Is it me, or is the Tesla board being a bit extra these days as it tries to convince shareholders to vote in favor of relocating the company to Texas and to approve CEO Elon Musk’s $56 billion pay deal? Perhaps that’s because the board is worried neither measure will pass. Tesla board chair Robyn Denholm told the Financial Times that the company needs to climb “Mount Everest” to win over shareholders ahead of an annual meeting on June 13.
The result has been a parade of appeals and additional proxy materials that make the pitch for the controversial pay deal that — reminder! — was struck down in January by a Delaware court.
During a trip to Dubai, Singh opened up the BluSmart ride-hailing app and discovered the India-based company had quietly launched a service in the United Arab Emirates’ most populous city.
Rumors that BluSmart was planning to set up shop in Dubai and Abu Dhabi has swirled for months. After spotting the new service area, TechCrunch received confirmation from BluSmart co-founder Anmol Jaggi that a pilot started Tuesday, with 100 Audi E-Tron SUVs and 130 drivers in the city. The formal launch will be in early June, he said.
Harbinger, a startup building medium-duty electric commercial vehicle chassis, has had my interest since I visited the Southern California-based headquarters earlier this year. The market opportunity to electrify medium-duty vehicles has always seemed like a bit of a no-brainer to me since the segment covers such a wide swath, from school buses and RVs to delivery vans and emergency response vehicles.
And it seems the interest — at least in Harbinger’s chassis — is high. The company announced this week at the ACT Expo that it has locked in $400 million of binding vehicle preorders from customers, including a multi-year order from Bimbo Bakeries USA, the U.S. business of Grupo Bimbo. Thor Industries, the recreational vehicle manufacturer behind brands Airstream, Jayco, Tiffin and Thor Motor Coach, also placed an order.
