Rivian’s big bet, Waymo achieves self-driving in Austin, Chevrolet Blazer electric car returns

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This week, it’s all about Rivian and its striking display of not one, but three future electric vehicles. I attended the event and saw the vehicles up close. Perhaps more importantly, I also spoke with executives, investors, and customers to better understand the direction Rivian is headed and the perception of the electric-vehicle upstart, which is still far from profitable.I even met the former Waymo CEO and current Rivian board member John Krafcik He attended the meeting and expressed a positive attitude toward the future of the company.

I also interviewed the founder and CEO RJ Scaringer after the incident. Much of our conversation centered around R2 and a big and promising bet to move production to its existing factory in Normal, Illinois, rather than a yet-to-be-built facility in Georgia. Stay tuned for a full summary of the interview in the next day or so. I’ll give you a teaser: association is a theme.

Check out our coverage of the R2 reveal, surprise R3 and R3x launches, pre-order progress and the fun cinematic features found in one of the many R2 “adventure” accessories.

This week’s news also includes news about General Motors Chevrolet Blazer sales resume, financial update teachinganother electric car showcase, flexing a little muscle, and more!

One more thing…I will attend austin for south by southwest next week.

I’m moderating two panels and I’d love to see your smiling faces in the audience.The first panel will be held on March 12 at 4pm, titled How Sustainable Mobility is Changing Last Mile Delivery, and will focus on Sean Xu low carbon capital, anjalinek Catken and abby wheeler Uber.

The next day at 4pm I will be moderating a panel discussion titled “Mobility at the Speed ​​of Trust: AV Purpose, Policy and Performance” where Darlan AndersonDirector of Strategy and Innovation at the Texas Department of Transportation, Jay Blazek Crossley farm and city Katrin LohmannPresident of Volkswagen ADMT.

If you’re in town, say hi!

a little bird

There are no birdies this week – at least the ones that provide verifiable information that I can share. You all shared a lot of spicy rumors though! Please keep reaching out; no tip is too small.

What I can share is an overview of the conversation I overheard at the conference Rivian R2 revealed, taking place on March 7 at the South Coast Theater in Laguna Beach, California. (Rivian purchased and restored the theater last year).

After the event, employees from the grassroots to the top were full of excitement and relief. The mood is positive, but some employees are clearly still processing the recent layoffs. I’ve heard from some people that upper management underestimated the buzz surrounding the R3 and R3X – two surprising pieces of news. Importantly, there is no production date for the R3 and R3x vehicles. (At least not public).

Guests I spoke to or overheard—including media, loyal customers, and investors—were overwhelmingly positive about what they were seeing. There have been some complaints about the location of the charging port, and I’ve heard quite a few doubts about Rivian’s financial health until 2026, when the company is expected to start producing the R2.

Any tips for us?e-mail Kirsten Korosek Send an email to kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or Sean O’Kane Sean.okane@techcrunch.com. If you wish to remain anonymous, Click here to contact uswhich includes SecureDrop (Description here) and various encrypted messaging applications.

Trades of the week

will teaching Ever had an IPO? TechCrunch reporter Alex William I have a joke about the company’s long-delayed IPO; the company first filed an S-1 to go public in early 2022 and continues to update the filing quarterly in preparation for the eventual offering. Alas, the venture-backed peer-to-peer car rental service once again updated its S-1 with fourth-quarter and full-year financial results.

As Wilhelm noted, this shows that a public offering remains Turo’s top priority. Why bother with added paperwork?

Although this is not a deal in itself. I do think it’s important to highlight the company’s performance in its latest financial report.

Turo’s revenue increased 18% year over year to $879.8 million. This seems like good news until you look at Turo’s growth rate, which has declined dramatically over the past two years. William wrote that revenue growth did pick up in the fourth quarter of 2023 compared with the same period last year, a data point that could help the company demonstrate to public market investors that its deceleration does not have to be irreversible.

And Turo is actually profitable, which is no small thing. Gross margin did decline from 54.3% in 2022 to 51.4% in 2023, and last year the company posted its lowest operating profit since 2020. However, Turo is still profitable, which makes me bet that an IPO will come in 2024.

Other deals that caught my eye…

rare earth elementsAn automotive technology company that produces fully wired electric trucks and platforms completed a public offering of 2.3 million shares of Class A common stock, raising approximately $14.95 million. Several investors participated in this round of financing, led by M&G Investment Management, REE’s largest shareholder.

service robot, a moving walkway delivery company, is eligible to trade on the OTCQB Risk Market operated by OTC Markets Group Inc. The company’s common stock now trades on OTCQB under the ticker symbol “SBOT.”

Noteworthy Reads and Other Tidbits

application

Uber Eats Instant location sharing has been added to help couriers find customers in hard-to-find locations, including public spaces like campus courtyards, parks, and playgrounds.

Waze New features have been launched to help users navigate tricky roundabouts, receive alerts when speed limits are about to change, and receive warnings about speed bumps and tight curves. Reader question: Am I the only one surprised that Google didn’t kill Waze?

self-driving cars

Baidu’s Self-driving ride-hailing platform Apollo Go 24/7 self-driving services are now available in parts of Wuhan, China. This is the third major business expansion of Baidu Robotaxi service in 2024. The company was recently approved to conduct a Robotaxi pilot operation on the highway leading to Beijing Daxing Airport.

Waymo said it will begin having its self-driving cars drive through Austin without a safety operator, a key step before the company opens the project to the public. This allows it to charge robotaxis on Los Angeles, San Francisco freeways and the greater San Francisco Peninsula.

Electric vehicles, batteries and charging

faraday future A new, less than ideal milestone was reached. For the first time, the embattled electric car company is recalling all 11 vehicles it built last year — yes, less than a dozen. The recall mainly revolves around an issue with the airbag warning light on the company’s FF91 SUV.

General Motors More than two months after the automaker discontinued the vehicle due to software issues, the company has resumed sales of the Chevrolet Blazer EV and made it more affordable.

Rad power bike Four new e-bikes and a newly designed battery have been launched, equipped with heat-resistant technology to prevent overheating or fire. The new batteries are encapsulated in heat-absorbing resin to prevent corrosion and overheating, the company said. It encapsulates each battery cell, and if overheating occurs, the resin is supposed to prevent the thermal event from spreading.

star Two all-electric versions of the Dodge Charger have been launched, packed with features that muscle car fans have come to expect, even including systems that attempt to mimic the rumble of a Hemi V-8 engine. Will the performance advantages of the all-electric Dodge Charger be enough to attract customers who prefer a gas-powered version? I am not sure.

Tesla’s A factory outside Berlin, Germany, was forced to shut down due to a suspected arson attack on the local power grid. The shutdown is expected to last at least a week and could cost the company $100 million.

This week’s wheel

Image Source: Kirsten Korosek

What better way to do that than to get behind the wheel of a car and compete in a Rivian R2 event? Rivian R1S SUV? The company offered one of the cars in its press fleet and I jumped at the chance. Why? I hadn’t driven a Rivian in over a year, and I wanted to test the Rivian EV charging network to see how the recent software update had changed the vehicle experience. Also, I wanted to spend some time with the third-row R1S before the company releases the R2, a smaller, more affordable SUV.

think quickly:
– I applaud the recent software update, which adds a new vehicle icon in the upper left corner of the infotainment screen and gives users quick access to controls such as opening the charging port or front truck as well as additional shortcuts for car washes and pets model.
– I still and will always hate the lack of physical switches to move HVAC vents. This is the hill I’m going to die on.
– Advanced driver assistance systems are better, but still need improvement. The car still ping-pongs slightly in its lane when the lane-keeping feature is on and the torque sensor on the steering wheel is too sensitive for my liking. I accidentally turned off ADAS several times. I did appreciate that when I turned on my indicator lights and entered another lane, the lane keeping and adaptive cruise control stayed on and didn’t disengage. Neat!
– The Rivian EV Charger (also known as the “Adventure Network”) is easy to use and works smoothly. This is not the fastest charging speed. I pulled it to 120 kilowatts. However, I can park and plug in without the hassle of using a credit card or app. I’d love to test the experience for non-Rivian owners. As expected, I had some issues using the Electrify America charger to power the vehicle at the next stop. Two of the charging ports didn’t work, the app couldn’t communicate with the charger, and I ended up using a credit card.