Reverse stock splits: Often a path to oblivion

The reverse stock split, a form of financial engineering that artificially boosts a company’s stock price, often sounds a death knell, especially for startups that exhausted funds in mergers with special purpose acquisition companies.

The widespread carnage of failed advanced technology startups, especially in electrification and autonomy, is remarkable. With a few exceptions, companies opting for a reverse split end up on a path to oblivion.

All hat, no cattle

According to the independent Financia...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/reverse-stock-splits-often-a-path-to-oblivion

Could the flux capacitor solve hydrogen storage on Class 8 trucks?

The garbage-gulping Mr. Fusion from “Back to the Future” was pure fiction, but the flux capacitor that powered Doc Brown’s flying DeLorean is real. NASA made it. The space agency licenses it. And hydrogen-powered trucks might benefit from it.

A license like no other

“I actually have a license for the flux capacitor. How many people can say that?” Michael Kramer, founder of startup Novadev, told me. “The only one who’s made a lot of money on this program so far is my patent attorney. He got paid a...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/could-the-flux-capacitor-solve-hydrogen-storage-on-class-8-trucks

TuSimple plans to settle federal fraud lawsuit for $189M

Autonomous driving technology provider TuSimple on Monday agreed to a $189 million settlement after being accused of defrauding shareholders. According to reports, all defendants denied any wrongdoing in agreeing to the settlement.

The case, filed in federal court in San Diego, centers on claims that TuSimple inflated its safety record and failed to disclose that three company insiders were governing a Chinese trucking competitor, Hydron.

According to court documents, the autonomous tech provider...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/tusimple-plans-to-settle-federal-fraud-lawsuit-for-189m

Will Nikola’s best year ever be good enough?

Nikola broke a nine-day stock price losing streak a week ago when it posted record second-quarter revenue. CEO Steve Girsky still enthusiastically believes 2024 will be the best year in company history. Yet, the electric truck maker has only enough cash on hand to last through the end of the year without further diluting investors by converting more shares.

Sweeping away the underbrush

Nikola no longer talks about convicted founder Trevor Milton, who recently dropped his $1 billion suit against...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/will-nikolas-best-year-ever-be-good-enough

Workhorse on the bubble, or is it worse?

Less than three months after my generally upbeat visit to Workhorse Group’s refurbished plant near the Ohio-Indiana border, the electric truck maker’s situation appears dire.

Layoffs and furloughs

Workhorse has laid off 20% of its workforce. Much of the rest is on unpaid furlough and could be called back to work. 

The company is choked with inventory. It has less than $7 million in cash on the books and accounts payable for more than twice that amount. At a projected burn rate less than Q1’s $5.5...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/workhorse-on-the-bubble-or-is-it-worse

The Whac-A-Mole reality of autonomous trucking regulations

If you thought last year’s veto of a Teamsters-backed ban on heavy-duty autonomous trucking in California put the issue to rest, think again. While 23 states allow at least testing of driverless trucking, emerging challenges resemble the arcade game Whac-A-Mole.

Early-stage commercialized driverless trucking on Interstate 45 in Texas looks likely later this year. The state embraced the technology in 2017. Yet a move to stop driver-out operations percolated in the Texas Legislature last year.

“That...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/the-whac-a-mole-reality-of-autonomous-trucking-regulations

Megawatt grants electrify truck charging corridors

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Startup electric truck infrastructure developer WattEV won’t say how much money it has raised from...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/megawatt-grants-electrify-truck-charging-corridors

Ryder adds Kodiak Robotics to its autonomous trucking dance card

When it comes to autonomous trucks, Ryder System Inc. plays the field, forming — and sometimes ending — relationships with practically every startup contending for leadership in the medium- and heavy-duty driverless space.

Its first commercial partner appears to be Kodiak Robotics, which is paying for space at an existing Ryder maintenance facility in Houston. The truckport opened in December and enables Kodiak to launch and land autonomous trucks and transfer freight on routes between Houston,...

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/ryder-adds-kodiak-robotics-to-its-autonomous-trucking-dance-card