Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for all things related to the future of transportation.
More than a month ago, I asked how you thought EV sales would play out once the $7,500 federal tax credit expired on September 30. The majority of those who responded predicted that EV sales would fall off a cliff.
Now, it is too early to tell for certain as we are just a few days past the end of the quarter. But the expiring tax credit did give many automakers a sales bump as consumers raced to buy EVs before the deadline.
Tesla, which has seen sales growth diminish, just registered its best quarter of deliveries ever at 497,099 vehicles. That is a massive 29 percent jump from the second quarter, about a 7 percent increase over the same period last year, and more than it has ever delivered in a single quarter.
Ford Motor, General Motors, and Hyundai also reported record quarterly sales of EVs. Rivian saw deliveries jump to 13,201 vehicles, up from 10,661 and 8,640 in the second and first quarters, respectively.
The looming question is how automakers will navigate a possible slowdown in EV sales in this post-tax credit era. Rivian has already adjusted its guidance down for 2025. Others may follow. The crux for automakers is how to clear out inventory as the new 2026 models arrive without reducing profit margins or deepening losses.
The Department of Energy canceled 321 clean energy projects but was not sharing the details with TechCrunch or the public. Luckily, a source shared the complete list of awards the administration had canceled, and the results were revealing.
Altogether, the canceled awards totaled $7.56 billion, with California bearing the brunt and losing $2.2 billion worth of grants. This included a $630 million grid-modernization program that could have become a template for the nation. Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Oregon rounded out the top eight, each losing between $300 million and $600 million.
It was not until farther down the list that a red state appeared. Indeed, the majority of projects were located in states that had voted for Kamala Harris in the last presidential election, something many media outlets reported. But even in blue states, some awards remained, possibly due to political connections or aligned interests. Whatever the case, the move by the DOE suggests the government might be a less reliable partner for businesses, especially small startups.
Toyota may not be the first company that comes to mind for startups. But perhaps it should be. The Japanese automaker is committing $1.5 billion in new capital to focus on and invest in the life cycle of startups, from the first seeds of an invention through its growth stage and into maturity. Toyota has created a strategic investment subsidiary called Toyota Invention Partners Co. with about $670 million in capital, while its growth-stage venture arm Woven Capital launched a second $800 million fund.
Other deals that got my attention include Einride, the Swedish startup known for its unusual-looking electric and autonomous pods. The company has now raised $100 million from several new and existing investors, including its largest shareholder, EQT Ventures. The raise included an undisclosed strategic investment from quantum computing company IonQ. It is worth noting that while $100 million is significant, it is far lower than the $500 million in equity and debt it raised a few years ago.
Electroflow, a startup developing a cheaper LFP battery, raised $10 million in a seed round led by Union Square Ventures and Voyager with participation from Fifty Years and Harpoon Ventures.
Flai, a San Francisco-based AI startup for car dealerships, raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Liz Wessel at First Round Capital. YC, RedBlue Capital, Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures, and Innovation Endeavors also joined.
A highly unusual deal is becoming more common. The Department of Energy took a 5 percent equity stake in Canadian company Lithium Americas and a 5 percent stake in its Nevada mining joint venture with General Motors as part of a renegotiation of a $2.26 billion federal loan. This follows the federal government taking equity stakes in Intel and MP Materials.
The U.K. government will guarantee a commercial bank loan of 1.5 billion pounds, or $2 billion, for carmaking giant Jaguar Land Rover after a hack forced the company to shut down its production lines and left downstream suppliers at risk of bankruptcy.
The early-stage deep tech fund Wave Function Ventures closed its first fund of $15.1 million.
Two Amazon Prime Air delivery drones collided with the boom of a crane near its same-day site in Tolleson, Arizona, its one commercial location. Federal agencies are investigating, and after a temporary pause, Amazon has restarted the service.
DoorDash has spent years working on an autonomous delivery robot that can navigate roads, bike lanes, and sidewalks.
Faraday Future still exists, which we know because one of the troubled EV startup’s electric SUVs caught fire at its Los Angeles headquarters, leading to an explosion that blew out part of a wall.
The administration’s crackdown in Chicago is affecting the gig economy, according to the founder of e-bike subscription startup Whizz.
Waymo scored a regulatory win in New York City and received an extension for its testing permit.
WestJet, Canada’s second largest airline, said the personal information of 1.2 million passengers was stolen in a cyberattack and data breach.
Zoox will start mapping the streets of Washington, D.C., as it ramps up to begin testing its self-driving vehicles in the nation’s capital this year.
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 is just a few weeks away. There are some noteworthy transportation folks who will be on our stage, including Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana, Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun, Wayve co-founder and CEO Alex Kendall, and Slate CEO Chris Barman.
In the weeks leading up to the event, we have been showcasing some of the Startup Battlefield 200 companies, including Hance, a startup working on low energy-consuming, on-device processing that has already attracted the likes of Intel.