Beyond Electric Vehicles: The Shift towards Sustainable Travel | Sep 15th, 2023
Also, Volkswagen unveiled the 2024 ID.6 Crozz electric SUV, Lyft introduced Women Plus Connect, and Santa Cruz has rolled out its latest e-bike, the Skitch.
Issue [#204] - Every week, we deliver analysis and curation of emerging mobility news - post a job listing here!
Micromobility
Swifty Scooters, a UK manufacturer of e-scooters, has received funding to start mass production of its new e-scooter, which aims to make e-scooter riding safer. Jason Iftakhar, Co-Founder and CEO of Swifty Scooters, claims this is an opportunity to raise the safety standards for e-scooters across the board. Additionally, the company is getting ready to unveil its new electric scooter, which can be used on both roads and cycle lanes | ZAGDaily
It's often claimed that electric vehicles are the ultimate solution to climate change, but the truth is that they're just one piece of the puzzle. If we want to make a real impact on the environment, we need to start changing the way we travel. Instead of relying solely on personal cars, we should be embracing shared mobility options for at least some of our journeys. It's not an easy shift, but it's a necessary one if we want to tackle climate change head-on | StreetsBlog USA
Electric scooters and other vehicles powered by batteries have become more popular, and some fans are modifying their rides. They claim that hacking their scooters makes them more fun and efficient to use. However, manufacturers say that these modifications are risky as there have been cases of crashes and explosions | The Wall Street Journal
The ARK Zero, a UK-made electric microcar, costs only £5,995 (around US $7,500) and is probably the cheapest of its kind in the West, and as the company announced, it has begun making deliveries in the UK and France. Belonging to the quadricycle category, it is a two-seater vehicle and has a top speed of 28 mph (45 km/h), perfect for urban commuters who don’t like to go fast or take more than two passengers | Electrek
A 15-year-old e-bike rider was killed by a car driver in Encinitas. The incident, followed by another crash, caused the city to declare a state of emergency due to the rise of e-bikes and other mobility devices. However, the media and the government ignored the role of cars in causing collisions and deaths. The real problem is a transportation system that prioritizes cars over people | Los Angeles Time
Product Launches & Updates
The 2024 ID.6 Crozz electric SUV, a new version of Volkswagen’s three-row electric SUV, has been unveiled. Produced by the automaker’s joint venture, FAW-VW, the updated version offers enhanced range and design updates. It also comes with a price tag of $35,500 (258,900 yuan) and is being offered with a discount of up to $6,200 (45,000 yuan) for a limited time | Electrek
Visaiyon Energies and Electro motors Pvt Ltd are proud to present their Prototype V_One, an electric motorcycle, to the world at World of eMobility, a global event for electric mobility in the Netherlands. With a liquid-cooled battery and a unique motor, this electric motorcycle can zoom from 0-60 km/h in less than 3 seconds and travel 200 kilometers on one charge! | The Pack
After a series of fatal fires caused by faulty e-bike batteries, mainly in New York City, Rad Power Bikes has decided to make only UL-certified e-bikes from now on. The company is the biggest e-bike maker in North America and says it wants to ensure the safety of its products. Until now, the standards were voluntary and costly, so few e-bike manufacturers followed them. However, this may change soon | The Verge
Santa Cruz has unveiled the latest edition to its e-bike family, the Skitch! The Skitch is a different kind of bike from the brand, which is known for its tough, long-travel models. It is designed for urban commuting, with smooth curves and thin tubes. Moreover, the new Santa Cruz Skitch has a Fazua Ride 60 motor that can speed up to 28 mph with pedal assist and deliver a strong 42 lb-ft of torque | InsideEVs
Images of Alfa Romeo’s new tiny all-electric SUV have been leaked. The car, which may be called Brennero, is the entry-level model from Alfa Romeo and uses the e-CMP platform. It is smaller than the Tonale SUV and has a digital screen for the driver. The car promises to be fun to drive and will have a 54kWh battery and a single electric motor. It may also have some petrol engines with mild-hybrid technology | FutureCar
Ridehailing, Carsharing & Delivery
Cargo e-bikes use far less space on the road and bike lanes. They can also navigate through narrow streets in crowded cities more efficiently, yet Amazon is discontinuing operations on its electric cargo bike depot in Manhattan. Many of Amazon’s cargo e-trikes have remained stagnant on the roof of the cargo e-bike depot for several months, and reportedly, Amazon has decided to lease out the building used as a cargo e-bike depot | Electrek
Lyft introduced Women Plus Connect on September 12, a new feature that links women and nonbinary drivers with more riders who are women or nonbinary. The feature is part of the company’s effort to improve safety and increase the number of women and nonbinary drivers who work with them. Lyft claims that this feature is in high demand and will allow women and nonbinary people to have more choice over how they drive and ride | The Verge
A Tesla robotaxi concept that looks like a Cybertruck was shown in the new biography of Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson that came out on September 12. Photos of these robotaxi images in the book began circulating X, formerly known as Twitter, even before the book was launched. With a shiny metal exterior and sharp corners, the small car has room for only two people and resembles the Cybertruck in its design | TechCrunch
After getting sick and tired of sitting at home during COVID, Dara Khosrowshahi, the CEO of Uber, decided to do something constructive and became an Uber driver. But he soon realized that the company ‘sucks,’ and stated the reason as a “lack of quality” in the product. According to Khosrowshahi, the driver product was difficult to understand, and the drivers were not treated as they should be | Yahoo! Finance
Uber may be branching out from its core services of ridesharing and food deliveries. According to Bloomberg, a new “Chore” option was spotted in a piece of code, which seems to allow users to book workers through the app for various tasks. The code indicates that users may be able to hire a worker, referred to as a “tasker” in the app, for a minimum of one hour. Users will also have to describe the task that needs to be done, estimate how long it will take, and schedule a time for the worker to arrive | The Verge
Investment & Deals
An Austin-based startup has been recognized as the second fastest-growing company in America | Kxan
BMW, Ford, and Honda unveiled a new company that will prioritize vehicle-to-grid (V2G) EV charging. The collaboration aims to provide mutual benefits for electric vehicle owners and electric utilities | Green Car Reports
Lime, the shared operator, has achieved its best start to a year in history, with a positive adjusted global EBITDA of $27 million in the first half of 2023 | ZAGDaily
According to the nation's trade minister, Tesla has announced plans to increase its component sourcing from India, aiming to nearly double it to approximately $1.9 billion this year. This highlights the significant growth of electric-vehicle component manufacturing in the country | TechCrunch
Berlin-based e-bike and e-moped subscription startup Dance reaches a milestone of 10,000 members while attracting new investors who support its sustainable mobility solutions | Tech.eu
Getir secures $500m funding at $2.5bn valuation, a significant drop from its previous $11.8bn valuation | Sifted
Cities & Policy
The California legislature has approved a bill that is now headed to the governor's desk, which would mandate large corporations conducting business in California to measure and publicly disclose their carbon emissions | StreetsBlog Cal
Amid growing concerns for European auto manufacturers, the European Union has initiated an investigation into China's state support for electric vehicle manufacturers | FutureCar
The US Department of Transportation has allocated $100 million to fund the repair and replacement of non-operational electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure | The Verge
Dealing a setback to the autonomous trucking sector, the California Senate approved a bill on Monday that mandates the presence of a trained human safety operator whenever a self-driving, heavy-duty vehicle operates on public roads in the state | TechCrunch
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