Happy Friday! This week in mobility... the White House makes a plan, Rivian gets itself a peachy deal, and investments in mobility (pun intended) rev up.
Need to Know
The key takeaway for this week is investments — a lot of them. We saw the White House announce a $3B plan to boost EV battery production stateside, with another $45m for EV battery development. Georgia granted Rivian the biggest incentives package in the state’s history to build its new manufacturing plant. In addition, there were notable moves from Porsche, injecting $100m into Group 14 (lithium-silicon battery developer), Stellantis, buying SHARE NOW (car-sharing venture), and Daimler Trucks, making a minority investment in Apex.AI (a mobility software developer).
In Other News
Volkswagen has picked Qualcomm to provide system-on-chip modules (SOCs) for its automated driving software across all brands. (link)
Commercial EV manufacturer Volta Trucks plans to bring its all-electric Zero trucks to the U.S. next year. (link)
Daimler Buses aims to offer locally CO2-neutral vehicles based on batteries and hydrogen in every segment by 2030, as part of their larger commitment to sustainable drive technologies. (link)
Supply chain shortages continue to show their impact, with Volkswagen sharing that their 2022 supply of EVs is "basically sold out" in the U.S. and Europe. (link)
Autonomous vehicle technology company Aurora has unveiled a fleet management system to optimize autonomous operations. Aurora has active commercial pilots today with FedEx, Uber Freight, and, Werner Enterprises. (link)
Sila Nanotechnologies, a company founded by a former Tesla engineer, buys a U.S. factory to produce next-gen silicon-based EV battery materials. (link)
Apple poaches 31-year Ford veteran as it aims for self-driving EV launch in the coming years. (link)
Fisker announced the company’s third electric vehicle – a new electric GT with what it claims will be the “longest range of any production EV.” While this is its third vehicle announcement, Fisker has yet to bring its first one to market. (link)
Interesting Reads
A thought piece on the increasing opportunities for micro-mobility products to revolutionize the way we move around cities for work and pleasure. (link)
Autonomous trucking transition to drive job change, not job loss. A recent report found that increased productivity tied to long-haul automation would yield 35,100 jobs/year and more than $68 billion in GDP. (link)
EVs may not be the greenest solution in every country. A recent report looks at the impacts of energy generation across countries and its impact on the “greenness” of your vehicle. (link)
Electrify America, one of the largest fast-charging networks in the U.S., shared data on the utilization of the infrastructure during 2021. Their numbers show more than a five times increase since 2020. (link)
In a similar trend, global plug-in electric car sales increased 60% in March. This was the second highest monthly sales ever. (link)