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It seems you can’t go a week without discussing something. TeslaThe company announced a new investment in its Gigafactory in Nevada, sharing in fourth-quarter earnings (more on that below).Much of the attention, however, was directed to the securities fraud trial in a class-action lawsuit that began in San Francisco earlier this month. , said funding had been “secured” to take Tesla private with a potential value of $420 a share It is suing its executives for billions of dollars in damages.
This week, lawyers on both sides of the court played a verbal tug-of-war over the intent of Mr. Musk’s “funds secured” tweet. Musk is Already knew he was negligent.
There were some hints that emerged from the whole fiasco. Musk testified that the $420 per share reference was neither a joke nor a reference to weed culture, but a 20% premium to his stock at the time. surely…
Musk also said he believed the money was secured from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, even if that wasn’t the case. Sold SpaceX shares to finance the acquisition, just as he sold his Tesla shares to fund Twitter. I wonder why he didn’t share it five years before him?
Akio Toyoda at a press conference in 2021.
Perhaps the biggest car-related topic of the week is Akio Toyoda Surprise announcement that he will get out of the driver’s seat of Toyota’s CEO and hand over the keys Koji SatoMost recently, he headed the automaker’s luxury brand, Lexus.
Akio Toyoda is not leaving Toyota completely. He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors, Takeshi Uchiyamada, had held that position since 2013. The company said the change in management was triggered by Uchiyamada’s resignation.
Toyota and Sato spoke out during a livestream of Toyota’s event, and several nuggets stood out.
For one, Toyoda commented on his 13 years as CEO, when the company suffered from global financial crises, earthquakes, and global recalls.
In times of crisis, I believe there are two roads ahead of us. One is the path to short-term success or quick victory. The other way is to return to the core qualities and philosophies that have empowered us.
I chose the latter.
And Sato about the future:
I love building cars. For that reason, I want to be the president who continues to make cars. Through cars, I want to show what kind of company Toyota should be. that’s what i want to do.
Cars that are fun to drive, cars that support mobility. The car of the future will evolve into the concept of mobility itself. In doing so, we would like to protect the essential value of cars and propose new forms of mobility.
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micro mobin
It’s been a pretty slow week in the micromobility realm, but we have a few tidbits worth sharing.
bike new yorkis a non-profit organization. Serving Immigrants and Asylum Seekers with two wheels.
California Will be up to date to provide soon electric bike rebateThe state is preparing to raise up to $13 million in funding.
city bike have Membership and single trip price increases Jersey City and Hoboken. Will other markets follow?
hellbiz wants to deal with short selling of its own stock.company Signed an agreement with Shareholder Intelligence Services To stop illegal short selling.
honda motorcycle teeth Decided to sell a seated electric scooter For the Indian market in 2024.
Madrid Selected Dr. Lime When Tier About the moped license. The permit he is valid for three years. This is a step up of many permits that only last a year or two.
Tier announced further headcount reductions across its brands, spinThis follows on from previous layoffs at both companies. Tier says he will lay off 80 employees from Tier and another 20 from Spin, reorienting strategy from growing at all costs to sustainable growth said.
Is that so Donation of 36 disused motorcycles to school in the Bronx.
Sale of the week
No big deal grabbed our attention this week.
AmpecoBulgaria’s EV charging management platform, Raises $13M in Series A guided by BMW iVentures drive to North America.
Cowra breakoutManagement app for drivers has raised £4m ($5m) from Lloyds Banking Group Plc. The four-year-old company is also backed by Jaguar Land Rover’s venture arm.
Geely are planning big investment Transform London’s iconic black cab into a mass-produced, all-electric brand with a range of commercial and passenger vehicles.
Log9 materialIndia-based battery technology startup has raised $40 million in a Series B equity and debt round jointly led by Amara Raja Batteries and Petronas Ventures. Incred Financial Services, Unity Small Finance Bank, Oxyzo Financial Services and Western Capital Advisors also participated.
up Raised 100 million pound line Credit from CDPQ to continue to expand the UK fleet with the latest electric vehicle models.
Shiva.AIthe company that developed an in-vehicle payment and commerce platform based on vehicle location, raised $9.25 million in Series A funding round led by strategic Reynolds & Reynolds Company, with Poppe + Potthoff Capital GmbH and Pegasus Tech Raised additional funding from Ventures.
drone land Raised $14 million Series C From Waed Ventures, the VC arm of Saudi Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s public oil and gas company.
Virgin Australia plans to begin interviewing lead underwriters for an IPO scheduled for 2023.
Notable reading and other information
ADAS
Teslaof Autopilot Dropped in Consumer Reports Rankings of 12 major systems. fordBlueCruise ranked first, followed by of General Motors Cadillac Super Cruise and Mercedes-Benz driving assistance. Autopilot is 7th.
self-driving car
take a loan received an exemption from test a remotely controlled car on German roads.
Waymo be quiet lay off staff Parent company Alphabet laid off 12,000 employees.
I missed this one last week too. Waymo is Official Partner of Autonomous Driving Technology of Super Bowl LVII, this year in Phoenix. Saswat Panigrahi, Waymo’s chief product officer, said: statement.
Electric car
blue dot is a startup that provides Debit card for EV driversoffers benefits and discounts on EV charging and other automotive-related services.
Honda establish a department Dedicated to EV development Other electrical products such as storage and power generation.
light year have Stop production with Lightyear 0, the company’s €250,000 flagship solar-powered EV. Instead, we turn our attention to the second production model, the Lightyear 2. The Lightyear 2 is just €40,000.
Tesla reported fourth-quarter and full-year earnings this week.The company beat Wall Street estimates $24.3 billion in the fourth quarter. Tesla also reached record the deployment for its energy offering.Separately, Tesla Invested $3.6 billion We are building two new facilities in Nevada. A 100 GWh battery cell plant and the company’s first mass production semi truck plant.
Toyota teeth partnership When Enel X Way Making the latter’s domestic and road charging services available to Toyota and Lexus drivers. volta track Announced first production order Over 300 electric EVs and related revenues of over €85 million.
ride hail
gig worker In India on platforms such as Uber, Ola When Swiggy that is face blocked accounts Other reactions to speaking out against poor working conditions.
lift introduced waiting time fee, or charges incurred if the Lyft driver must wait for the passenger at the time of pickup. Uber has been using this service since 2016. Lyft’s new fare will go into effect two minutes after arriving on time for regular rides and five minutes after arriving on time for Black and Black XL.
uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said: No plans for large-scale layoffsHere he is keeping his word.
people
canoe named and manguet as CFO. Ramesh Murthywho served as interim CFO, will continue in his role as Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Accounting Officer.
