America’s car owners need help
Save the Date
Join us for CoMotion LA ‘26 this November 18-19 for our 10th edition: Cities on the Move: Mega-events, AI & Shaping What’s Next — featuring the OMF Summit Track.
It’s a tough time to be an American motorist. Gas prices are high at the same time that a record number of car owners are underwater on their loans because of the high prices they paid during the pandemic. And yet, the federal government has never been more hostile to alternatives, from public transit and bike infrastructure to electric vehicles. In fact, the EPA has stopped publishing data comparing the environmental effects of EVs versus gas-powered cars. Even jurisdictions that purport to be friendlier to alternatives are not proving particularly helpful. For instance, the blue states and cities coming after e-bikes.
What you need to know
EV data goes dark: The EPA is no longer updating data about the climate effects of electric vehicles, the latest instance of the Trump administration upending federal scientific research. Nevertheless, says the Union of Concerned Scientists, the data are clear that EVs still produce less emissions than gas-powered cars in 96% of America’s grid regions.
Depreciation nation: Nearly a third of American car owners are underwater on their car loans, owing more on their vehicle than it’s worth. Those in this unfortunate category average $8,600 of negative equity. The surge in underwater loans is linked to the high prices many paid for cars in the wake of the pandemic, when global supply chain disruptions drove up the cost of new and used cars.
Big raise for the “SUV of scooters”: Bengaluru-based startup River raises $120 million in a Series C round to scale production of its electric moped, Indie, which it describes as the “SUV of scooters,” due to its durability and substantial storage space under the seat. River is now selling 6,000 of the vehicles per month at a price of roughly $1,700. Because mopeds are much more common in India than cars, electrifying two-wheelers has been a major environmental priority of the government.
Another big Moove: Moove, originally founded in Nigeria to finance vehicles for ride-hail drivers, has since relocated to Dubai and expanded into autonomous vehicle fleet operations. It just raised $250 million in a Series C round at a $2.1 billion valuation, led by Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, with Uber — an existing investor and platform partner — also participating. Moove already operates Waymo's robotaxi fleet in Phoenix, Miami, and Las Vegas (London coming soon) and plans to eventually own the vehicles it manages, scaling toward its goal of becoming the "backbone of the robotaxi industry."
🎉 New Partners confirmed!
We’re thrilled to have Waymo, Alstom, ICEX, Paybyphone, and Tranzito join us as Partners for the 10th edition of CoMotion LA this November 18 and 19th.
Join the movement in November to hear how:
Autonomy is optimizing traffic flow and solving last-mile connectivity.
LA is preparing for one of the world’s largest sporting events, and how mobility lessons from the World Cup can create a lasting urban legacy.
Public and private sector collaboration is central to unlocking the capital needed for sustainable, large-scale infrastructure projects - and what’s changing.
Payment systems can seamlessly connect transit, parking, and multimodal travel.
Real-time data can transform contested curb space into a dynamic, efficiently managed asset for parking, delivery, and micromobility.
🎟 Book before Sep 14 and save 50% on your pass! Register Now.
DoorDash cleared for drone delivery: The powerful food delivery service launches drone delivery after getting the greenlight from the FAA. It’s still not clear how widespread DoorDash Air will be in the near future. The question is not how quickly DoorDash can make the service available, but whether restaurants are interested. Will drone delivery actually make them more productive? It remains to be seen.
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What we’re reading
The e-bikes are collateral damage: In Streetsblog, Ren Zaro Fitzgerald argues that state lawmakers around the U.S. are responding to the very real problem of teens on e-motos with regulations that could also harm perfectly safe e-bikes. Legislators would really benefit from some mobility literacy here.
Careers
The Open Mobility Foundation: Our friends at the OMF, a public-private foundation creating open source tools for sustainable and equitable urban mobility and public space, is hiring for three roles: Communications & Engagement Manager, Operations Manager, and Community Specification Development Manager. Learn more here!
