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| Hey Insiders — Today we're bringing you the latest on Canoo's former executives being sued by the SEC and Proterra's bankruptcy. Scroll down for American Airlines' reported investment plans. Let us know which areas you would like us to cover next. If you find this newsletter helpful, please share it with a friend or colleague. Thanks for reading! Nicolas
p/mobilitynerd | |
| 1 | | Canoo's former CEO, Ulrich Kranz, and former CFO, Paul Balciunas, were sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly providing unreasonable revenue projections. Kranz currently works on Apple's secretive EV project and Balciunas at self-driving tech company Apex.ai. More: - The SEC is seeking to ban the two executives from holding officer positions at public companies.
- Kranz has also been accused of misstating the amount he was paid while at Canoo.
- Canoo has already been fined $1.5M as a result of an SEC investigation into its SPAC merger in 2020 for reporting failures related to "hundreds of millions of dollars of unreasonable revenue projections."
- Since 2021, Kranz has been leading hardware design for Apple's car team, reporting to the project lead, Kevin Lynch.
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| 2 | | On Monday, electric bus manufacturer Proterra officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. "We have faced various market and macroeconomic headwinds that have impacted our ability to efficiently scale all of our opportunities simultaneously," said the company's CEO, Gareth Joyce. More: - In March, Proterra's creditors extended loans until 2028, contingent on the company agreeing to a 12% interest per year in cash and stock.
- Proterra went public after a $640M SPAC merger with ArcLight Clean Transportation Corp in June 2021.
- In Q1, the company, which also manufactures batteries, had projected $450M to $500M in revenue for H2 2023 to be driven by an orders backlog estimated at above $1B.
- In January, the company cut 300 positions as it merged its bus and battery operations in Greer, South Carolina.
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| 3 | | Regional carrier Connect Airlines is seeking a $40M Series B as it seeks to launch on Dec. 31. Based on a prior memorandum of understanding, American Airlines is expected to become a larger stakeholder in Connect. More: - The news comes as Connect Airlines has had challenges obtaining certification from the FAA despite receiving clearance from the Department of Transportation in 2022, due to its foreign investors.
- The airline had also faced challenges obtaining clearance from Canada for cross-border flights.
- Connect Airlines currently has a fleet of two DHC-8-400 turboprops.
- The airline is seeking grants from the Department of Energy for the conversion of ATR-72 turboprops to be powered by hydrogen fuel. Connect has a deal with Universal Hydrogen to convert 75 aircraft, which are expected to be delivered starting in 2025.
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| 4 | | Electrify America announced it is switching to station-specific pricing. The charging company also plans to implement idle fees for EVs that have reached 100% charging. More: - The changes would take place on Aug. 17.
- Currently, EA charges a fixed rate of $0.48 per kWh or the amount of time the vehicle is plugged in, depending on the state.
- The company plans to charge $0.40 per minute of idle time, barring a ten-minute window after reaching 100%.
- EA is also raising its membership fees from $4 to $7 per month.
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| 5 | | FedEx revealed it is laying off 280 employees at a facility in Fort Worth, Texas. The carrier employs 806 people at the location. More: - "This action is necessitated by one of our customers' decisions to transition a portion of its business to a new location that will be managed by a new third-party logistics provider," reads a notice filed by FedEx with the Texas Workforce Commission.
- The news follows FedEx's plan to cut 900 jobs, including 220 in York, Pennsylvania, 170 in Indianapolis, and 73 in Richland, Mississippi.
- The Fort Worth layoffs are expected to be completed by Sept. 23.
- $FDX was up 0.51% for the day but down 1.83% WoW on Monday at market close.
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| 6 | | General Motors' commercial electric van subsidiary, BrightDrop, announced it is launching sales in Mexico. BrightDrop currently has three vehicles in its lineup: the Zevo 600, Zevo 400, and the Trace electric cart. More: - Formed in 2021, BrightDrop uses the former CAMI manufacturing plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, where it began production of the Zevo 600 in December.
- In June, the company launched sales in Canada after receiving an order for 50 electric vans from FedEx.
- "Bringing BrightDrop's products to Mexico is a key move in our mission to decarbonize delivery globally while helping customers take advantage of the economic benefits of going electric," said Steve Mornyak, BrightDrop's chief commercial officer.
- $GM was up 1.42% for the day but down 2.50% WoW on Monday at market close.
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Term of the Day Product-led growth (PLG): Product-led growth (PLG) is a marketing and sales strategy that focuses on using the product itself as the primary driver of growth. Question of the Week Do you think the 9-to-5 workday still relevant in today's modern workplace? Join the conversation |
INSIDE TRANSPORTATION LEADERBOARD (ALL-TIME) |
 | Sr. Analyst | | Nicolas S. is a Sr. Analyst at Inside, covering transportation and startup trends. He is an avid map maker and data nerd. Nicolas has worked in the shared-scooter space, as well as advised e-bike and moped startups. Follow him at @MobilityNerd. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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