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More than a month ago, I asked you, dear reader, how you thought EV sales would play out once the $7,500 federal tax credit expired on September 30. The majority of those who responded to the poll predicted that EV sales would fall off a cliff.
Now, it’s too early to tell yet; we are just a few days past the end of the quarter. But the expiring tax credit did give many automakers a bit of a sales bump as consumers raced to buy EVs before the deadline.
Tesla, which has seen sales growth diminish, just registered its best quarter of deliveries ever at 497,099 vehicles. That’s a massive 29% jump from the second quarter, about a 7% increase over the same period last year, and more than it has ever delivered in a single quarter.
Ford Motor, General Motors, and Hyundai also reported record quarterly sales of EVs. Rivian saw deliveries jump to 13,201 vehicles, up from 10,661 and 8,640 in the second and first quarters, respectively.
The looming question is how will automakers navigate a possible slowdown in EV sales in this post-tax credit era? Rivian has already adjusted its guidance down for 2025. Others may follow.
The crux for automakers is how to get rid of inventory as the new 2026 models come in without reducing or eliminating profit margins (and in some cases deepening the losses)?
A little bird
The Department of Energy canceled 321 clean energy projects but wasn’t sharing the details with TechCrunch or the public. Luckily, a little bird shared the complete list of awards the Trump administration had canceled, and the results were revealing.
Altogether, the canceled awards totaled $7.56 billion, with California bearing the brunt, losing $2.2 billion worth of grants, including a $630 million grid-modernization program that could have become a template for the nation. Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Oregon rounded out the top eight, losing between $300 million and $600 million each.
It wasn’t until farther down the list that a red state popped up. Indeed, the majority of projects were sited in states that had voted for Kamala Harris in the last presidential election, something many media outlets reported after Office of Management and Budget chief Russell Vought tweeted as much.
But even in blue states, some awards stuck, possibly due to political connections with the Trump administration or aligned interests. Whatever the case, the move by the DOE suggests the government might be a less reliable partner for businesses, especially small startups.
Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Signal at kkorosec.07, or email Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com.
Deals!
Toyota may not be the first company that springs to mind when one thinks about startups. But perhaps it should be.
The Japanese automaker is committing $1.5 billion in new capital to focus on, and invest in, the life cycle of startups — from the first seeds of an invention through its growth stage and eventually to mature companies.
Toyota has created a strategic investment subsidiary called Toyota Invention Partners Co. with about $670 million in capital, while its growth-stage venture arm Woven Capital launched a second $800 million fund.
I spoke to Woven Capital general partner George Kellerman about Toyota’s capital commitment and its investment strategy. He described Toyota Invention Partners as a bookend of sorts to the company’s other investment organizations. Check out my article to learn why.
Other deals that got my attention …
Remember Einride, the Swedish startup known for its unusual-looking electric and autonomous pods? The company is still plugging along and has now raised $100 million from several new and existing investors, including its largest shareholder, EQT Ventures. The raise included an undisclosed strategic investment from quantum computing company IonQ. It’s worth noting that while $100 million is a lot of coin, it’s far lower than the $500 million in equity and debt it raised a few years ago.
Electroflow, a startup developing a cheaper LFP battery, raised $10 million in a seed round led by Union Square Ventures and Voyager with participation from Fifty Years and Harpoon Ventures.
Flai, a San Francisco-based AI-for-car-dealerships startup, raised a $4.5 million seed round led by Liz Wessel at First Round Capital. YC, RedBlue Capital, Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures, and Innovation Endeavors also joined.
This highly unusual deal is becoming more common under the Trump administration. The Department of Energy took a 5% equity stake in Canadian company Lithium Americas and a 5% stake in its Nevada mining joint venture with General Motors as part of a renegotiation of a $2.26 billion federal loan. This follows the federal government taking equity stakes in Intel and MP Materials.
The U.K. government will guarantee a commercial bank loan of £1.5 billion ($2 billion) for carmaking giant Jaguar Land Rover after a hack forced the company to shut down its production lines and left downstream suppliers at risk of bankruptcy.
Early-stage deep tech fund Wave Function Ventures closed its first fund of $15.1 million. Senior reporter Sean O’Kane profiles its founder Jamie Gull and his path from aerospace engineer to VC.
Notable reads and other tidbits
Two Amazon Prime Air delivery drones collided with the boom of a crane near its same-day site in Tolleson, Arizona — the company’s one commercial location. Federal agencies are investigating, and after a temporary pause, Amazon has restarted the service.
DoorDash has spent years working on an autonomous delivery robot that can navigate roads, bike lanes, and sidewalks. Senior AI reporter Max Zeff spent time with “Dot” and Ashu Rege, a former executive at the Amazon-owned AV company Zoox, who now leads DoorDash’s autonomy division.
Faraday Future still exists and we know this because one of the troubled EV startup’s electric SUVs caught fire at its Los Angeles headquarters, leading to an explosion that blew out part of a wall.
The Trump administration’s crackdown in Chicago is affecting the gig economy, the founder of e-bike subscription startup Whizz tells TechCrunch.
Waymo scored a regulatory win in New York City and received an extension for its testing permit.
WestJet, Canada’s second largest airline, said the personal information of 1.2 million passengers was stolen in a cyberattack and data breach.
Zoox will start mapping the streets of Washington, D.C., as it ramps up to begin testing its self-driving vehicles in the nation’s capital this year.
One more thing …
TechCrunch Disrupt 2025is just a few weeks away. I hope you come and say hi! And yes, there are some noteworthy transportation folks who will be on our stage, including Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana, Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun, Wayve co-founder and CEO Alex Kendall, and Slate CEO Chris Barman.
In the weeks leading up to the event, we’ve been showcasing some of the Startup Battlefield 200 companies, including Hance, a startup working on low energy-consuming, on-device processing that’s already attracted the likes of Intel.
