Waymo Hits 200K Weekly Rides as Tesla Backtracks on Robotaxis | February 28th, 2025
Plus, Voi reports a 33% jump in Q4 revenue to €32.8 million, marking its first-ever annual positive Adjusted EBIT, while Maserati faces a €260 million loss as Stellantis struggles with weak EV demand.
Issue [#278 - Every week, we deliver analysis and curation of emerging mobility news - post a job listing here!
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Micromobility
Beryl, a B-Corp, advances social value in shared transport through its Community Champions scheme, donating free Minute Bundles to charities. Faithworks Dorset aids addiction recovery, while Equal Lives Norfolk empowers disabled individuals and those in financial hardship. Brighton Half Marathon volunteers use Beryl bikes to support The Sussex Beacon’s HIV care efforts | ZAGDaily
Voi’s Q4 2024 net revenue rose 33% to €32.8 million, driving its first-ever annual positive Adjusted EBIT (€100,000) | ZAGDaily
Product Launches & Updates
Kia unveiled the EV4, PV5, and Concept EV2 at its March 27 EV Day in Tarragona, Spain | Forbes
SAIC-GM-Wuling’s new Hong Guang MINIEV Four-Door expands its 1.5 million-strong lineup with two rear doors, a longer wheelbase, and a four-seat design | Electric Car Reports
Jorvik Tricycles launched the JMT-16, its first hybrid model, after 10 years of development. Founded by James Walker to help his father with Parkinson’s, Jorvik now supplies tricycles globally. The JMT-16, a versatile, foldable e-trike with three-inch wheels, a 250W motor, and a 35-mile range, starts at £3,499 in four colors | ZAGDaily
Aventon’s new Level 3 e-bike upgrades commuting with the Aventon Control Unit (ACU), integrating geofencing, GPS tracking, remote locking, and passcode protection | Electrek
Ridehailing, Carsharing & Delivery
Waymo, Alphabet’s robotaxi unit, now logs 200,000 weekly paid rides, up from 10,000 two years ago and 100,000 in August. Operating in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Phoenix, it plans to launch in Austin and Atlanta with Uber in 2025 and Miami in 2026. Its fleet drives over 1 million miles weekly, outpacing Zoox, as Cruise exits | TechCrunch
Avride, an Austin-based autonomous vehicle startup under Nebius Group, is launching sidewalk delivery bots in central Tokyo with Rakuten after completing Japan’s certification process | TechCrunch
Minnesota Democrats, led by Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, propose a bill modeled after Massachusetts’ law to let Uber and Lyft drivers unionize, requiring GOP support | Minnesota Reformer
Tesla applied for a California ride-hailing permit, abandoning its long-touted robotaxi vision for human-driven vehicles. Musk’s “unsupervised self-driving” claim for 2025 remains unfulfilled, with Austin prioritized over California. Unlike Waymo, Tesla lacks driverless approval. Full Self-Driving disengages every 500 miles—far from the 700,000-mile safety target Tesla admits it needs | Electrek
Investment & Deals
Maserati, facing a €260 million loss in 2024 after a €141 million profit in 2023, saw sales collapse from 26,600 to 11,300 as Stellantis, reeling from a 70% profit drop, wrote down €1.5 billion. Struggling in China and amid weak EV demand, it may cancel the MC20 Folgore. Porsche, Mercedes, and Audi are also reconsidering electrification | Forbes
Copenhagen’s Tracksights raised €1 million Pre-Seed from Maki Ventures to digitize automotive data. Co-founders Mark Lunding Pedersen and Magnus Wasteson, leveraging finance and Porsche Denmark experience, built a real-time valuation platform for dealerships, leasing firms, insurers, and banks. Launching March 2025, it expands from Nordics to Germany and Europe, integrating predictive analytics | Tech.eu
Polestar secured a $450 million 12-month loan and renewed its €480 million ($500,000) Green Trade Finance Facility with Citi, Nordea, and ING | Electrek
Gozem, a 2018 Togo-based ride-hailing startup, raised $30M in Series B—$15M equity, $15M debt—led by SAS Shipping (MSC Group) and Al Mada Ventures to scale vehicle financing and expand in Francophone Africa. Backed by IFC and global lenders, it finances 7,000+ vehicles and plans to raise $20M more | TechCrunch
After his unverified claims of imminent system failure, the FAA may cancel Verizon’s $2.4 billion air traffic control contract, favoring Musk’s Starlink. SpaceX staff, some with FAA emails, advised on modernization | The Verge
Electric Bike Company (EBC) merged with Integral Electrics, integrating its cargo e-bikes and trikes into EBC’s Newport Beach-based, highly customizable lineup. The deal follows EBC’s Pedego licensing agreement, expanding its dealer network to 400+ locations amid tariff and regulatory pressures | Electrek
Cities & Policy
After Trump’s executive orders defunding DEI, TRB canceled 14 projects, including Alex Karner’s $500,000 equity study, forcing compliance across transportation research | Bloomberg
EIT Urban Mobility’s Better Mobility report, with Point and Impact Hub Vienna, finds European transport excludes caregivers, 100M disabled people, and 90M elderly. It prescribes five fixes: seamless multimodal networks, urban redesign (Paris’ green spaces, Lisbon’s pavements), climate adaptation, inclusive design, and safety | ZAGDaily
Santa Barbara plans e-bike regulations amid public outcry over reckless riders, especially on Sur Ron and Talaria motorbikes, which exceed legal e-bike definitions | Electrek
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