Is everyone going to be a part-time taxi company?
Dates to remember
- CoMotion INNOVATORS application window closes on Oct. 15. Apply Now!
- CoMotion LA Salon at LA Tech Week: ‘The Future of Mobility UX’ on Oct 15 to discuss the future of the mobility experience and LA's unique opportunities. Co-hosted by CoMotion and BMW Designworks.
- CoMotion LA ‘25 & CoMotion GLOBAL: Early Bird sale ends on Oct 20 at midnight. Register now and save 30%.
Welcome to CoMotion NEWS, your weekly roundup of news and analysis of the mobility revolution. If this email was forwarded, you can sign up here for NEWS.
Elon Musk isn’t the only one with dreams of turning every car owner into a part-time taxi company. Tensor, the startup building autonomous vehicles for individual ownership, is partnering with Lyft to do the same thing. Are they getting ahead of themselves?
Speaking of Musk, he’s getting some regulatory heat over both Full Self Driving and the Boring Company’s digging practices. Meanwhile, Didi raises big bucks to accelerate its autonomous ambitions, eVTOL startup Joby sees its stock drop after a big equity raise, a Nigerian startup is delivering electric motorbikes for under $1,000, and Los Angeles raises the cost of parking. Finally, while China is going big on clean energy and grid modernization, America is stepping back from both.
What you need to know
Lyft and Tensor mimic Tesla’s robotaxi plans: When Tensor, a San Jose-based autonomous vehicle manufacturer with deep ties to China, delivers its first L4 passenger vehicle next year, it will come “Lyft-ready,” allowing owners to put their cars to work when they’re not using them. That’s the idea behind the strategic partnership the two companies announced last week.
This is essentially the very same plan Elon Musk has laid out for Tesla, where every Tesla owner can turn their car into a part-time robotaxi. There remain many unanswered questions about the viability of the model, including whether Tensor and Tesla’s vehicles are truly ready to operate commercially as ride-hailing vehicles and who is going to carry the insurance for these part-time taxis?
Didi raises $280M to accelerate autonomy: Didi Autonomous Driving, a division of Didi, China’s leading ride-hailing service, raises $280 million in a Series D round to support its efforts to develop Level 4 autonomous driving. Didi is one of many companies operating autonomous ride-hailing services in Chinese cities, where the robotaxi landscape is more advanced and diverse than anywhere else on Earth.
LA Metro’s ultimate guide to transit for major events: Metro publishes a set of best practices for transit agencies dealing with a major influx of passengers due to concerts, sporting events and the like. The 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles will of course be the ultimate test.
Less than 4 weeks to go!
CoMotion LA ‘25 on Nov. 12-13, ‘Unlocking The New Mobility Playbook’, brings together an unprecedented array of thought-leaders, mayors, innovative policymakers, technology founders, VC investors and international delegations to discuss what’s next. Also explore the latest mobility-focused data and digital tools as part of a special OMF Summit Track and much more.
Feds investigate Tesla’s FSD: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration initiates an investigation into Tesla’s Full Self-Driving software following over 50 reports of traffic safety violations, including incidents where vehicles ran red lights or entered wrong-way lanes. The probe, which encompasses approximately 2.9 million Tesla vehicles, has identified 14 crashes and 23 injuries associated with these issues.
…while Nevada goes after the Boring Company: Nevada regulators accuse Elon Musk’s Boring Company of nearly 800 environmental violations during its Las Vegas tunnel expansion, including unauthorized digging, untreated water discharges, and debris on roadways. Despite the potential for over $3 million in fines, the company faces a reduced penalty of $242,800 after regulators grouped some infractions, aiming to deter future non-compliance.
Belgium is Building the Future with Piet Demunter
Belgium leads the EU in EV adoption, and isn’t resting on its laurels - it already has 3x the number of EV chargers per capita than the average peer country, and is planning a massive buildout. How exactly did they make it happen, and what opportunities exist for those outside of the country to get involved? To learn more, Nick Perloff-Giles sat down with Piet Demunter, CEO of Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT), to discuss the Belgian sustainability model and its lessons for abroad.
Joby raises money, stock tumbles: Joby Aviation, the promising eVTOL developer that plans to launch commercial air taxi service in Dubai next year, raises $514 million via equity but sees its stock drop 9%. Investors may be spooked by the prospect of share dilution.
China vs America, electric grid edition: Not only is China rapidly expanding its renewable power portfolio, it is also “building the world’s first nationwide grid of ultrahigh-voltage power transmission lines” to transport all of the wind and solar power generated in the rural west and north to the population centers in the east. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is pulling back from both renewable power and grid modernization. Go figure.
Can Africa’s motorcycles go green? Business Insider Africa profiles Kaushik Burman, CEO of Spiro, a Nigerian startup that has raised over $150 million to build Africa’s biggest electric motorbike company. The company offers electric motorbikes for as little as $960 in Nigeria and already boasts 800 battery-swapping stations.
Trump drops a hydrogen bomb: After yanking $2.2 billion of grants from two of the seven “hydrogen hubs” set up by the bipartisan infrastructure law in 2021, the Trump administration is reportedly considering canceling grants for the other five. While the first two hubs primarily operated in blue states, the others include many red and purple states, such as Texas, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio.
LA hikes the parking rates: Los Angeles motorists will be charged 50¢ more per hour at the city’s 35,000 metered parking spaces after the City Council votes to adjust the rates. It also voted to extend the hours when the city will charge for parking, including on Sunday. The move is intended to raise money, but hopefully it will also reduce driving.
Making bridges cheaper, better: Allium Engineering is revolutionizing bridge construction with an innovative approach: coating standard rebar with a paper-thin layer of stainless steel. This reduces the concrete needed by 20% while extending bridge lifespans from 30 to 100 years.
Making EVs cheaper, smaller: The 2027 Chevy Bolt is a rare example of a sub-$30,000 EV in the U.S. It’s also a rare instance of a Detroit automaker going small. Let’s hope it works out for them.
What does the future of LA mobility look like, where are the opportunities, and what barriers are in our way?
Join stakeholders from both the public and private sector to listen about and discuss the future of the mobility experience and LA's unique opportunities. Co-hosted by CoMotion and BMW Designworks, this conversation will touch upon autonomy, connectivity, urban planning, and digitization.
This event is a part of #LATechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem in Greater Los Angeles.
What we’re reading
California goes big on housing, despite LA objections: CityLab breaks down the recent passage of California’s SB 79, which housing advocates are hailing as an important step towards easing the Golden State’s housing crisis. It will also hopefully support public transit by enabling more dense housing near transit stations. That the bill triumphed over the fierce objections of powerful leaders in the state’s biggest city makes it all the more impressive.
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