 Berlin-based Tier Mobility announced the acquisition of Spin from Ford for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition expands Tier's presence to 106 markets in North America. More: - Ford, which purchased Spin in 2018 for $100M, will maintain a strategic investment in the micro-mobility company, per Franck Louis-Victor, VP of new businesses at Ford.
- Under the deal, Tier would add Spin's 50,000 e-scooters and e-bikes for a total fleet of 300,000 in 520 cities across 21 countries.
- The news comes after Tier's acquisition of Wind Mobility's Italian subsidiary Vento in December, bike-sharing company Nextbike in November, and Budapest-based software agency Makery in April. In October, Tier raised a $200M Series D led by the Softbank Vision Fund.
- On the acquisition, Constantin Vermoere, founder and CEO of mobility data platform Smove.City, told Inside:
- "When other micro-mobility startups raise money, they say it's to expand their operations, but why expand your operations through your internal teams if you could use that money by acquiring other companies that have been present in those regions for a long time and have the knowledge of the local market, already have a big stake of the market, and are already well respected and known by the local users? That's exactly what Tier has been doing."
- "Partnership is key, and the execution of strategic decisions based on the long-term vision is what I believe will filter out the micro-mobility startups that don't add value," Vermoere added.
- In January, Spin revealed its plans to exit nearly all open permit markets globally, including its entire presence in Germany and Portugal, and downsize approximately a quarter of its global staff. Spin claimed it generated double the revenue per vehicle in markets with a limited number of operators compared to open permit cities.
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 Kia revealed details of its roadmap, including plans to establish a line-up of 14 battery-electric vehicle models by 2027. The company expects to reach the sale of 4 million vehicles by 2030, with a goal of 1.2 million BEV sales. More: - Kia has a goal of 3.15 million unit sales globally in 2022. It expects to grow its "eco-friendly" cars, which include hybrid vehicles, from 17% of global sales this year to 52% in 2030.
- In its major markets with environmental regulations, including South Korea, North America, Europe, and China, Kia expects to increase its hybrid and electric vehicle sales to 78% by 2030.
- The automaker expects to produce two new battery-electric models per year starting in 2023. Through electric vehicle demand, Kia plans to increase its battery production capacity from 13GWh to 119GWh by 2030. It also aims to increase battery energy density by 50% and reduce system costs by 40% by 2030.
- Kia projects 39% of its operating profit to stem from BEVs by 2026.
- The automaker also announced that it will include over-the-air updates and feature-on-demand services across its models starting in 2025.
- AutoMode, which would enable driving without driver intervention on highway sections, will begin to be offered in the EV9 in 2023. Kia expects its autonomous driving tech to be featured in all its models in major markets by 2026, aiming at an 80% adoption rate.
- Kia estimates $68.78B in gross revenue, with $5.38B in operating profit, in 2022.
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The California Public Utilities Commission has granted deployment permits authorizing Cruise and Waymo to collect fares from passengers in autonomous vehicle services. In February, Cruise began operating fully self-driving ride-hailing services for the public; however, the AV company would require an additional permit by the CPUC to charge for rides without a human safety driver. More: - As part of the Drivered Pilot program, Cruise can operate between the hours of 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. at a maximum speed of 30 mph on selected public roads in San Francisco.
- Under the permit, Waymo can operate in designated areas in San Francisco and San Mateo counties at any time and at speeds of up to 65 mph.
Zoom Out: - Cruise raised $1.35B from SoftBank as it opened ride-hailing to the public in San Francisco.
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 Volvo Cars revealed it is testing wireless charging of the fully electric XC40 model. The automaker has set up wireless stations in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is conducting small fleet tests with taxi company Cabonline. More: - The charging stations by Momentum Dynamics automatically start when a compatible vehicle parks over a street-embedded pad. The wireless charging power is above 40 kW.
- Volvo and Carboline plan for the XC40 Recharge models to be used for more than 12 hours a day and drive 100,000 km per year.
- Volvo plans to include energy companies Vattenfall and Göteborg Energi, charging network InCharge, and the economic development agency of the city of Gothenburg in the testing program.
- The automaker has a goal of attaining zero emissions by 2030.
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Chargepoint published its financial results for the fourth quarter, during which it generated $80.7M in revenue, an increase of 90% from Q3. GAAP gross margin during Q4 was 22%, a 1% YoY increase. More: - For the full year, ChargePoint's revenue was $242.3M, an increase of 65% from 2020.
- The company had $315.6M in cash as of Jan. 31, 2022.
- ChargePoint has 174,000 ports, of which approximately 51,000 are located in Europe. In February, it partnered with fleet management company Wheels Donlen for the installation of at-home charging hardware and cloud software.
Zoom Out: - In August, ChargePoint acquired Netherlands-based cloud-based monitoring tool ViriCiti for approximately $82.8M.
- In July, the company acquired Austria-based EV charging management software company Has.to.be for ~$276.3M.
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Core Lithium Ltd. revealed it has reached an agreement to provide Tesla with the supply of up to 110,000 tons of Li2O spodumene concentrate. The deal comes two weeks after the automaker signed a five-year agreement to secure lithium from a future mine site in Kathleen Valley, Australia, which is being developed by Liontown Resources. More: - Core Lithium plans to source the materials from its flagship Finniss Project in Australia's Northern Territory over the span of four years. The production start at the site is aimed for the fourth quarter, with Tesla's supply expected to be delivered by H2 2023.
- In October, Core Lithium received regulatory approval from China to supply the raw material to chemicals producer Ganfeng Lithium for EV batteries.
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- Yamaha unveiled two new 28 mph electric bikes for gravel and road.
- After a price increase, Rivian decided to honor original pre-order costs for reservations prior to March 1.
- Quebec-based Letenda unveiled its Electrip electric bus designed for winter conditions.
- Kuehne + Nagel, the world's largest air and sea freight forwarder by volume, had a 300% increase in operating income to $1.2B in Q4.
- Avelo Airlines partnered with Aero HygenX to deploy UV robots to disinfect aircraft.
- Alaska Airlines is suspending its partnership with Russian airline S7 due to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
- Uber will offer free rides between the Ukraine-Poland border and two Polish cities. Note: Inside.com's founder and CEO, Jason Calacanis, is an investor in Uber.
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 |  | Written and curated by Nicolas Saravia, an avid map maker and data nerd. Nicolas has worked in the shared-scooter space, as well as advised e-bike and moped start-ups. |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
Labelbox is a training data platform designed to increase model performance faster and with less data. | |
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