Lion Electric

Of floor mops, M&M coatings … and battery packs 

What do coatings for M&M chocolate candies, O-Cedar floor mops and battery packs for electric trucks have in common?

All three come from German industrial conglomerate Freudenberg Group. The company operates many other seemingly incongruous businesses from filtration to home cleaning products.

A history of handoffs

Freudenberg’s battery business is an appropriate Truck Tech topic. But not as tasty than M&Ms, for which it makes the hard shell coatings through its Capol business unit. 

The...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/of-floor-mops-mm-coatings-and-battery-packs

Co-founder wants TuSimple liquidated

TuSimple co-founder Xiaodi Hou has started a second autonomous trucking startup. But he is suing his former company, urging that TuSimple be liquidated and $450 million returned to shareholders, of whom he is the largest.

Suits on 3 coasts

In separate filings in courts in San Diego and Delaware, Hou claims his co-founder, Mo Chen, and CEO Cheng Lu are trying to move TuSimple’s $450 million to China. TuSimple moved its business there and has shifted its business from autonomous trucking to...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/co-founder-wants-tusimple-liquidated

Building an electrification business in reverse

When most fleets think about the electric grid, it’s about how much power they can get and when. Seed-stage startup Synop has another idea – making money by helping return unneeded power to utilities.

Seed-stage startup Synop found its niche in bidirectional charging. (Image: Synop)
Giving back (electricity) as a business

When Gagan Dhillon worked for Volvo Trucks North America, he saw an opportunity to create a TMS for electric trucks. No one was interested. Then he and longtime friend Andrew...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/building-an-electrification-business-in-reverse

Sitetracker: Speeding electric truck charging behind the scenes

Announcements of new charging depots for electric trucks seem to come almost weekly. Some are more promises than ready-to-go power. Sitetracker, a SaaS business rooted in telecommunications, is providing a cloud-based backbone to move things along.

Sitetracker has been around since 2008. In four rounds of fundraising, it has brought in $183 million, including $66 million in a Series D round in 2022. The Montclair, New Jersey-based company has doubled its head count while seizing opportunities in...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/sitetracker-speeding-electric-truck-charging-behind-the-scenes

Switcheroo: EV Realty secures electricity before launching charging sites

Startups, real estate giants and others developing electric truck charging sites tend to pick locations before being certain they can get electricity in a timely fashion. Startup EV Realty prioritizes having the juice available when it buys a property.

‘Buying by the acre and monetizing by the megawatt’

Patrick Sullivan is like a lot of his peers developing electric infrastructure for fleet charging. He knows how the electric power business works, what it takes to develop and what can frustrate...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/switcheroo-ev-realty-secures-electricity-before-launching-charging-sites

Lion Electric lays off 150 employees

Canadian electric truck and bus startup Lion Electric is cutting 150 jobs, about 10% of its head count, in the U.S. and Canada as it seeks to reach profitability.

“Although this was a very difficult decision and we are sad to part ways with valued employees, this initiative was the right thing to do for the business at this point in time,” Marc Bedard, CEO and founder of Lion, said in a news release.

Lion is far from alone in making hard decisions around electrification. Several electric vehicle...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/lion-electric-lays-off-150-employees

Buying and selling in autonomous trucking developer Aurora Innovation

In a week that saw the field of viable autonomous trucking developers shrink again — more on Waymo Via waving buh-bye for now below — Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ: AUR) disclosed that  T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased $125 million of new stock issued in a $600 million private placement. 

Uber Technologies, already a major holder of Aurora shares, added $1 million to its stake in the private placement and 24.66 million shares at $3 each — worth about $74 million — in Aurora’s $220...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/buying-and-selling-in-autonomous-trucking-developer-aurora-innovation

TuSimple begins catch-up on financial filings

TuSimple filed the first of four late financial documents this week. It’s easy to see why the autonomous truck software developer gave up freight hauling. It cost more than twice as much as it was seeing in revenue. And the company has just 250 U.S. employees after two rounds of layoffs and a refocus on Asian markets.

While other startups ran afoul of Nasdaq listing rules because their share price fell below $1 for more than 30 consecutive trading days, TuSimple found another way to get put on...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tusimple-begins-catch-up-on-financial-filings

Electric truck recalls begin to mount — albeit in small numbers

The number of affected vehicles is barely noticeable — until you count the number of recall campaigns. Electric trucks are having early life quality problems.

The latest of 10 electric truck recalls in the past three months was reported on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website Monday. It involves the loss of power to 82 Freightliner eCascadia Class 8 trucks. The electronic axles may have insufficiently welded planetary gear sets.

E-axles and planetary gear sets are components...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/electric-truck-recalls-begin-to-mount-albeit-in-small-numbers

Nikola moves to liquidate battery pack maker Romeo Power

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Nikola Corp. is liquidating Romeo Power, the battery pack maker it acquired for $144 million in stock

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/nikola-moves-to-liquidate-battery-pack-maker-romeo-power

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