Uber-Waymo Robotaxi testing, Rivian goes without hands, and Travis Kalanik has AV FOMO

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I spent the last week at SXSW, the Annual Festival of Technology, Movies, Comedy and Music in Austin. Recommend Scroll our live blog To catch up all transport, AI, social media, creators economy – mainly technology – news that happened during the conference.

I watched Austin developed over the years with some good and bad results. The protected bicycle lanes were a positive development that I appreciated while I was riding a few Lymov scooters and two motorcycles of electronic bicycles around the city. Austin also becomes the Avride Autonomous Autonomous Affairs Center with headquarters there, Zoox Testing on public roads and Waymo launches Robotaxi Commercial Service.

I was lucky to be combined with two Waymo Robotaxis-all walks happen through the Uber app, so this is never a guarantee. I also had a coordinated match with the kind assistance of Waymo. As I wrote earlier this week, it is absolutely wild that Waymo and Uber work together. ThereforeS

Oh, and here what I Found in my Waymo-Ber Robotaxi rideS Tip: Some user interface updates.

Ladder

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Deals!

Senior Reporter Sean O’Kain is deeply immersed in a new risk company called Leitmotif This quietly has made many deals in the last 16 months. The company, which funds about 20 startups, focuses widely on decarbonisation with portfolio, which includes EV companies, space and batteries and four start -ups for nuclear synthesis.

This is not the interesting part. Here’s what it is: all the money in his fund came from the Volkswagen group. See the full story Why the German car giant has made $ 300 million at the first Leitmotif fund.

Other deals that caught my attention …

Logistics of the carLogistics platform for vehicles, raised $ 12 million In a series of funding round, led by Wavecrest Growth Partners, starring Carmax, the founders of Impel Devin Dali Dali and Michael Quigley and the automotive veteran David Metter.

Daqus EnergyStarting working on battery materials, raised $ 6 million In a circle of seeds led to Morningside with the participation of unnamed individual investors.

NirvanaAI -based insurance platform that uses real -time driver’s telematics and 20 billion miles to drive trucks to build and control insurance policies for trucks, raised $ 80 million In a series of a round of funding, led by General Catalyst. Lightspeed Venture and Valor Equity Partners partners also participated. The investment estimates Nirvana at $ 830 million after money.

Northvolt bankrupt In Sweden, the latest blow to Europe’s attempts to create a jungle battery production that can compete with Chinese giants.

Remarkable readings and other treats

Adas

Rivian rolled up a Arms The Highway Driving System, which founder and CEO RJ Scaringe, discussed on the stage at SXSW in Austin. The new featureless feature puts Rivian in competition with Ford and GM, which have similar free hands systems that control control, acceleration and stopping under certain conditions and places.

Autonomous vehicles

Hug its partner with AI Startup Yaak to Expand Lerobot -Collection of open AI models, data sets and tools to help build robotics systems in the real world-with a training kit that will allow robots and cars to navigate the middle as city streets autonomous.

Trucks VC General Partner Riley Brennan I had an interesting column, Do not go wrong for RidehailingS

Travis KalanikThe former Uber CEO considers the company’s decision to abandon your autonomous driving program It was a mistake. Reminder: Uber ATG burns through money when it was Sold on Aurora in 2020S

Waymo continues to expand – this time in Silicone valleyS And this expansion has come with Hundreds of parking ticketsS

Electric vehicles, charging and batteries

Ther Minty yard 400 OFF-ROAD Race put two EVS Camoni Rivian R1t and a concept for racing trucks Chevrolet Silverado EV ZR2- on the testS

Rad power lost its executive CEO and won a new for a period of several days.

President Donald Trump said he would mark the violence against Tesla dealers as Internal terrorism – Another sign of his deep support for Elon Musk. As a reporter Sean Okain Notes, “Tesla Takeovers” explodes all over the world of Tesla dealers as people protest against what they see as a hostile absorption of the Federal Government by Musk (who is Tesla CEO and his most large shareholder) and his Ministry of Government EfficiencyS Some of the protests led to graffiti on Tesla signs, charging stations, set on fire, even the Molotov cocktails were thrown into the batch of a dealer.

This week’s wheels

This week I tried two electronic bikes from Austin -based MotorcyclesS I will focus on his Groovewhere started earlier this weekS

I spent 24 hours with GrooveA fully electric stepped bicycle with the appearance of a beach cruiser on the beach. The grave existed before, but the motorcycles stopped it. It is now returning and updated everywhere, including the frame, battery, torque sensor, smart display and motor.

The motor itself is sporty and polished with many thought out details that make $ 1.999 Price It looks like a theft. The design is considered with easy -to -read and easy -to -open controls and integrated bicycle lock, which folds neatly on the frame.

Groove is a throttle and pedal support and I found it easy to switch between different modes. I rarely relied on the throttle only because the assist provided a lot of OMFs. The motor has a payload capacity of £ 275 and reaches a top speed of 28 miles per hour. The grip has 50 miles of range; However, there is a double battery option that pops up to 100 miles.

However, one of the notes: Wow, this bike is heavy. And although this is generally good, people have to take some time to adapt to his weight.

I also tested Mod Connectwhich allows users to pair the Lumos Ultra-Smart wireless helmet to synchronize and control the turn signals directly from the motor. The connected bicycle helmet made me feel far more visible to drivers as I focused on the lively streets of the center of Austin.

What is the “wheels for this week”? This is a chance to learn about the various transport products we are testing, whether it is an electric or hybrid car, an electronic bicycle or even driving in an autonomous vehicle.