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Before we move into the news of this week, we have one more roundup of transportation tech at CES 2025. As I noted last week, autonomous vehicle tech was everywhere. But there were other themes, too. Check it out here.
Now, on to the latest and greatest future of transportation tech news.
A little bird
No little bird this week, but figured this was the best place to bid farewell to Hindenburg Research, the short-seller firm that investigated tips from whistleblowers and used its own research to root out fraud in publicly traded companies. Hindenburg Research founder Nate Anderson posted a note Wednesday that the firm is shutting down.
In the transportation and climate tech worlds, Hindenburg is famous for exposing Nikola Motors, Lordstown Motors, and billionaire Gautam Adani of The Adani Group, who was indicted over an alleged scheme to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian officials in exchange for contracts to a 12-gigawatt solar power project.
Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or check out these instructions to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.
Deals!
Just a bunch of deals this week! Here’s what stood out.
Caramel, a startup that helps car sellers and buyers complete the final steps of the transaction, is being acquired by eBay. Terms were not disclosed.
EV startup Harbinger raised $100 million in a Series B round co-led by early Tesla investor Capricorn Investment Group and Leitmotif, a new U.S. fund co-founded by the former M&A head for Volkswagen. Also joining the round were Tiger Global and mobility venture firm Maniv, both of which were existing investors.
Sarla Aviation raised $10 million in a fresh funding round led by Accel and included angel investors such as Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath, and Swiggy co-founder Sriharsha Majety.
Tesla was a winner and a loser in the latest round of federal funding for electric-vehicle charging infrastructure. The Department of Transportation snubbed Tesla on its application for $97 million to fund a big-rig charging corridor from California to Texas. But Tesla, along with three other industry partners, ended up being awarded a separate $100 million in funding to build electric truck charging stations across Illinois.
Shippeo, a startup that developed real-time tracking software across all modes of transport, raised $30 million in a funding round led by Toyota’s growth fund Woven Capital. Battery Ventures, Partech, NGP Capital, Bpifrance Digital Venture, LFX Venture Partners, Shift4Good, and Yamaha Motor Ventures also participated.
Notable reads and other tidbits
Autonomous vehicles
Aurora Innovation is taking federal safety regulators to court in a case that centers around the rather commonplace practice of placing physical warning triangles around semi trucks stopped along highways. TL;DR: This could have far-reaching implications for self-driving truck companies operating in a regulatory environment designed around humans.
The U.S. Department of Commerce announced a final rule that would ban the sale or import of connected vehicles from China and Russia due to national security concerns. The rule would also bar Chinese car companies, such as WeRide and Pony AI, from testing self-driving cars on U.S. roads.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration closed its investigation into Cruise and whether the company’s robotaxis exercised appropriate caution around pedestrians. The agency noted that Cruise had issued a recall on its software and that the self-driving vehicle subsidiary of GM had since ceased business operations.
Electric vehicles, charging, & batteries
Arc Boats came to CES 2025, and senior reporter Sean O’Kane took its Arc Sport boat for a joy ride on Lake Mead. Here’s what he thought of the startup’s newest offering.
Tesla revealed a new-look Model Y meant for the Chinese and other Asian Pacific markets, marking the first major update to the SUV since its launch in 2020.
Sean Duffy, President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Department of Transportation, thinks owners of electric vehicles should pay to use roads. As reporter Rebecca Bellan explains, achieving that goal isn’t so easy.
This week’s wheels
Right before the holidays, I had a chance to get into a production prototype of the 2025 Volkswagen ID. Buzz Pro S Plus. I plan to spend more time driving the production version soon, but for now here are a few thoughts on this all-electric minibus that was priced at $69,595.
I’ve been waiting for this electric minibus since 2017 when it was presented by Volkswagen as a concept. This reimagined microbus had a near-impossible mission. It had to be instantly recognizable and give a nod to its iconic past while paving a new futuristic and EV road forward. And in many ways, the ID. Buzz does that. It’s eye-catching; people stopped me constantly. It’s fun while being practical. And although it’s more expensive than other minivans on the market, it’s not completely outrageous.
The version I tested was all-wheel drive, with the Metro Silver Metallic paint and “copper” interior with leatherette seating. There is a ton of space — really cavernous — and nice details throughout, giving it an elevated feeling. It was easy to maneuver on tight city streets, despite its 195.4-inch length. Which yeah, that’s long!
It met a lot of my expectations. But I wonder about its future. This vehicle would be great as a kid and grocery hauler around town. I could see it being used in commercial fleets in urban environments as well. But with a 91 kilowatt-hour battery that gets an estimated 234 miles of range, I wonder if it will live up to its past as a roadtrippin’ machine?
Side note: In the last newsletter, I offered up a few tidbits on my Zoox robotaxi rides. Here’s my full write-up on my Zoox experience in Las Vegas.
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.
