Cruise Downsizes Self-Driving Team, E-Scooter Startup Folds, and a Year-End Update

Would you like to receive The Station, a weekly newsletter dedicated to all things transportation, this weekend and every weekend in your inbox? Click here to subscribe for free. Welcome back to The Station, which covers all past, present, and future means of moving people and packages from Point A to Point B. Thank you for reading our weekly newsletter and reaching out with suggestions, tips, and criticism. This year has been a whirlwind with stories of new startups, EVs hitting the road, and commercial milestones in the autonomous vehicle industry. Yet, it also had its gloomy moments including failed startups, layoffs, and several stunning stories in the autonomous vehicle industry. Cruise had a particularly rough week, resulting in the dismissal of nine top leaders and 900 workers being laid off. At TechCrunch, we cover the future of transportation from EVs and battery tech to electric and hydrogen aviation, autonomous vehicles, micromobility, and in-car tech. We strive to explain not only what’s next, but why it matters and who it might affect. We will be back in the New Year. For anonymous tips, comments, or complaints, click here to contact us. In micromobility news, Superpedestrian has shut down its U.S. operations and is exploring the sale of its European business, leading to the removal of its Link scooters from most markets by the end of 2023. Shared micromobility is a tough business, as shown by the balance sheets of public companies like Bird and Micromobility.com. Scooter company Lime has implemented its own rider assistance tech after Superpedestrian’s announcement, signaling survival. There were several significant deals this week in the transportation space, including investments in sustainable aviation fuel, electric vehicles, EV charging, and more. Notable reads include Tesla’s recall of two million vehicles due to limitations in Autopilot features, Waymo’s expansion of robotaxi services at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, developments in AV regulations in China, deals in the car sharing and gig economy, updates on electric vehicles, batteries, and charging technology, and the entry of Taiwanese electric scooter maker Gogoro into the Indian market.