BY AUTOMOTIVE VENTURES | AUG 14 2023 | VIEW ONLINE ➡️

Introducing our latest investment out of the Automotive Ventures DealerFund: Treehouse, a startup that delivers turnkey installations for home EV charging. Treehouse is the only installer to provide a guaranteed upfront price that they stand behind. Treehouse provides a home charging solution that allows EV owners to get an estimate in under two minutes and bundle home charging installation with the purchase of the best charger for each individual's budget and needs.  Instant pricing allows home charging to be integrated directly into the vehicle loan, reducing barriers to affordability for home charging. Treehouse also automates permit documentation and has a proprietary network of electricians, enabling the company to deliver an elevated experience by managing the customer journey from end to end. We believe that the power of transparent charger installation pricing is going to change how consumers shop for and buy EVs. Treehouse is removing a barrier to EV ownership and will make it easier for millions of consumers across the country to switch to EVs. 

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EV share of the new-vehicle market flattened out at 7.1 percent across the first half of the year after growing steadily in 2021 and 2022. (💲Link)

Is it cheaper to refuel your EV battery or gas tank? In all 50 states, it’s cheaper for the everyday American to fill up with electrons — and much cheaper in some regions such as the Pacific Northwest, with low electricity rates and high gas prices. (💲Link)Ford expects to incorporate more and better software into the trucks and vans in its highly profitable Ford Pro commercial vehicle business and grow revenues by $4,000-$5,000 per vehicle in the future. Ford will look to boost revenue with software- and data-driven fleet services, safety and security services, partial vehicle autonomy and insurance. (💲Link)GM plans to add bi-directional vehicle-to-home (V2H) charging capabilities to its next-generation fleet of Ultium battery-powered electric vehicles. Like similar tech found in the Ford F-150 Lightning, the new feature means you'll soon be able to power your home with your electrically powered GM vehicle, provided you have the right equipment installed in your home. GM says the technology will be available across its portfolio of EVs by 2026. (Link)

The average weight of a new vehicle sold in the US last year was a whopping 4,329 pounds. That’s over 1,000 pounds higher than the average in 1980, and up about 175 pounds in just the last three years. Essentially, more than a third of the average American car has been added in the past 40 years, a trend now exacerbated by the switch to electric models. (💲Link)Elon Musk's The Boring Company plans to build out an underground transportation system in Las Vegas featuring 81 stations and 68 miles of tunnels. (Link)Elon Musk's brain chip startup Neuralink has raised $280 million, months after securing approval for its first in-human clinical trial. (💲Link)Tesla is seeking nearly $100 million from the U.S. government to build nine electric semi-truck charging stations along a route from the southern border of Texas to northern California. (💲Link)

McKinsey notes 15 "Technology Trends" for 2023. (Link)California regulators voted to allow self-driving car companies Waymo and Cruise to offer 24/7 paid taxi service in San Francisco. (💲Link)John Bozzella warns that proposed rules from the EPA mandating two-thirds of new vehicles sold be battery-electric vehicles by 2032 risks driving the industry deeper into the arms of China, and that the industry should not count on future revisions of the rule. (Link)

New EU regulations cover the entire lifecycle of a battery, from the mined materials through to their recycling at the end of life. To lessen the impact of initial manufacturing, there are requirements for more recycled content in the batteries but also targets for how much lithium (50% by 2027, 80% by 2031) and cobalt, copper, lead, and nickel (90% by 2027 and 95% by 2031) must be recovered from waste batteries. (Link)

EV maker VINFAST plans to start trading on the Nasdaq this week. The deal values the company at about $23 billion. (💲Link)Watch this manual transmission Lamborghini Gallardo hit 198 MPH on the Autobahn. (Link)

A handy Micromobility competitive landscape graphic from Augustin Friedel. (Link)The North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Association (NABSA) has released their "2022 Shared Micromobility State of the Industry Report." (Link)Cleaning up flying is a mission of improbable scale: Neutralize the carbon emissions of about 25,000 planes in the world’s commercial fleet that typically ferry some 4 billion people a year and burn close to 100 billion gallons of jet kerosene. Some $5 trillion of capital investment may be needed to deliver on aviation’s goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, almost all of it plowed into sustainable fuel production and renewable power generation, according to McKinsey. It's a mountain of money so large it could wipe out global airline revenue for the best part of a decade. (Link)Have a great week,Steve Greenfield

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🎤  I will be the MC at next month's National Auto Auction Association (NAAA) World Remarketing Convention. (Link)

🗞️ On this week's Future of Automotive segment on CBT News I share the latest investment out of our DealerFund: Treehouse, the company helping dealers get EV chargers installed for their customers. (💲Link)🎤  I am a speaker at next month's International Automotive Remarketing Alliance (IARA) Summer Roundtable in Chicago. (Link)🎤  I will be the MC at next month's DrivingSales Executive Summit. (Link)

🌟 LeadVantage offers software tools that help car dealers convert more leads with less effort, powered by ChatGPT. (Link)

🌟 Skyline Robotics Skyline Robotics is focused on building robots that automate the task of window washing on skyscrapers. (Link)

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