WeRide preps for an IPO, meet the man who built a startup pipeline at CNH and Waymo’s nightly honk-a-thon

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility!

We brought you a Tesla Dojo explainer last week. Now we’re giving you a handy Dojo timeline that tracks the progress of Tesla’s AI supercomputer. The timeline is not exhaustive; we didn’t think you wanted to see every promise or update from Elon Musk on the topic. But it does provide readers with the important points. We will be updating this timeline as news happens. 

What else is on tap in this week’s edition? Two IPOs, another Waymo milestone, a few deals, some air taxi news and TechCrunch reporter Rebecca Bellan’s experience with Revel. And a lot more! Let’s go!

A little bird

Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at [email protected], Sean O’Kane at [email protected] or Rebecca Bellan at [email protected]. Or check out these instructions to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.

Deals!

Behind every deal is a dealmaker. This week, check out the feature from senior reporter Sean O’Kane that digs into how a swashbuckling Italian businessman named Michele Lombardi helped heavy equipment manufacturer CNH Industrial develop a pipeline to the startup scene. 

Five years ago, CNH was in a different position and at risk of missing out on the booming agtech startup scene. 

“They got stuck, and they couldn’t really build a pipeline of successful transactions,” Lombardi told TechCrunch. “When we started, we knew we had very limited reach. We had no network.”

The upshot? A dozen deals over the last five years, split between six acquisitions and six mostly minority investments. They run the gamut technologically, ranging from farm management software to AI-powered drone imaging to satellite navigation and even tractor companies. Check out the full story here. 

Other deals that got my attention …

Alaska Airlines disclosed that it invested in JetZero, a California-based startup developing a blended-wing body aircraft that produces fewer emissions and uses less fuel. The investment amount, which includes options for future aircraft orders, was not disclosed. This was part of a Series A round that closed in late 2023, and according to that filing JetZero raised $26.4 million.

Autofleet, the venture-backed Israeli startup that developed fleet optimization software, was acquired by Canada’s Element Fleet Management for $110 million.

Clearly, a startup that developed a climate intelligence platform aimed at transport fleet operators, raised $4.3 million in a seed round led by Pace Ventures and Nine Realms. Existing mobility investors Mobilion, Next Gear and M1720 alongside angels, including Lord Nash and Margaux Primat, also participated.

Kazam, the Indian EV charging startup, raised $8 million in a Series A3 round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India. Kazam’s existing investors Avaana Capital and Alteria Capital also participated. The startup has raised $13 million to date.

Ola Electric, India’s largest electric two-wheeler maker, had a notable IPO debut. The company’s stock popped 20% on its first day, making it the biggest listing among Indian firms in two years. However, the company hasn’t made it to “easy street” just yet. Days later, Ola Electric reported a bigger quarterly loss driven, in part, by subsidy cuts and depreciation costs.

Scott Painter, the serial entrepreneur behind TrueCar, Fair and Autonomy, is spinning out a new company called Autonomy Data Services, or ADS.

WeRide is headed for an IPO. The Chinese autonomous vehicle company is seeking a valuation as high as $5.02 billion in its initial public offering, more than a year after China started easing its effective ban of foreign IPOs. On top of its intended offering, certain investors have already agreed to purchase shares worth $320.5 million in a concurrent private placement. Those investors include Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s venture arm, which has agreed to buy $97 million worth of shares, as well as JSC International Investment Fund, GetRide and Beijing Minghong.

Notable reads and other tidbits

Autonomous vehicles

Back to WeRide, the Chinese AV company I mentioned a moment ago. While the company moves toward an IPO (see above), it is also ramping up driverless testing in the United States. The company received approval to test its driverless vehicles with passengers in California. WeRide is not yet allowed to charge passengers for rides, and the service isn’t available to the general public.

Waymo plans to start testing its fully autonomous vehicles with no human safety driver on freeways in the San Francisco Bay Area.

There was another Waymo story, though, that got my attention. Yeah, I’m talking about the great nightly honk-a-thon. Software engineer Sophia Tung set up a livestream of a parking lot in San Francisco where Waymo robotaxis go when they’re not giving driverless rides. One of the activities this livestream captures is the robotaxis’ 4 a.m. bedtime routine, in which they stream in to park — and honk — for up to an hour. Waymo tells me they have corrected the problem; the robotaxis are now programmed to not honk once they enter an official Waymo depot lot.

Electric vehicles, charging & batteries

Polestar started production of the Polestar 3 at Volvo’s U.S. plant in South Carolina. The move will help the company, which is owned by China’s Geely, avoid tariffs imposed on Chinese-made cars. 

Tesla, it seems, is finally getting ready to open its 1950s-style diner in West Hollywood. Meanwhile, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is under fire from the United Auto Workers union, which filed federal labor charges against him and Donald Trump. The union alleges that Trump and Musk attempted to “threaten and intimidate workers” who engage in strikes after comments made during their now X Spaces interview Monday evening.

Future of flight

Archer Aviation announced locations for its network of vertiports, or takeoff and landing locations, including Los Angeles International Airport, the University of Southern California, Santa Monica, Hollywood Burbank, Van Nuys and Long Beach in Los Angeles County, and Orange County. The startup wants to launch an air taxi network in LA that will replace a two- to three-hour car journey with a 10- to 20-minute air taxi ride, starting in 2026. 

In-car tech

Remember the New York Times article in March that found automakers were collecting large amounts of data and then selling it to third parties, including insurance companies? Texas has decided to sue General Motors for the practice, alleging that the automaker violated the state’s consumer protection laws. 

This week’s wheels

TechCrunch senior reporter Rebecca Bellan tested out Revel, the exclusively EV ride-hail platform based in New York City that got its start as an EV scooter rental company. 

Here are her thoughts on the Revel ride experience:

I took a ride with Revel this weekend, the all-electric, all-employee ride-hail platform based in New York City. Well, I should say, all-employee for now. By next month, Revel will lay off almost 1,000 drivers as it transitions to an independent contractor model, something the company says drivers asked for.

But I digress. I had just gotten off the ferry at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and needed to make my way to Bushwick. After reviewing the astronomical prices on Lyft and Uber, I decided to give Revel and its blue Teslas a try. With Revel’s 40% discount on offer, I ended up paying only $11.60 for a 15-minute ride — easily half the cost of a Lyft or Uber.

In exchange for that cheap fare, I received a long wait time and a lack of transparency about that wait time before I booked. Unlike Uber, which displays how far away the nearest driver is before you book, Revel makes you pay upfront with no information about how long you’ll be waiting for a driver. But with those prices … I hit Apple Pay and hoped for the best.

After paying, I was quoted a 13-minute wait. Revel only has 600 vehicles in NYC, so it’s hard to compete with the one- to two-minute wait times you get with the incumbents. But as my driver hit roadblock after roadblock, that wait time extended to about 20 minutes. To his credit, my driver called me to let me know why he was running late.

He was also a great driver and a kind person who kept a clean car and made good conversation. The ride itself and the price point were a 10/10. The Revel app user experience and wait times, however, need some work if the company wants to compete with Uber and Lyft.

What is “This week’s wheels”? It’s a chance to learn about the different transportation products we’re testing, whether it’s an electric or hybrid car, an e-bike or even a ride in an autonomous vehicle.