E2: EV Companies Take PPP Loans, Virgin Australia collapses, Levandowski v. Uber

Inside Transportation

This is episode two of the Inside Transportation podcast. This podcast was made possible by Ford Motor Company (www.ford.com) and Fenwick (www.fenwick.com). Featuring Jason Calacanis (Angel investor, LAUNCH, Inside.com) and Johan Moreno (Inside.com). Subscribe to Inside Transportation newsletter: inside.com/transportation Subscribe to Inside Electric Vehicles newsletter: inside.com/evs Recorded on April 21, 2020. SHOW NOTES -- SEGMENT 1: 2:42 — Electric vehicle startups receive PPP loans As thousands of small business owners struggle to pay rent and keep their employees on staff, two high-profile electric vehicle startups have applied and received Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA). Faraday Future received a $9.1 million dollar loan from the program, which is close to the $10 million ceiling allowed by the program. Workhorse Group has also received a $1.4 million loan, which the company will use to cover payroll costs. THE VERGE: https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/20/21228241/faraday-future-loan-ev-startup-sba-ppp-workhorse-lucid-motors-rivian SEGMENT 2: 14:55 — Virgin Australia collapses, Richard Brandon puts up island as collateral Virgin Australia is the latest airline casualty, amid COVID-19 related drops in revenue, as the company has entered voluntary administration. Administrators at Deloitte have taken control of the airline and are looking to restructure the business and find a new owner. More than 10 groups have expressed an interest in the airline. BLOOMBERG: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-20/virgin-australia-collapses-as-airline-calls-in-administrators-k992yqn6 SEGMENT 3: 30:15 — Uber does not want to pay for Anthony Levandowski’s legal fees Uber says it is not responsible for paying a $179 million fine that was levied on a former employee, embattled self-driving technology engineer Anthony Levandowski. He recently pled guilty to stealing trade secrets from Waymo, before he started his own company Otto. TECHCRUNCH: https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/20/uber-argues-fraud-absolves-it-from-paying-star-engineers-179m-fine-to-google/ SEGMENT 4: 39:00 — Tesla is building another production facility and the race is on to figure out where it will be located Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the new production facility will focus on Cybertruck and Model Y production for the East Coast, saying the plant would be located in the central U.S. The automaker has been linked to two locations: the Austin, Texas area and the Nashville, Tennessee area. Joplin, Missouri is offering Tesla a $1 billion incentive package to be the location of Tesla’s next U.S. production facility. Jason is putting his money on Austin, while Johan thinks the next facility will be in Tennessee. REUTERS: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-gigafactory/tesla-scouting-central-u-s-for-new-factory-musk-says-idUSKBN20Y04V SEGMENT 5: 48:15 — Dope or Nope — Virgin Trains, backed by Fortress Investment Group, is building a high-speed rail between Las Vegas and the city of Victorville, California, which is about 85 miles away from Downtown LA. LA TIMES: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-03-25/las-vegas-high-speed-train-project-moving-after-delays — The look of Subaru’s new electric vehicle that is jointly being developed with Toyota — the Evoltis ELECTREK: https://electrek.co/2020/04/20/all-electric-subaru-evoltis-with-oddball-design-to-be-unveiled-in-2021/