Happy Sunday! This week in mobility... CES took centerstage, with major announcements being made across the industry, and more.
Need to Know
The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, NV, brings with it a lot of news across the technology industry. This year, we saw several mobility-related announcements come out of the conference. A few of the highlights are captured below:
💡 The Headlines. NVIDIA and Foxconn announced a strategic partnership to develop automated and autonomous vehicle platforms. Sony Honda Mobility announced its Afeela concept car.
🙈 Look, Mom, No Hands. Hyundai demoed its self-driving Ioniq 5 robotaxi. ZF announced its partnership with mobility provider Beep to bring its next autonomous Level 4 shuttle to the US market. HOLON and design firm Pininfarina unveiled the Mover, an autonomous electric shuttle. Ottonomy.IO showed off its Ottobot Yeti, an autonomous delivery robot for first and last-mile deliveries.
🆕 The Vehicle Hype. Chrysler showcased their synthesis cockpit demonstrator, previewing the brand's vision for its first EV. BMW showcased its i Vision Dee, a window into its Neue Klasse of EVs. Stellantis revealed a fully electric Ram truck—the 1500 Revolution EV Concept. Peugeot’s Inception Concept debuted the next era for the brand and its vision for future electric vehicles. Asahi Kasei, a diversified Japanese multinational company, showcased a concept for how mobility and living will seamlessly connect the virtual space to the physical space. Italdesign unveiled its Climb-E autonomous capsule transport vehicle.
🔋 And Everything Else. Free2move, Stellantis’ mobility service brand, announced plans to expand its car sharing, rental, and subscription services in the US in 2023, with the ultimate goal of adding 200 new mobility markets globally by 2030. Mercedes-Benz revealed plans for a branded high-power charging network starting this year in North America. EverCharge, an EV charging company, announced its first single-family home charging solution. Harman, an automotive technology company and subsidiary of Samsung, unveiled advanced in-cabin technologies ready to deliver enhanced safety, well-being, and entertainment experiences. Continental and Ambarella partnered on assisted and automated driving systems with a full software stack. NTT DATA, Embotech, and Valeo announced their consortium called VEN.AI, designed to be the go-to provider for parking automation.
In Other News
🏛 Regulatory. The US Environmental Protection Agency said it would tighten national air quality standards for fine particle pollution for the first time since 2012, a move that could lead to stricter limits on tailpipe and smokestack emissions. California passed a law to force Tesla to rename its “Full Self-Driving” product. Following a new agreement between the European Commission and the US, fleet operators in the US who buy a commercial electric vehicle made in the European Union can take advantage of the EV tax advantages. The European Investment Bank provided €475 million to Brussels to improve public transport in the Belgian capital. Ireland ended its company car tax advantages for EVs. South Korea's antitrust regulator fined Tesla $2.2 million for allegedly minimizing the impact of cold weather on vehicle range.
🚘 Vehicles. Kia announced that the EV9 electric SUV will feature Level 3 autonomous driving capability. Lucid has started delivery of its entry-level Lucid Air Pure. Maserati is considering reducing its upcoming EV’s charging speed to lower its weight and cost. BYD launched its premium Yangwang brand, as well as its first models. Tesla rolled out aggressive Model 3 and Model Y price cuts in China.
🚲 Micromobility. Segway announced it will integrate Apple's Find My tech into its e-bikes and e-scooters.
🛞 Tech Development. Goodyear and Gatik partnered to incorporate intelligent tire data into automated driving systems. Aeva and Plus unveiled their next-generation PlusDrive automated driving solution. Mobileye and WNC entered a collaboration on imaging radar production. LG partnered with Magna to develop next-generation autonomous driving infotainment solutions. eYs3D, an AI startup, debuted a computer vision platform for autonomous robots. Google HD Maps aims to give the Volvo EX90 safer and smoother semi-autonomous driving.
⚡ Mobility Ecosystem. Stellantis is to help Archer Aviation build its electric aircraft and increase its stake in the company. EVgo and Amazon announced a partnership to support an Alexa-enabled EV charging experience. Mapbox announced a partnership with Toyota Motor Europe to supply its cloud navigation SaaS solution.
📍Go to Market. Verge opened US pre-orders for its hubless electric motorcycle with 25-minute charging. Zoox’s CTO said the company is “very, very close” to testing their robotaxi on public roads. Baidu was granted the first license to test robotaxis in Beijing. Vay received a permit for teledriving without a safety driver in Hamburg, Germany. Mobileye kicked off an autonomous pilot in Germany. Mercedes-Benz is slated to become the first automaker to launch a Level 3 automated driving system in the US after receiving approval from Nevada. Aurora pledged that its autonomous trucks would be feature complete by the end of Q1.
💼 Business. BYD is partnering with NVIDIA to bring Nvidia GeForce NOW cloud gaming streaming to its vehicles. Rivian posted its Q4 deliveries, just falling short of its 2022 production goal. Waev, the maker of the GEM tiny car, scored a former Google executive as its new COO. Canoo sued former employees for reportedly stealing secrets for a rival company.
💰 Investments. Microsoft is in advanced talks to invest over $10 million in Gatik, pushing its valuation to $700 million. NIO Capital lead the Series A funding round for Ruilong Technology, a battery recycling firm. PreAct Technologies, a LiDAR technology company, announced the close of a $14 million Series B funding round. Volvo announced that it now wholly owns Zenseact, an autonomous driving software company.
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