Testing the Uber-Waymo robotaxi, Rivian goes hands-free, and Travis Kalanick has AV FOMO

March 14, 2025

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Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility!

For regular readers of TechCrunch Mobility, you may be wondering, “Why did this newsletter land in my inbox on Friday?” Folks, we’re moving days in an effort to bring you a more complete rundown of the news of the week.

I spent the last week at SXSW, the annual tech, film, comedy, and music festival in Austin. I recommend scrolling through our live blog to catch up on all the transportation, AI, social media, creator economy — basically tech — news that happened during the conference.

I’ve watched Austin evolve over the years with some good and bad outcomes. Protected bike lanes have been one positive development, which I appreciated as I rode a few Lime scooters and two Mod Bikes e-bikes around the city. Austin is also becoming a hub for autonomous vehicle activity with Avride headquartered there, Zoox testing on public roads, and Waymo launching a commercial robotaxi service.

I was lucky enough to be matched with two Waymo robotaxis — all ride-hails occur through the Uber app, so it’s never a guarantee. I also had one coordinated match courtesy of Waymo. As I wrote earlier this week, it is absolutely wild that Waymo and Uber are working together. Here’s why.

Oh, and here is what I discovered in my Waymo-Uber robotaxi ride. Hint: some updates to the user interface.

A little bird

Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com or my Signal at kkorosec.07, Sean O’Kane at sean.okane@techcrunch.com, or Rebecca Bellan at rebecca.bellan@techcrunch.com. Or check out these instructions to learn how to contact us via encrypted messaging apps or SecureDrop.

Deals!

Senior reporter Sean O’Kane took a deep dive into a new venture firm called Leitmotif that’s been quietly making loads of deals for the past 16 months. The firm, which has funded around 20 startups, broadly focuses on decarbonization with a portfolio that includes EV companies, space and battery plays, and four nuclear fusion startups.

That’s not the interesting part. Here’s what is: All of the money in its fund came from the Volkswagen Group. Check out the full story about why the German automotive giant has committed $300 million to Leitmotif’s first fund.

Other deals that got my attention …

Notable reads and other tidbits

Image Credits:Bryce Durbin

ADAS

Rivian rolled out a hands-free version of its driver-assistance system for highway driving, which founder and CEO RJ Scaringe discussed onstage at SXSW in Austin. The new hands-free feature puts Rivian in competition with Ford and GM, which have similar hands-free systems that control steering, acceleration, and braking under certain conditions and locations.

Autonomous vehicles

Hugging Face teamed up with AI startup Yaak to expand LeRobot — a collection of open AI models, datasets, and tools to help build real-world robotics systems — with a training set to allow robots and cars to navigate environments like city streets autonomously.

Trucks VC general partner Reilly Brennan had an interesting column, Don’t mistake ridehailing for AV ridehailing.

Travis Kalanick, the former CEO of Uber, thinks the company’s decision to abandon its autonomous driving program was a mistake. Reminder: Uber ATG was burning through cash when it was sold to Aurora in 2020.

This week’s wheels

Image Credits:Kirsten Korosec / TechCrunch

This week I tried two e-bikes from Austin-based Mod Bikes. I’ll focus on its newest one, the Groove, which launched earlier this week.

I spent 24 hours with the Groove, an all-electric step-through bike with a souped-up beach cruiser look and feel. The Groove existed before, but Mod Bikes discontinued it. Now it’s back and has been updated throughout, including the frame, battery, torque sensor, smart display, and motor.

The bike itself is sporty and polished with lots of thoughtful details that make the $1,999 price seem like a steal. The design is thoughtful with easy-to-read and easy-to-operate controls and an integrated bike lock that folds neatly on the frame.

The Groove is a throttle and pedal assist bike, and I found it easy to switch between the various modes. I rarely relied on the throttle alone because the assist provided plenty of oomph. The bike has a payload capacity of 275 pounds and reaches a top speed of 28 miles per hour. The Groove has 50 miles of range; however, there is a dual-battery option that pops it up to 100 miles.