The Station is a weekly newsletter that covers all things transportation. Click here to sign up and receive The Station every weekend in your email inbox.Happy Fourth of July! You can check your email while enjoying the sun on a crowded beach or grilling hot dogs. We welcome you back to The Station, a weekly newsletter that focuses on all the ways packages and people move from Point A to Point B.Kirsten Korosec is currently enjoying the great American outdoors. Please enjoy this takeover from Auckland, New Zealand. Today, despite the cold weather down under and my unique status as an American living on this island today, I feel particularly patriotic. This day was 245 years ago when the colonies became independent, free states with all the rights and freedoms to pursue their happiness and establish commerce.As a journalist with an unobstructed view of the history of technological progress, I am struck by the fact that the Declaration of Independence's spirit, which rejects authority and allows one to do what one wants, is still alive in the startup world. The technology, even in transportation, continues to rise, unrestricted in many cases by regulations and rules. And the government is rushing to catch up.You don't understand what I am referring to? Hugh Martin, Lacuna CEO, spoke to me today. He mentioned something that stuck with him and it made its way into this rant. Venture capital is flooding into startups that create technology such as eVTOL and air taxis, rockets, and drones. But, consider this: How many startups are creating futuristic tech to replace departments of transportation with aviation department? It is urgent that public-private partnerships are established.Okay, enough ranting. Enjoy your firecrackers.To share your thoughts, criticisms, opinions, or tips, email me at rebecca.techcrunch@gmail.com You can also follow my Twitter account, but please don't DM me. @rebeccabellanMicromobbinBird is having a difficult week. He pulls operations in San Francisco, Santa Monica, and Zaragoza, Spain. Although both California cities received new scooter permits on July 1, there has not been a Bird since June 30,Bird is now known in San Francisco as Scoot. The company that it bought in June 2019 has been around for a decade. Bird used to operate in the city but was expelled in 2018 along with Lime. This was an off-hand method of getting back into the Golden City. The SFMTA has asked Bird to stop operating, even though the 2021 permit program does not require it. They are also threatening to levy fines of up to $105,600 against Bird. Bird was caught using unlicensed subcontractors to implement its fleet manager program. Although the permit allows scooter companies to employ subcontractors, they must have prior approval and show proof of insurance. Bird didn't provide enough for at least three subcontractors. The SFMTA is delaying its decision to let Bird back in until they have investigated the matter.Scoot is proud that it has partnered with San Francisco for almost a decade to provide shared micro-electric vehicles, according to a Bird spokesperson. We will cooperate fully with the SFMTA in order to quickly resolve the clerical error and provide local businesses with an alternative source for revenue during the pandemic. We are sorry for any inconvenience caused to riders during the evaluation period. We want to be able to serve San Francisco residents again as soon as possible.Lime and Spin have been asked to remain in San Francisco. They will also operate in Santa Monica. Bird was not selected for the program in 2021 due to Bird's poor service. TechCrunch shared the scorecard from the Santa Monica selection committee. According to letters shared by TechCrunch between Birds lawyers and the City of Santa Monica, the company appealed and threatened litigation in May. However, it was denied this week. It was basically told that there wasn't a legal basis to sue.Veo and Wheels also will be in Santa Monica. In Spain, Bird was asked by the Zaragoza City Council to stop operations in September due to non-compliance.Veo has been on a roll since it won the New York permit. Veo has unveiled the first e-scooter equipped with integrated turn signals. This is a new safety feature that the industry might take note of. These scooters will be available in Santa Monica and New York City next week by Veo.Don't rent a scooter from others. Get your own scooter.Ridepanda, an electric micromobility dealer, makes it easy for consumers to buy a sickly light duty electric vehicle such as a scooter or bike. The e-commerce platform features vehicles that have been vetted by the team. They are also available for purchase. After you place your order, the vehicle will be shipped to you (optional assembly person included). The startup has just raised $3.75million, an increase from the previous year's seed round. This comes from investors such as Yamaha Motor Company and Porsche Ventures.There is something for everyoneEver felt that electric micromobility wasn't good enough? Evolve Skateboards may have the answer for you. The new Hadean Series can travel up to 31 mph and can run up to 42 miles per single charge. This gnarly ride frame is not made of wood, but is made from forged carbon composite. It's strong enough to handle higher speeds and more advanced ollies. It is priced between $2,500 and $3,000, making it a great toy for thrill seekers.Rebecca BellanDeal of the WeekZipline, a drone delivery company, raised $250 million in new funding. The company started out delivering medical supplies to Africa via drones. The company's value has risen to $2.75 Billion with this latest round. It will also be used to expand its logistics network in Africa and the United States.In the space of instant logistics, big bets are being placed. Zipline's current focus is on health supplies delivery, but it is open to expansion into other industries. It is doing well with partnerships such as UPS in Rwanda, Novant Health in the U.S., and Toyota Group in Japan.Additional deals that caught my eyeMicrosoft and Sompo Holdings committed $25 million each to a partnership with Wejo, a connected vehicle data startup that will allow the company to collect, store, and analyze data from millions connected vehicles worldwide. This comes after Wejos SPAC merge with Virtuoso Acquisition Corp. which is expected to close later in the year. The total PIPE financing for the company is $125 millions.We were discussing SPACs. However, electric vehicle charging station network EVgo announced its SPAC deal in January with Climate Change Crisis Real Impact I Acquisition Corp. It has now completed its business combination and merger with CLII. The combined company will be called EVgo Inc., and it has been trading on the NASDAQ as such since July 2.Turntide Technologies is a sustainable technology developer who has created a smart electric vehicle. It announced $225 million of convertible note financing. This money will be used to fund projects that reduce carbon emissions in commercial buildings, agriculture, and transportation.Ghost Locomotion, a developer of an autonomous driving system, has raised $100 million in Series D financing in a round led Sutter Hill Ventures. Coatue and Founders Fund, a returning investor, also participated in this round. As the company develops its highway self-driving technology and crash prevention technology, the money will go towards R&D.Australian rocket launch startup Gilmour Space Technologies raised $46 million in Series C. This will be used to launch its small rocket, Eris, into space next year. Fine Structure Ventures led the round and received contributions from Australian VCs Blackbird, Main Sequence and Australian pension funds HESTA and Hostplus.It's unlikely that you remember that we recently covered Onto, an electric car subscription service in the U.K. This model seems to be very popular. Similar business imove has raised $19 million in Series A from Pan-European online car marketplace AutoScout24, venture capitalist Norselab and Nysn, the Norwegian state climate investment firm Nysn.Jetstream, a software company based in Ghana, just raised $3million in seed funding. The company's goal is to help African businesses manage their cross-border supply chain. It brings together logistics companies from the private sector at African ports and borders and makes them available online. International and local investors were involved in the round. They included Alitheia IDF and Golden Palm Investments as well as 4DX Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.Enedym, a powertrain and electric propulsion developer, raised $15 million in a round led P&A Paletta Giving Inc. and TRIO Capital Group Inc.., Napino Group and KWG Capital Inc.., Pathfinder Asset Management Limited, and others. The funds will be used by the Canadian company to speed up its patent motor development tech and expand its reach into the electric motor market including automotive, micromobility and industrial markets.Policy cornerWelcome back, Policy Corner. Let's get started.On June 30, nine mayors of American cities including Los Angeles, Denver, and Chicago, wrote a letter to federal lawmakers urging them to include funding for planning grants for advanced aviation mobility (AAM), in the massive infrastructure legislation currently under discussion in Congress. TechCrunch received the letter from a source who is familiar with the matter. It argues that federal grant funding would allow cities to better understand AAM technology and help them prepare for it.The details are not clear in the brief letter. The mayors ask for a small amount of funding. TechCrunch was told by a source that the funding would likely be in low tens to millions. This assumes that a planning study of a large metropolitan area would cost approximately $1 million. The funds would be sufficient to cover approximately 15-20 cities. This information is intended to inform future rule-makings and the Federal Aviation Administrations Reauthorization Bill that will be coming up in 2023.The letter has one thing that is notable: it starts with "When this new transportation technology launches, in 2024 and beyond". Although 2024 was publicly announced as a launch date for eVTOL developers Archer Aviation or Joby Aviation, it is a difficult thing for emerging technologies.In any event, Ill keep an eye on these developments. Although it is hard to imagine the Congressional Republicans agreeing on funding for AAM, when they couldn't agree on electric cars, we can see that the low tens to millions could be a blip in the budget line for such a large funding package.On June 29, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued an order that OEMS and drivers of autonomous driving system-equipped vehicles must report any crashes within one day after learning about them. This order applies to SAE Level 2 advanced driving assistance systems and SAE Level 3-5 automated driving system. The order states that any incident involving an injury that required treatment at a hospital or death, vehicle tow-away, deployment of air bags, pedestrians or bicyclists must be reported.NHTSA claims that the information gathered from this order will be used to identify safety problems or defects in the technology. According to Dr. Steven Cliff (NHTSA's acting administrator), crash reporting will give the agency access to crucial data that can quickly identify safety problems in these automated systems. The government will be able to gather data that will increase public confidence in the safety of automated cars.Aria AlamalhodaeiNotable reads and other interesting tidbitsExtra CrunchyAlex Wilhelm looked into the financials of Uber and Didi, its Chinese competitor. Didi is planning to list in America. Despite the fact that Uber is larger and more profitable, Uber's IPO filing was huge news. However, it seems to be valued at several tens or billions of dollars less than Uber.Renaissance Capital calculated Didis' midpoint valuation using a fully-diluted share count of $67.5 billion. Yahoo Finance ranked Uber at $95.2 billion. What is the reason for this huge difference? Wilhelm suggests it might be due to Uber's wider reach and other revenue streams like Uber Delivery, which is a more concentrated focus of Didi's Chinese mobility business.Rimac Automobili met with Kirsten Korosec during the TC Sessions: Mobility 2021 event to share his experiences in bootstrapping an electric vehicle company.In fact, we actually started a car business from scratch. We had revenue right away, not because it was our choice, but because there was no other option and no other way. We have been profitable for most of our years. That's quite difficult. There are these huge electric car startups that have raised billions of dollars. They did a great job. We had to survive by doing the things we did for other car companies.BrightDrop, GM's latest startup investment, offers a range of EV hardware as well as logistical software products that are targeted at fleet and delivery companies. GM invested $800 million in Canada to convert a Canadian manufacturing plant that produces the Chevy Equinox into the EV600 van.Electric vehiclesNIO, a Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer, has released its June delivery results. NIO, a Chinese EV maker, has released its June delivery results. It said it delivered 8,083 smart electric vehicles. This is an 116% YOY growth. It delivered almost 22,000 vehicles in Q2 and nearly 42,000 in the first half 2021. We are OK, NIO.Honda will sell its first electric SUV in North America by early 2024. Prologue is the new name of the car and signifies the start of the company's new electrified era.Revel, the company which started with electric moped shares but now has its fingers in many electric mobility pies has launched its Superhub in Brooklyn. The company claims that the Superhub has the most comprehensive universal charging station in North America with 25 chargers in one location and easy access.Volvo Cars presented its strategy to electrify its entire vehicle lineup by 2030 this week. It will work with partners such as Northvolt, Google, and Luminar to expand its future vehicle lineup. Concept Recharge, a concept EV, was also revealed. It features flat floors, interior screens, and rear suicide doors.Autonomous vehiclesLocomotion, a Pittsburgh-based autonomous trucking company, is presenting a convoy system that allows a driver to pilot a truck while another truck follows, and a human passenger/backup operator can follow it. TechCrunch was told by the company that such a human-guided system would be the most efficient and cost-effective way to commercialize.Chris Urmson, CEO of Auroras, shared his thoughts about the company's progress in commercializing the Aurora Driver as well as delivering it on a large scale.Data is powerKruze Consulting is a startup accounting/cFO firm that has access to over 450 venture-funded startups' books. TechCrunch received some data showing that ride-sharing spending is on the rise, with Uber gaining ground against Lyft. A lack of drivers is likely to have caused the cost per ride to be higher than average for 2020, according to the study.Voi, an e-scooter operator based in Stockholm, released a study showing how partnerships between transit authorities and operators can result in higher ridership for public transit. Study focuses on how Voi users purchased at least 35% more rail tickets after a joint effort with Stuttgart's rail operator S-Bahn Stuttgart.Fresh meatAutonomous delivery company Nuro has appointed James Owens to the position of head of Regulatory.Anthony Gregory, formerly VP of ground operations for Southwest, joined GM-owned Cruise to become the new VP market development.Other interesting tidbitsThe U.S. Department of Transportation's Smart City Challenge was won by Columbus, Ohio in 2015. Smart City Columbus was a program that ran from 2016 to mid-June 2021. It used all types of new technology to improve its transportation system. What did Columbus do to get $50 million in grant money. Take a look at all the tech that went into Smart City.BMW i Ventures is the venture capital arm for BMW Group. It has announced a $300 million fund to expand its investments in technologies that improve transportation, manufacturing, and supply chain sustainability. This fund is not just about the core technology of cars. This is about all that goes into making cars, from the sustainable materials used in car seats to decarbonizing steel.Ford and State Farm have partnered to share vehicle data in order to better understand the impact of safety features on claims. Ford released the following statement: Ford's Vehicle Build Data product gives State Farm a complete view of a vehicle's feature content. It also allows them to better understand how advanced driver assist systems (ADAS), impact the severity and frequency of auto claim. State Farm also shares claims data with Ford in order to inform them about how certain vehicle features affect auto claims.Onfleet, a last-mile logistics software company, has announced its 100millionth delivery and significant company growth.General Motors announced the creation of a $25 million Climate Equity Fund to support equitable climate action. This fund is an addition to the $35 billion automakers announced for EV and AV technology globally by 2025.
