Alex Mitchell explains why EVs are the driving force behind a potential marriage between Honda and Nissan in this article.
🌱STARTUP WATCH: Sustainable mobility startups (pre-seed or seed) to keep an eye on
Amptrans (California, USA): Software to optimize charging for medium and heavy-duty vehicles
Applied Bioplastics (Texas, USA): Bio-based alternative to plastic
BlueGrid (Canada): Vehicle-to-grid solutions for electric boats
FlyNow Aviation (Austria): Manufacturer of eVTOL (air taxis)
Enakl (Morocco): Microtransit network operator
EVpin (New York, USA): Software to site and design EV charging stations
SolGraph (California, USA): Graphite anode for lithium-ion batteries
Quad-E (Australia): Manufacturer of 4-wheeled micromobility
Wayside Energy (California, USA): Battery packs made from recyclable material
XRoadz (Massachusetts, USA): Robotic traffic control systems
📰QUICK HITS: Notable news from the last two weeks
👩🏽⚖️Government, Policies & Cities
🤝 Paris and Berlin are now linked by a high-speed train route. At eight hours, this trip definitely falls outside the 2-3 hour trip sweet spot for high-speed rail, but the symbolism is nice.
⏲️ California is easing rules on mandatory emissions reporting…for the first year. See the Deep Dive in Vol 65 to see why California and the EU make emissions reporting mandatory, despite anything the SEC might want to do.
🚲 The US Congress passed a stopgap spending bill, which included setting national safety standards for batteries used in micromobility. Hats off to city and Congressional leaders from NYC who realized that scaling micromobility would require banning fire-prone low-quality batteries. This allows NYC to embrace micromobility again and saves other cities lots of regulatory headaches.
🇺🇸 The Trump Administration will likely roll back EV and emissions targets, but may be willing to support on-shoring of the battery supply chain. Savvy startup founders are already adjusting their pitch decks…
🤖 The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a framework that finally allows for robotaxis without pedals or steering wheels. Under the Trump administration, look for the federal government to usurp state guidance and to be much more lax on safety, allowing Tesla to deploy despite having significantly less safe technology than Waymo.
Access the full article, 🧐 Why Nissan and Honda might merge, on Substack.