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Ford made a massive EV announcement earlier this week. It plans to invest $2 billion to transform the Louisville assembly plant, starting with a base price of $30,000, with a base price of $30,000, into a factory that can manufacture a new generation of affordable EVS.
In a presentation from various executives, union leaders and employees, CEO Jim Farley said that I cannot completely shake up:
“There is no guarantee for this project. We’re doing so many new things. This is all 100% uncertainty that we can’t tell you. It’s a bet. There’s a risk.”
Bet? The company has put together the SkunkWorks team. The team worked for several years to find ways to build affordable electric vehicles that could be made in the US faster, more efficient, with fewer parts, while still maintaining profit margins. To that end, the company discarded a century-old system that made Ford famous and developed a new three assembly line that uses more automation and unicasting.
Ford, like many other automakers, is narrowed down to slower tariffs than expected and the looming threat of competition with China. The company must act if it wants to remain relevant. But is this a movement?
Ford cannot actually use this manufacturing technology in other factories. Because it is fixed in the way the vehicle is designed and split into three unicasting, a massive deviation from the way it is used to assemble the other vehicles. What this means is that they are witnessing a $5 billion experiment ($3 billion at the LFP battery plant and $2 billion at Louisville) to maintain employment in the US.
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Little bird
Some little birds have said that the car rental startup kites, which once billed themselves as “Hertz’s best alternative,” are no longer working.
The startup was already in trouble late last year after cutting staff and cutting to two markets. However, in July, the company sold its customer list to Turo, a peer-to-peer car sharing company. (Turo declined to comment further on this condition.) And since then, Kyte appears to have fallen completely and entered the form of receivership in California in late July.
It apparently left many customers at Lurch who had already booked rentals through Kyte. Turo told TechCrunch that he is only responsible for the assets he purchases. This is not a financial claim against Kyte, which is now abolished.
Any tips for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at Kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com (kkorosec.07) or sean o’kane (sean.okane@techcrunch.com).
Great deal!
Bumper, a UK-based Buy Now, paid a later platform for car service and repairs, raising $10.8 million in Series B expansion funds led by Autotech Ventures. Inmotion Ventures, Suzuki Global Ventures, Porsche Ventures and Shell Ventures also participated.
Lagos-based food delivery startup Chodekki has raised $9 million in Series A funding led by Novastar Ventures with participation from Y Combinator, AAIC Investment, Rebel Fund, GFR Fund, Kaleo, Hoaq and others.
Eve Air Mobility – Urban Air Mobility Company has announced $230 million capital raises and dual lists in the US and Brazil. The company has raised $1 billion so far.
Ultraviolette, an Indian electric motorcycle startup, has raised $21 million in a full capital round led by the corporate venture arm of Japanese electronics giant TDK Corporation. Existing Ultraviolette investors Zoho Corporation and Lingotto (formerly Exor Capital) also participated.
Via submitted S-1 documents on the road to IPO. Transit Software Company has not yet determined the number of shares or price ranges offered. I haven’t read the entire documentation yet as this was deleted when I was sending this newsletter. However, some notable items are that the company’s revenues rose 35% to $337 million from 2023 to 2024. The net losses shrunk to $90 million over the same period. CEO Daniel Lamott’s 2024 compensation package includes equity grants, costing $9.5 million. Following the footnote, the company is issuing additional grant packages and cash bonus programs for 2025.
Weride, a Chinese self-driving car company, has secured an investment from Grab. The company did not disclose the amount of investment. Weride said the funding will help speed up the deployment and commercialization of Level 4 Robotaxis and shuttles in Southeast Asia.
Notable readings and other information
Foxconn has stopped building electric tractors for California startup Monarch tractors after Taiwan’s technology giant recently sold its Ohio plant to SoftBank. History Lesson: Foxconn had planned to establish a manufacturing business for electric vehicle contracts at the factory, but the monarch was one of four companies it worked with. The other three (Lordstown Motors, Fisker and Indiev) all went bankrupt.
Several well-known executive shuffles are ongoing. Waabi, an autonomous truck maker, hired Uber’s cargo freight CEO, Lior Ron, who has a long and interesting history in the AV world. Rebecca Tinucci, who previously spent six years building Tesla’s charging network, took over as head of Uber freight. Ron will remain as chairman of Uber Freight.
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program’s spending freeze was thawed after months of uncertainty. The Trump administration has finally issued new guidance that states can use to eliminate funding for electric vehicle charging infrastructure after spending months withholding funds.
Rapido, a popular ride platform in India, is beta-testing its food delivery service in Bengaluru with the challenge of market leader Swiggy and Zomato.
How many pivots can a company make in a lifetime? Level is testing the boundaries of that question. The company, which began as an electric scooter rental service, has closed its ride service in New York City. Level instead focuses on the early EV charging business.
A little more about the news I wrote last week that Tesla Dojo is dead. Elon Musk confirmed that Tesla has disbanded a team working on the Dojo AI training supercomputer a few weeks after Tesla’s second cluster was expected to work “large scale” in 2026. Tesla shifts its focus to AI5 and AI6 chips manufactured by TSMC and Samsung, respectively. Note: The Tesla plant in Buffalo, New York is believed to be home to Dojo Supercomputer, and the company has committed to investing $500 million in the plant over five years to bring Dojo.
Riding a Waymo Robotaxi is a modern and futuristic experience for your customers. Music with one exception. Reporter Max Zeff writes about why Waymo’s music upgrades are important.
One more…
AutoNocast, another podcast I co-host (me and TechCrunch Equity), focusing on the future of transportation, has had another episode that I would like to listen to. This time we will be interviewing Dave Ferguson, co-founder and president of Nuro.
