Electric Delivery Vans Roll Out Nationwide

Electric delivery vans roll out nationwide

The big news of the week is vans - specifically electric delivery vans - and lots of 'em, with at least three major announcements legitimizing EV trucks from coast-to-coast. Perhaps the biggest announcement of all is that Canoo just closed a deal to sell 4,500 of its space age vans to Walmart. Notable among the terms is an exclusivity clause that prevents the SoCal and Arkansas based startup from selling to Amazon (which may be moot, as the latter company has largely hitched itself to Rivian.) If they have the means to pull this off, we'll call this a coup for Canoo... which has seemingly thrown new ideas at the wall every day, since its energetic launch party a few years back led to no real traction.

Meanwhile, Xos Trucks delivered 58 electric trucks to Merchant Fleets, with more on the way to Zeem Solutions, as the company looks to team up with more and more delivery fleet management groups. One county south, Mullen Automotive cut a deal to deliver 600 EVs to DelPack Logistics, a key Amazon delivery partner. Looks like the electric van revolution is well on its way!

HOT INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP

An IPO any day now? Instacart's IPO has been "around the corner" for a long time now, but the delivery giant just announced some internal shake-ups that suggest the listing may finally be imminent. Among the changes are a slew of C-Suite promotions, and the announcement of the company's first "chief architect."

The Uber Files: few stories have been making the rounds this week quite like a cache of documents elucidating some of the tactics the mobility juggernaut used in its Travis K days. While the overarching story is no surprise, insights into particulars like how the company paid academics to create flattering research, may be more damaging for the counter-parties involved... (And if you want more insights into Uber's past, don't miss Harry's interview with the company's former CBO.)

The market's next bite? It's a tough time for ghost kitchen and virtual restaurant operators, as Softbank-backed Nextbite cuts its headcount. And the recent implosion of ghost kitchen operator Butler offers another cautionary tale. On the long suffering instant delivery side of things, Gopuff also just announced its shedding 10% of its staff and closing 76 distribution centers.

Some deliciously good news! But all is not lost for the sector, especially players that really nail their fundamentals. Case in point, Ziki (you may remember their tasty fusion cuisine at Curbivore '22) just announced a $6.75M seed round, led by Gigafund.

Grocery delivery stalls out... After VC-fueled hyper growth, consumers are curbing their appetites when it comes to grocery delivery. Bricks Meets Clicks just released data showing quarterly sales only grew 1% compared to 2021, sitting at a cushy $22.4 billion dollars. We suspect rising prices may be pushing consumers to cut out convenience fees and delivery surcharges where they can, as grocery prices are up as much as 11% in major cities.

A train load of transit news: Austin reveals the look of its new subway stations, as the Texan capital moves ahead with plans to get urbanites out of cars and onto the curb. Meanwhile in Southern California, officials announce new funding to bring improvements to the regional Metrolink train system - hinting at trains as frequently as every 30 minutes (which would be lousy in any other country, but top notch for American commuter rail...) And across the country, transit operators are struggling to stop unruly behavior and aid growing unhoused populations and, all while trying to avoid unnecessary interactions with law enforcement.

Poppin' off! Friend of the curb Populus is selected by Chicago to serve as the city's data management partner, as the windy city doubles down on scooters and curb management.

Not so fast, Emily... A recent NYT piece making the rounds got urbanists excited, as it proclaimed the "last days of the suburban office park." Enticing as that may be, it's worth considering that the two examples highlighted were in the greater Chicago and New York City regions, two metropolitans areas that have had rather slow economic growth the past few years. The suburban office markets may be cooling off there, but in fast growing regions like Dallas and Atlanta, that's where all the action still is. Even in other dense regions like San Francisco, the highest office rents are still found outside of the city proper. Whatever your own personal preference in the burbs vs city debate is, it's vital to understand the ground truth when making plans, from both a public and private sector angle...
 

Nothing new: Car brain has addled the United States for a very long time. Above is a 1959 proposal to turn underutilized parts of the New York City Subway into... parking garages.

What else... NYC plans to ban ebikes from public housing, in a slap to the face of the working poor. Serve Robotics exec opines on the sad state of AI. LA unveils beautiful new bridge, but naturally cheaps out on the bicycle infrastructure. Nashville celebrates one year of street and sidewalk investments. LA-based FooDoo takes the delivery / ghost kitchen model to a vending machine sized scale. Metropolis' CEO shares the future of parking.

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-Jonah Bliss & The Curbivore Crew