“Examining the Resurgence of Cruise Robotaxis and the Controversy Surrounding Ford’s BlueCruise on TechCrunch Mobility”

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility

Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation.

Sign up here to receive the newsletter every weekend in your inbox. Subscribe for free.

It’s been an eventful week in the world of transportation, especially for the EV startup and automated driving industries. While Cruise made a splash with its announcement of a return, there are plenty of other newsworthy stories to catch up on, such as Indian ride-hailing giant Ola leaving the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand, a New York-based startup’s plan to revolutionize curbside EV charging with lampposts, and Uber Eats launching a TikTok-inspired video feature. And there’s even talk of humanoid robots taking over car factories, thanks to contract manufacturer Magna’s pilot program with Sanctuary AI.

But wait, there’s more! We’re excited to announce that reporter Rebecca Bellan is back on the team. We know our readers missed her, so please welcome her back by sending any juicy tips to rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com.

Now, let’s dive in!

A little bird

Founders, investors, engineers, policy wonks, and more have been sharing insider information with us. And we’re here to pass on all the verifiable details from those little birdies.

Do you have a tip for us? Send it to Kirsten Korosec, Sean O’Kane, or Rebecca Bellan. Or, if you prefer to remain anonymous, click here to contact us using SecureDrop (for instructions, click here) or encrypted messaging apps.

Deal of the week

It’s been a busy week of deals, with plenty of startups and companies securing crucial funding.

• Basemark, a Finnish company that provides AR and computer vision software to automakers, raised €22 million ($23.6 million) in a Series B round led by ETF Partners, with participation from Finnish Industry Investment, Constructor Capital, Business Finland, the European Innovation Council, and private investors.
• Bumper, an automotive fintech startup, secured a £2 million investment in a Series B extension round led by Suzuki Global Ventures and Marubeni Ventures.
• Carrar, an Israeli startup that supplies battery modules and thermal management systems to EVs, raised $5.3 million in a Series A round, with new investors including Salida B.V., OurCrowd, and NextGear, as well as current backers Gentherm, NextLeap Ventures, and Dive Digital.
• Exoes, a French startup that specializes in battery cooling technology for EVs, secured €35 million ($37.5 million) from BpiFrance and Meridiam Green Impact Growth Fund.
• HysetCo SAS, a startup that rents hydrogen-powered EVs to taxi drivers in Paris, raised almost €200 million ($218 million) in a round led by Hy24, with participation from Raise Impact and Eiffel Investment Group.
• Yoshi Mobility, a Nashville-based startup offering services like preventative maintenance, virtual vehicle inspections, and EV charging, raised $26 million in a Series C round led by General Motors Ventures, with support from Bridgestone Americas, Universal Motors Agencies, and Shikra Limited.

Notable reads and other tidbits

ADAS

The National Transportation Safety Board reported that the driver of a Ford Mustang Mach-E who crashed into a stationary car in Texas in February was using the hands-free driver-assistance system known as BlueCruise. This is the first known fatal crash involving BlueCruise. The NTSB’s announcement came a day after the board announced its investigation into another fatal crash near Philadelphia where Ford’s driver-assistance system may have been active.

Autonomous vehicles

Cruise, GM’s self-driving car subsidiary, is back in action (sort of). The company is redeploying robotaxis, but not in their home city of San Francisco. Instead, Cruise is focusing on Phoenix, where their vehicles will be manually operated by employees. However, what’s puzzling is that Cruise is also planning to map the roads in Phoenix, a city they’ve already had a presence in since 2020. Why restart the entire mapping process? Is this a publicity stunt or is Cruise having doubts about their technology?

In other AV news, Waymo has officially launched its paid ride service in Los Angeles after receiving approval from California regulators. The service will start small and expand based on performance metrics and demand, according to a Waymo spokesperson.

Electric vehicles, charging & batteries

Elon Musk’s decision to prioritize a robotaxi over an affordable EV may cost Tesla its lead in the industry, according to TC reporter Tim De Chant.

Exponent Energy, an Indian battery-tech company that claims to have developed 15-minute charging technology, has partnered with auto manufacturer Omega Seiki Mobility to provide a three-wheel EV with rapid-charging capabilities.

Faraday Future is facing a whistleblower lawsuit from two former employees, who allege that the company lied about its sales figures and retaliated against anyone who spoke out. The startup, co-founded by Jia Yueting, is already struggling with financial problems and now must deal with these legal accusations.

Lucid Motors delivered a record-breaking number of EVs in the first quarter of this year, though just barely.

Tesla has dropped the monthly subscription price of its “Supervised FSD” (formerly known as “FSD Beta”) from $199 to $99 in an attempt to gather more data from drivers.

Ride-hail

Lyft and Uber have decided to put their planned exit from Minneapolis on hold after city officials announced a two-month delay in implementing a driver pay raise.

Miscellaneous

Check out this in-depth look at Neural Concept, a company using AI to help engineers design more aerodynamic vehicles for the racing, automotive, and aerospace industries.

This week’s wheels

This week, I had the opportunity to test out the 2024 Mercedes EQE 350 4MATIC. The base price for this model is $77,900, not including the destination fee. The particular version I drove came in at a whopping $97,615 due to various added features, such as a rear axle steering system, head-up display, air suspension, AMG exterior, and a driver-assistance system costing $1,250.

There are several improvements from the previous model, including a new braking system, a heat pump to improve winter driving efficiency, a 20-mile increase in battery range, 20-inch wheels, power opening port door for charging, and a sleeker user interface for the central infotainment system.

However, the most exciting feature I wanted to test was the advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS), specifically the automatic lane change function, which I hadn’t tried before.

Within the infotainment center, you can select either “manual” or “automatic” lane change options. When the automatic feature is enabled and ADAS is on, the vehicle will make lane changes without driver input. Here’s how it works: while driving in the right lane on the highway, if the car approaches slower traffic, an arrow appears on the instrument cluster and the system turns on your indicator, then makes the lane change for you. However, this can be overridden by holding the steering wheel and staying in the lane.

My thoughts? The system worked seamlessly and could be useful on occasion. The question now is whether drivers are willing to give up that level of control to their car.