Su$tainable Mobility: Bogota, Biden and Argo AI
Vol 40
This bi-weekly newsletter aims to separate the signal from the noise for making money in sustainable transportation: Electrification, mode shift, active and public transit, and mobility aggregation, across both people and goods movement.
There is no Deep Dive this issue because I’m traveling on vacation this week.
QUICK HITS: Notable news from the last 2 weeks
🚴♀️ Bogota continues to prove why it’s one of the leading cities in sustainable mobility. The eye-opening stat in the article: “For every $200 spent to build a highway in a city, around a ton of CO2 emissions are created each year. Spending the same amount on protected bike lanes, the study found, can cut emissions by roughly the same amount.
🤬 NYC residents are up in arms about bikes and e-scooters on the sidewalk. Bogota has the answer to those problems, if we can find the political will.
🍝 NYC’s Open Streets dining was a phenomenal success. Friend of the newsletter Jonah Bliss compiled his insights here.
📈 In the same week, Cambridge, MA, Culver City, CA, and Lexington, KY moved to eliminate parking minimums. That’s the kind of trend you love to see.
🌊 San Diego’s e-bike program is showing good traction. In the US, Denver still probably takes the crown.
🇮🇪 Ireland is moving forward with an e-cargo bike tax credit. As lots of European cities prove, e-cargo bikes are a great way to move families or light cargo.
⚓️ The pandemic-induced container backlog at the Ports of LA and Long Beach made local air quality dramatically worse. At the same time, legacy manufacturers of heavy-duty trucks are stalling on zero-emissions trucks, which is the other major culprit contributing to poor air quality in the region.
🇺🇸 The US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) may be dropping scope 3 emissions requirements from its upcoming climate disclosure requirements. As noted in the Deep Dive in Vol 25, this would serve as a loophole for those like Amazon who rely on 3rd parties. At the same time, the Biden administration may be changing gig-worker classification rules. It’s still not too late to create a 3rd worker classification type that is neither employee nor independent contractor.
😵 Argo AI, the autonomous JV from Ford and VW, is shutting down. The pack of contenders narrows to bigger pocketed rivals like Waymo and GM’s Cruise. Notably, Waymo just announced plans to launch in LA.
🫳 Toyota is scrambling to revamp its EV plans with an eye toward Tesla. Toyota may regret selling its stake in Tesla last decade.
🖇 Sony’s EV plans with Honda are really about proving how good it can be as a supplier. This aligns fairly closely with the Sony Deep Dive in Vol 19. Honda’s US dealers don’t want to be left out.
🐚 Shell has quietly closed its hydrogen fueling stations in the UK. Shell appears to be throwing in the towel on the notion of fuel-cell passenger cars in the UK, but is still holding out hope for heavy duty.
🛻 Foxconn showed off its new pickup truck. This should continue to terrify every mainstream OEM, especially ones with weaker brands.
🛵 Taiwan’s e-moped company Gogoro is entering India. Asia continues its lead in battery swap, notably for smaller form factors.
STARTUP WATCH: Sustainable mobility startups (generally pre-seed or seed) to keep an eye on
BiB Batteries (France): Battery optimization software
👩💻 Brightmerge (Israel): Data platform for optimizing commercial fleet EV charging infrastructure
👨🏾💻 Marine Digital (Germany): Optimization software for maritime emissions
⚙️ Torev Motors (Washington DC, USA): Electric motors focused on minimizing rare earth minerals
🚛 Wolf Aft (California, USA): Long-distance electric trucking hardware
FUNDING: Capital raises from startups previously featured in Startup Watch
Thread (formerly Airtonomy) (Vol 6) raised a $15M Series A from Badlands Capital
Azure Yacht Group (Vol 26) raised a $1M seed round (investors undisclosed)
Los Angeles’s newest metro project, the K-line, is now live
