Waymo fills the Cruise void overseas and a salute to icon Jean Jennings

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I didn’t meet Jean Jennings until long after she had cemented her status as an automotive journalism icon. By then, Jennings (formerly Lindamood) had been editor of Car and Driver and had helped found Automobile Magazine — where she would eventually become editor-in-chief — and launched a website called Jean Knows Cars. Jennings died December 16 at age 70 after living with Alzheimer’s disease.

To say she was well known in the industry is an understatement. To give you an idea of her impact, Ford CEO Jim Farley and Chairman Bill Ford issued an official statement on her death, and Stellantis designer Ralph Gilles and many, many others in the industry have posted their own memorials to Jean on social media.

And for good reason. Jennings lived and breathed cars, first as a mechanic and later as a journalist and editor. Her articles and travels are part of automotive lore. I was just dipping my toe into the automotive press pond when she was emerging from it, but I still knew of Jennings. It wasn’t just her writing, which was witty and delightful. It was the whole energetic package, which sometimes made her a central character in other articles, like Brock Yates’ 1983 Baja Mexico Sedan Torture Test article in C&D. 

Of course, once you met her (which I was lucky enough to do), there was no forgetting her. Jean, hat’s off to you. 

And before we jump into the rest of the news, check out TechCrunch’s  51 most disruptive startups of 2024 to learn about some interesting tech and companies outside of transportation. 

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Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or check out these instructions to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.

Deals!

The Biden administration is racing to approve a number of initiatives before President-elect Donald Trump takes over, including clean energy loans. Recent Department of Energy (DOE) loan recipients include StarPlus Energy (a battery joint venture from Stellantis and Samsung) and Rivian. 

This week, it was electric vehicle charging startup EVgo’s turn.  

The DOE approved a $1.25 billion loan to EVgo to help the startup install 7,500 public chargers at 1,100 charging stations across the U.S. over the next five years. The first deployments will include 350kW DC fast-charging equipment that can charge two cars at once. 

Other deals that got my attention …

Bikmo, a U.K. startup that provides insurance for bikes and cyclists, raised £4.75 million ($5.9 million) in a round led by Puma Growth Partners.

Honda and Nissan are reportedly in merger talks. If that were to come together, the merger, which may also include Mitsubishi, would form the world’s third-largest carmaker. The intrigue around the potential deal became even more interesting when Bloomberg reported that discussions accelerated after Foxconn, the Taiwan-based producer of iPhones, approached Nissan about acquiring a stake in the company.

Nanoramic, a Boston-based advanced battery technology startup, raised $44 million in a round co-led by General Motors Ventures and Catalus Capital, with participation from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, Top Material, and existing investors, including Fortistar Capital and WindSail Capital Group. 

Orqa, a Croatian developer of advanced autonomous drone systems, raised 5.8 million euros ($6 million) in a seed round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Radius Capital, Decisive Point, and existing investor Day One Capital.

Slip Robotics raised $28 million in a Series B funding round led by DCVC and saw participation from existing investors Eve Atlas, Tech Square Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Overline, and Pathbreaker Ventures. James Hardiman of DCVC has joined the board.

Vaeridion, a German aviation startup developing an electric aircraft for short-haul commercial flights, raised a €14 million Series A funding round led by World Fund, with participation from Project A Ventures, Vsquared Ventures, Andreas Kupke, Schwarz Holding, and InnovationQuarter.

Zingbus, the Indian intercity bus service, raised $9 million from BP Ventures in a Series A funding round.

Notable reads and other tidbits

Autonomous vehicles

Waymo continues to step into the spaces where its previous rivals were planning to set up shop. The latest example: Waymo is bringing its robotaxis to Tokyo in 2025 with partners taxi-hailing app GO and taxi company Nihon Kotsu as part of its Japanese “road trip.” History lesson: Cruise was planning on operating in Japan in 2026 through a partnership with Honda.

Waymo may be dominating, but its robotaxis still have challenges. One recently got caught in a roundabout. 

Reuters got its hands on a document from the Trump transition team that shows deep interest in ending a federal rule that requires automakers to report crashes when advanced driver-assistance or autonomous driving technology is engaged. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has long opposed the federal crash-reporting rule. The timing of this is notable. If successful, federal safety agencies would lose the ability to investigate and regulate the safety of vehicles with automated-driving systems just as more automation comes to public roads.

Drama at TuSimple continues. This time, co-founder and former CEO Xiaodi Hou is pushing shareholders to change the board and replace it with new members who would support liquidating the company. 

Zoox has hired Zheng Gao as director of hardware engineering. Zheng was most recently at Tesla, where he spent eight years and was head of Tesla’s Autopilot hardware engineering team. Prior to Tesla, Zheng was at Apple for nine years.

Electric vehicles, charging, & batteries

Canoo is hurting for cash. The EV startup has idled its factory and furloughed workers as it seeks emergency funding. 

The Environmental Protection Agency (still under the Biden administration) will allow California to ban most sales of new gas- and diesel-powered cars and light trucks starting in 2035. Keep in mind, though, that this is certain to be reversed by the incoming Trump administration.

Ram delayed its electric truck to 2026 and will instead put the range-extended truck known as the Ramcharger in the front of the queue. Lagging EV demand is behind the decision.

Tesla is bringing back free Supercharging to customers who buy a new Model S. But this appears to be a bit of a shell game, as Tesla also increased the price of the Model S by $5,000.  

In-car tech

Rivian released a new software update to its vehicles that brings some long-awaited apps to its in-vehicle experience, including YouTube, Google Cast, and SiriusXM (with a subscription).

Other random transpo news!

Kakao Mobility, the ride-hailing unit of Korean tech firm Kakao, was fined $10.5 million (KRW 15.1 billion) for limiting competitors’ access to its taxi app.

Alphabet’s Wing is expanding its partnership with DoorDash to bring drone delivery to customers in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. 

This week’s wheels

TechCrunch reporter Rebecca Bellan spent time in the 2025 Lucid Air Pure — twice! You can read the whole review here. But for those who want the gist, here it is. 

The 2025 Lucid Air Pure is dreamy, sexy, and luxurious — and has some decent tech to boot — even though it is the cheapest trim in the EV maker’s current lineup. As Bellan wrote, “I felt fancy and discerning driving around, but in an understated way — as if I were wearing designer sweatpants.” I guess that means the Lucid Air Pure is the equivalent of expensive athleisure. 

Still, did that translate into value? Bellan says yes, but only if Lucid continues to improve its software through over-the-air updates. 

As someone who has driven the Lucid Air a few times, I was pleased to learn that some of my biggest complaints, like the vehicle ping-ponging when the lane-centering feature is engaged, have been resolved. 

What is “This week’s wheels”? It’s a chance to learn about the different transportation products we’re testing, whether it’s an electric or hybrid car, an e-bike or even a ride in an autonomous vehicle. Future vehicles include the next-gen Rivian R1S and the Volkswagen ID Buzz. Stay tuned.