Kirsten Korosec, TechCrunch's transportation editor and author of The Station newsletter, dives deep into the electric vehicle landscape. She unpacks the surprising reasons behind EV companies choosing SPACs, revealing potential fraud issues lurking beneath the surface. The conversation shifts to Bird's scooter model and its pandemic-induced economic adjustments. Kirsten also shares her latest insights on executive exits at Waymo, hinting at challenges ahead for the autonomous vehicle pioneer in achieving widespread driverless tech.
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question_answer ANECDOTE
Nikola's Downfall
Nikola became synonymous with SPAC hype, initially claiming to be the "next iPhone".
However, investigations revealed exaggerations and potential fraud, leading to a significant drop in valuation.
insights INSIGHT
Why EV Startups Use SPACs
Electric vehicle startups require substantial capital (around $1 billion) to build production facilities.
SPACs offer a streamlined fundraising method compared to traditional routes, hence their popularity.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Lordstown Motors' Troubles
Lordstown Motors, backed by General Motors, faced SEC investigation for misleading investors about their progress.
Their stock price declined significantly after SPACing in October.
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This is our Wednesday show, where we niche down to a single topic and go deep. This time Natasha and Alex corralled TechCrunch transportation editor Kirsten Korosec to talk to us about the endless parade of EV SPACs, and more. Before we get into the show notes, you can follow Equity on Twitter here.
And, because we are proud, we won a Webby! Our show! How cool is that? Thank you for love listening, hate listening, all of it. We are so thankful.
Ok, here's what we talked about:
Why is every electric vehicle company going public via a SPAC, and why is there so much potential fraud in the space? Kirsten has some notes on the matter, but it boils down to money in both cases.
The Bird-SPAC deal in all its glory. You can read Alex and Kirsten's dive into the Bird investor deck here. We had questions like why was the shared scooter model ever considered viable, and, how did the company improve its economics during a pandemic? The SPAC world never, ever disappoints.
Of course, we couldn't resist talking about the scooter barrage of news from years ago and how things have changed since.
We end with her latest scoop, a series of exits at Waymo, and what that means for the future of the autonomous vehicle company. Plus, we didn't get to make a joke about it in the show but let's just say: Waymo has a waymore to go before it has driverless tech all over the streets.
And one more thing: Kirsten gives a look at some of the speakers at our upcoming mobility event. Snag tickets here, and subscribe to her newsletter, The Station, for all things mobility every week.
And that's that! We are back with our regular weekly news rundown Friday morning. Chat you all then!
Credits: Equity is produced by Theresa Loconsolo with editing by Kell. Bryce Durbin is our Illustrator. We'd also like to thank the audience development team and Henry Pickavet, who manages TechCrunch audio products.
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