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Swedish electric car maker Polestaris the latest company planning a deal to go public through a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) . A deal with Gores Guggenheim Inc will raise a whopping $20 billion. As a result, Polestar gains three times its projected revenues for 2023.

Some history and context. Polestar is jointly owned by Volvo Cars and Chinese auto company Geely. Following the success of the Polestar 1 and 2 EVs, the company raised in April $550 million in external funding and plans to build the Polestar 3 SUV at Volvo’s U.S. plant,  in the second half of 2022.

The also company plans to launch two additional new models by 2024, and expand its global distribution footprint to 30 markets by 2023.

Okay, so what’s a SPAC?

A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) is a shell company formed explicitly to raise money through an IPO, in order to acquire an existing company. Investors also call them “blank check companies.”

(FYI: An IPO is an initial public offering where a company offers shares for the first time to raise money from public investors.)

A SPAC provides no commercial operations. They make no products and sell nothing. A SPAC typically has two years to complete an acquisition, or they must return their funds to investors.

SPACs are generally formed by investors focused or experienced with a particular sector who are closely knowledgeable about trends and tech.

What’s the big deal?

SPACs have grown in popularity over the last few years. According to Pitchbook , Q1 2021 saw 325 SPAC deals issued, compared to 276 deals in 2020 and 83 in 2019.

And a lot of these deals have been taking place in the mobility industry.

2020 saw over 26 mobility companies merge with SPACS, including Virgin Galactic , and Nikola Motor Co. Some other big players were LiDAR companies:  Aeva, Innoviz, Luminar, Ouster , and Velodyne AEye. This year has also seen numerous SPACS not only by Polestar,  but also by eVTOL companies like Archer aviation, Joby, and Lilium, and battery recycler Li-Cycle .

What are the advantages of a SPAC?

In short, SPACs are a faster way for late-stage mobility companies to access public markets. That way, they can raise more money than with traditional VC or investor fundraising.

Plus, SPACs are less scrutinized in terms of financial reporting and investor analysis than traditional IPOs. According to Crestbridge , selling to a SPAC can add up to 20% to the sale price compared to a typical private equity deal.

What are the downsides to a SPAC?

But it’s not all good news. Senior analysts at Pitchbook, Asad Hussain and Cameron Stanfill, did a comprehensive Pitchbook of mobility SPACs .

They note that companies can be over-hyped and receive heavy investment without scrutiny. For example, battery tech company QuantumScape obtained a valuation of $19.3 billion. This was despite not being expected to generate any meaningful revenue until 2025.

Hydrogen trucking company Nikolahas maintained a valuation of more than $6.5 billion, despite multiple allegations of fraud and misleading SPAC investors . The company is under investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Hussain and Stanfill note:

Baris Guzel, Partner at BMWiVentures , keeps a running spreadsheet of mobility SPACs . He asserts on Medium that:

Urgh, remember ICOs ?

SPACs highlight the challenge of mobility fundraising

Fundraising is not always easy without a product. Especially if you’re operating in stealth mode. Many companies provide not much more than a CGI video simulation of their finished product, and a model which may not even be functional or life-sized .

But you could also concede that the absence of an actual product has never stopped investors from putting up money in companies before.

What the vast majority of mobility companies do possess is credibility. Most founders come from within the industry. There’s a lot of companies that are university spinoffs or employ highly knowledgeable academics.

But they’re dealing with products that could end up dead if poorly handled on the road or in the sky. It’s understandable that they are slow burners rather than fast to market.

Companies are forming partnerships and alliances and convergence (especially in battery tech). Thus, the hope of a great return on investment (ROI) remains the goal of savvy investors.

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AirTags let you find your keys and… help criminals steal your car

When Apple launched its AirTags in June , I got rather excited — finally, I could connect my iPhone with a device to track my keys and wallet. As someone who constantly looses their stuff (yes, I know, shame on me), I was easily sold.

But did I ever stop to think whether someone could use an AirTag to steal my car? Nope, but apparently that’s a thing now.

Last week, the Canadian police announced that criminals have been using a new method to track and steal high-end vehicles: yep, AirTags .

In fact, in the last three months, officers have identified five such incidents across the York Region in Ontario.

According to the police investigation, the car thieves are using a five-step “Grand Theft Auto” plan.

Step 1 : They place the AirTags in out-of-sight areas of the target vehicle while it’s parked in public places, such as malls and parking lots.

For example, they can be placed in this inconspicuous power socket.

Credit: York Regional Police

Step 2: Then they can track the vehicle to the victim’s residence.

Step 3: They typically use screwdrivers to enter the car’s driver or passenger door — while making sure not to set off the alarm, of course.

Step 4: Once inside the car, they connect a reprogramming device (I don’t know what kind, but I found a lot on Amazon ) to the onboard diagnostics port below the dashboard, and reprogram the vehicle to accept a key the thieves have brought with them.

Step 5: They start the vehicle and drive away. Say goodbye to your car.

Not necessarily.

Before you go an an angry rant against Tim Cook, remember it’s not like the AirTags are the world’s first location tracking device that can connect with your phone. Criminals have had the tools for a while now.

If anything, AirTags are actually less useful for nefarious purposes. To avoid potential misuses, Apple offers two safety features to alert you of unattended (as in, not your own) AirTags around you.

First up, the AirTags beep at random intervals between eight and 24 hours if they’re separated from their owner.

Secondly, you can actually detect a “lost” AirTag traveling with you, but only if you have an iPhone — at least for the time being.

But while the features are good, they aren’t bulletproof — as some unfortunate Canadian car owners have found out.

So yes, Apple could a do a bit more to secure the AirTags’ privacy, especially given the size and scale of the Find My network they’re using.

To be fair, the use of technology for criminal actions isn’t a specific Apple problem. The same way you can’t blame your email provider if you fall for a phishing scam.

The thing is, that the more advanced tech we get, the more creative criminals become to stay one step ahead.

I mean, think about it: if you were the victim of an AirTag car theft, you would have lost your car with the help of a device that’s designed to help you find things. There’s a poetic irony in there.

Still, it’s not like we can live in a world without technology, so we might as well take some precautions when it comes to tech-related theft instances — for example, of our cars.

The Canadian police listed some tips vehicle owners could follow to make sure that they don’t fall victims of similar car thefts.

You could try very simple things like parking your car inside a locked garage or inspecting it regularly for any suspicious devices. You could even take it one step further and install a lock on the data port to block access to outsiders.

Now could I be bothered to do those things? Probably not. But better safe than sorry, I guess.

BYD’s electric school bus will feed electricity back to classrooms

Earlier in June, Chinese EV automaker BYD officially introduced its new electric Type D school bus, available in the US i n lengths of 10.6, 11.6, and 12 meters, and capable of carrying up to 84 passengers.

Most notably, the school bus enables bi-directional charging. According to the company, the bus can be charged overnight when energy demand is low, and feed clean energy back to the school during school hours. That way, while the bus is parked, classrooms can be lit and teachers and students plugged-in.

The bus features a lithium iron phosphate battery and has a range of roughly 250 kilometers on a single charge. That’s 57km more than the electric school buses of Blue Bird Corporation, one of the biggest industry players, can go.

BYD is also focusing on safety as its top priority. For this reason, the bus has features including electronic stability control to aid handling, a collision avoidance system, and a 360-degree monitoring system to detect pedestrians and cyclists around the bus.

Moreover, the bus is equipped with what BYD calls “ Predictive Stop Arm,” which monitors oncoming traffic and notifies students when it’s not safe to cross.

There are also IMMI’S Safeguard 3-point lap-shoulder belts, integrated child seats, and portable restraints. “These school bus seats are not only designed to keep children safer, but they have the benefits of improving behavior, reducing bullying, and minimizing driver distraction,” the automaker claims.

Although it’s unclear when and where BYD’s new ebuses will debut, the announcement comes in perfect sync with President Biden’s EV infrastructure scheme and especially his plan to eventually electrify all school buses in the US.

It’s interesting that in April BYD, which claims that it represents 40% of the US manufacturing capacity for battery electric buses, officially declared its support for the Biden Administration’s plans and applauded the goal of transit and school bus electrification.

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