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| Hey Insiders — Today we're bringing you the latest on Toyota's robotaxi investment and Astra's restructuring. Scroll down for news on Nikola's latest grant. Let us know which areas you would like us to cover next. Thanks for reading! Nicolas
p/mobilitynerd | |
| 1 | | On Friday, Astra announced a restructuring of its business to focus on manufacturing spacecraft engines. The company laid off 70 employees and reallocated 50 people from its rocket development team to its space products unit. More: - "We are intensely focused on delivering on our commitments to our customers, which includes ensuring we have sufficient resources and an adequate financial runway to execute on our near-term opportunities," said Astra's CEO and chairman, Chris Kemp.
- Astra expects the reorganization to save $4M per quarter, starting in Q4.
- At the end of the first quarter, the company had 278 spacecraft engine orders worth ~$77M.
- Astra also revealed through a regulatory filing that it raised $10.8M from selling debt to investment group High Trail Capital.
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| 2 | | Toyota announced plans to mass produce vehicles for self-driving ride-hailing for Pony.ai's service in China. The automaker plans to invest $140M through its joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group. More: - Pony.ai has live self-driving operations in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.
- The news follows Toyota's announcement from last week that it would seek to increase its production, along with local suppliers Denso and Aisin, in China amid increased competition from local EV brands and Tesla.
- This also follows last month's news of Toyota's plan to localize the development of its smart cockpits for the Chinese market.
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| 3 | | California is awarding Nikola $16.3M to build seven open-network HYLA hydrogen refueling stations. The truck maker recently received $41.9M from the California Transportation Commission for six hydrogen stations in Southern California. More: - Nikola claims an order book of more than 200 Class 8 Nikola hydrogen fuel cell trucks.
- "These sales orders reflect momentum in the industry, with businesses increasingly prioritizing zero-emissions alternatives to fulfill their environmental, social, and governance goals and responding to the incentives available," said the company's president and CEO, Michael Lohscheller.
- $NKLA was up 2.88% WoW at market close on Friday.
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| 4 | | Ford signed a letter of intent to procure fuel cell systems from Ballard Power Systems for the production of a hydrogen-powered vehicle prototype. The F-MAX tractor truck would use Ballard's FCmove XD 120kW fuel cell engines for a European demo in 2025. More: - The demo would be part of the EU's Horizon Europe Zero Emission Freight Ecosystem project, which involves four truck OEMs and two trailer manufacturers, in addition to suppliers and researchers.
- The project vehicles are expected to carry over 40 metric tons across a maximum of 750 km (466 miles), with an average of 500 km for daily use.
- Ford expects to receive the initial engine from Ballard this year and assemble the prototype in Turkey.
- $F was down 0.92% WoW on Friday at market close.
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| 5 | | Aerospace supplier Pratt & Whitney issued a recall for 1,200 of its PW1100G engines due to microscopic cracks believed to be caused by the powdered metal used to produce the engines' turbine disks. The engine would include those used in 18 A321neos in Hawaiian Airlines' fleet. More: - Hawaiian Airlines canceled its daily Kahului to Las Vegas flights from Aug. 5 to Aug. 31 due to a lack of Airbus narrowbody aircraft.
- The airline also plans to cancel flights between Kahului and San Jose, California, from Sept. 9 to Jan. 8, in addition to flights between Lihue and Oakland from Sept. 6 to Dec. 14 and the Saturday and Monday service between Honolulu and San Jose.
- Hawaiian also uses 23 Boeing 717-200s for inter-island flights and 25 Airbus A330 for longer flights.
- Hawaiian Holdings stock was down 4.82% WoW, but up 1.85% for the day, on Friday at market close.
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| 6 | | Chinese charging infrastructure company XCharge is planning to establish a manufacturing facility in Kyle, Texas. The facility would initially comprise 3,500 square feet prior to expanding to 20,000 square feet. More: - "Hays County was a perfect location for us to establish our domestic operations, given its scalable facilities and land availability," said Aatish Patel, president and co-founder of XCharge's North American subsidiary.
- XCharge currently offers charging stations with capacities of 150 kW and 210 kW, which include BYD batteries.
- The Net Zero series of chargers include the Battery2Grid feature, which enables selling energy back to the grid.
- The company did not disclose the type of charging connectors the Texas location will produce, as the CSS1 is required for federal funding, but multiple automakers have committed to using Tesla's NACS ports in the future.
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- Emirates extended its sponsorship of English soccer team Arsenal until 2028.
- DHL reported $22.1B in revenue for Q2, down from $26.4B in the second quarter of 2022.
- A passenger is suing Frontier Airlines over an additional $100 charge for an oversized carry-on bag.
- The U.K. awarded ~$10.1M to two hydrogen-powered transport projects in the North East.
- Toyota is reportedly considering developing a Corolla-based pickup truck that would compete with the Ford Maverick.
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Term of the Day Cash burn: Cash burn is defined as the amount of cash a company utilizes to meet its expenses in a specific period. 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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