapid EV chargers. Zoomcar hacked and 8.4 million users' data was stolen. 

Micromobility 🚲🛴

ATOM Mobility acquires ScootAPI. This deal strengthens ATOM’s presence in the B2B SaaS Micro-Mobility market.

Finland bans scooters for children under 15; sets speed limit at 25 km/h and bans use under substances. 

Bolt to launch in London in the summer, in what would be its first in the UK. Vancouver expands Lime contract. Lime is said to be hiring investment banks for a US IPO.

Delivery 🍽🧺

NIMBY meets Manna Drones in Dundrum. Manna plans to set up a food delivery hub in a car park; local residents object on account of risk and noise. TBC. Meanwhile in the US, DoorDash and Flytrex launch drone delivery in Dallas-Fort Worth, following a pilot phase. 

In Brazil, Uber partners with Loggi, a top regional logistic company, to launch additional package-delivery territories. Uber brings demand, Loggi the people and operations. 

JET introduces JET Go in the UK, its delivery-as-a-service solution, allowing companies to use JET’s delivery infrastructure for its own orders. And Prosus is "very confident" of securing early EU antitrust approval for its £4.1 billion acquisition of Just Eat Takeaway.com. 

Rapido plans to launch food delivery using a three-tier delivery fee structure based on order value. Talabat partners with Flyby, an AdTech company, to introduce smart (digitally) delivery boxes in Dubai, enabling advertising on those delivery boxes. Yandex Uzbekistan introduces its own designed e-bikes to couriers.  

I love meeting new people and learning about innovation. Let’s get-to-know.

Flying cars 🚁

Archer signs agreement to deploy Midnight aircraft in Indonesia. The deal is valued at up to $250M, but there is no due date. EHang performed a flight test in Abu Dhabi and a passenger test-flight in Indonesia. Wisk signs MOUs to launch in Miami and Japan. Vertical Aerospace June 2025 company overview.  

Gig economy 💰

New research by University of Oxford in cooperation with London-based Worker Info Exchange | Data Rights for Digital Workers, auditing 1.5 million trips from 258 drivers, looking at what has changed since Uber introduced dynamic pay in Q1/23, and finds that: 

• Gross hourly pay dropped from £22.20 to £19.06

• 82% of longer serving Uber drivers are now earning less per hour than they did before

• Uber's commission (“take rate”) has increased (over 25%) and become less transparent

• For the full report and more findings. 

Dutch court rules that Picnic and Flink must pay back wages to about 35,000 employees for the period from September 13, 2022, to July 1, 2023 - because they fall under the supermarket collective labor agreement. TBC. 

NYC increases ride-hailing minimum wage by 5% (down from a 1st suggested 6.1% increase) and reaches an agreement with Uber-Lyft for those to stop locking drivers out of their apps. In Chicago, unions and Uber reached a compromise; Uber agreed to support statewide legislation that would give drivers collective bargaining rights but keep them classified as independent contractors. Lyft has not made a similar agreement yet. 

Lyft is threatening to deactivate drivers who use third-party earnings apps, citing security concerns and unauthorised credential sharing. 

In other news 📰

TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2025 -  from automotive we find BYD and Hyundai; mobility adds Waymo and  Lime; delivery adds DoorDash, 

Hype was a Hydrogen-focused taxi company operating in France; WAS, because it is now switching to Electric. The reason: hydrogen prices, lack of industry infrastructure and partners. 

Indian drone startup Raphe mPhibr raises $100M as military UAV demand soars.

Uber values.

I love meeting new people and learning about innovation. Let’s get-to-know.

People 🧑‍🤝‍🧑

Antony Goozee is the new Managing Director - UK Bus @ National Express. 

Arne Lumme is the new Head of Operations @ Wunder Mobility. 

Luke Friesen is the new Director of Partnerships @ Spare. 

Michael Karp is the new Head of projects @ Electreon. 

Umar Zakir Abdul Hamid is the new Strategic Advisor (Non-Executive) @ Sensible 4.

Congrats and good luck!

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