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I spent the last week at SHSW, the annual Te Techniko, film, comedy and music festival in Austin. I recommend Scrolling through our live blog To capture all transports, AI, social media, creative economy – essentially ie Techniko – news that took place during the conference.
I watched Austin evolve over the years with some good and bad results. Protected bicycle streets were one positive development, which I appreciated as I drove a few limes and two Mod bikes E-bikes around the city. Austin also becomes a hub for an autonomous vehicle activity with Avride headquartered there, Zoox testing on public roads, and Waymo launching a commercial Robotaxi -Service.
I was lucky to be matched with two Waymo Robotaxis-All ride hails happen through the Uber App, so it’s never a guarantee. I also had one coordinated match courtesy of Waymo. As I wrote earlier this week, it is quite wild that Waymo and Uber cooperate. This is why.
Oh, and that’s what I discovered in my ride by Waymo-Uber Robotaxi. Suggestion: Some updates to the user interface.
A small bird
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Offers!
Senior reporter Sean O’Kane took a deep dive into a new corporate firm called Leitmotif That has quietly made many offers over the past 16 months. The company, which funded about 20 startups, is broadly focused on decimalization with a portfolio, which includes EV companies, space and battery games, and four nuclear fusion startups.
That’s not the interesting part. This is what it is: all the money in its fund came from the Volkswagen group. Look at the full story About why the German car giant compromised $ 300 million to Leitmotif’s first fund.
Other deals that got my attention …
Carpool logisticsvehicle logistics platform, earned $ 12 million In Series A -Financial Circle led by Wavecrest Growth Partners, with participation from Carmax, Ippel -Founders Devin Daly and Michael Quigley, and veteran industry of David Metter industry.
Daqus Energystarting working on battery materials, earned $ 6 million In a seed round led by Morningside with the participation of unnamed individual investors.
NirvanaAI-based insurance platform that uses real-time driving Telematics and 20 billion miles of truck driving data to build and manage insurance policies for truckers, earned $ 80 million In a C -Rondo series led by General Catalyst. Lightspeed Venture Partners and Valor Equity Partners also participated. The investment estimates Nirvana at $ 830 million after money.
Northvolt filed for bankruptcy In Sweden, the latest blow to Europe’s attempts to create a Juggernaut battery manufacturing, which could rival the Chinese giants.
Notable readings and other edits
Adas
Rivian ELMINED Mana-free version From its driver-aid system for road drive, which founder and general manager RJ Scaringe discussed on stage at SHSW in Austin. The new handshake puts Rivia into competition with Ford and GM, which have similar manual free systems that control drive, acceleration and braking under certain conditions and places.
Autonomous vehicles
Hugging face joined with AI -ecnotionalization Yaak to Expand Lerobot -Rolection of open AI models, databases and tools to help build real-world robot systems-with training set up to allow robots and cars to navigate environments such as city streets autonomously.
Trucks vc general partner Reilly Brennan had an interesting column, Don’t make a mistake ride for riding.
Travis KalanickUber’s former CEO, thinks the company’s decision Leave its autonomous drive program It was a mistake. Remembrance: Uber ATG burned with money when it was Sold to Aurora in 2020.
Waymo continues to expand – this -times in Silicon Valley. And that expansion came Hundreds of Park tickets.
Electric vehicles, loading, and batteries
The Mint 400 Out-of-race race put two EVs Rivian R1t truck and Chevrolet Silverado EV ZR2 off-road race concept- to the test.
Rad Power lost his CEO and earned a new in a few days.
President Donald Trump said he would label violence against Tesla traders like home terrorism – Yet another sign of his deep support for Elon Musk. As a reporter Sean O’Kane Notes, “Tesla Takeovers” split through the globe at Tesla traders while people protest what they see as hostile takeover of the federal government by Musk (who is CEO of Tesla and its largest shareholder) and his Department of Government Performance. Some of the protests resulted in graphites on Tesla signs, load stations ignited, even Molotov cocktails were thrown into the lot of one concession.
This -week wheels
This week I tried two E-bikes from Austin-based Mod cycles. I will focus on its latest, the Slotwho launched earlier this week.
I spent 24 hours with the SlotAn all-electric step bike with a choked beach cruiser. The slot existed before, but mod cycles stopped it. Now it has returned and has been updated everywhere, including the frame, battery, torque, smart screen and engine.
The bike itself is sporty and polished with many thoughtful details that make the $ 1.999 Price It seems like theft. The design is thoughtful with easy -to -read and easy -going controls and integrated bicycle lock that folds well on the frame.
The slot is an acceleration and pedal auxiliary bike, and I found it easy to switch between the various modes. I rarely trusted the acceleration alone because the help provided a lot of Oomfo. The bike has a load capacity of 275 pounds and reaches a maximum speed of 28 miles per hour. The slot has 50 miles of range; However, there is a double battery that will appear up to 100 miles.
One note, though: Alas, this bike is strong. And although this is generally a good thing, people have to give themselves some time to adapt to its weight.
I also tested Mod ConnectWhich allows users to wirelessly match Lumin Ultra-SMAR helmet to synchronize and control turn signals directly from the bike. The connected bike helmet made me feel much more visible to drivers as I sailed the busy streets of downtown Austin.
What is “this week wheels”? It is possible to learn about the various transport products we test, whether it is an electric or hybrid car, an e-bike, or even a ride in an autonomous vehicle.
