Kinetic deploys robots to repair electric cars, and one day robotaxis

As demand for electric vehicles continues to rise in the United States, the growth rate of sales of less-polluting cars has slowed in 2024, in part due to the high cost of insurance and repairs for new models highly technical.

A 2024 study by JD Power found that, despite climate benefits, only 26% of U.S. car buyers were “very likely to consider purchasing” an electric vehicle next year, and more than 20% were “very unlikely to consider a purchase.” EV purchase” at all.

That’s where Santa Ana, California-based startup Kinetic Automation comes in. By providing diagnostics and recalibration of high-tech systems in modern vehicles, the company hopes to reduce costs associated with electric vehicle ownership and repairs.

The startup, which employs about 40 people full-time, has developed a robotic system that uses computer vision and machine learning software to quickly diagnose problems with a vehicle’s digital systems.

Nikhil Naikal, CEO and co-founder of Kinetic, explained that many new models, especially battery-electric models, come with features like touchscreens and robust infotainment software, as well as a variety of cameras and sensors that enable everything from fast charging to driver. safety features including forward collision avoidance, lane keeping and adaptive cruise control.

Today’s collision repair industry is well equipped to handle most physical repairs like replacing a broken bumper, broken windshield, brakes and paint or adjusting the alignment. But for many collision repair centers and car dealerships, making sure all sensors, software and computers are working properly can be time-consuming and expensive.

Kinetic puts its robotic systems and technicians to work helping these workshops and dealerships solve the finicky, “digital” aspects of customers’ cars.

Here’s how it works: A customer’s car arrives at one of Kinetic’s service bays, where it is scanned from bumper to fender with machine vision sensors, some on a robotic arm that monitors the above the vehicle.

The analysis determines which systems need to be programmed accurately or require recalibration. Then, the Kinetic software, which is connected to the vehicle’s systems, will initiate and track the completion of these fixes.

The company built its first four service centers in Las Vegas and Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties in California.

To fuel its growth, Kinetic raised $21 million in a Series B venture funding round led by Menlo Ventures, joined by Allstate Strategic Ventures, Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures and the company’s early investors , Lux Capital, Construct Capital and Haystack Ventures.

Menlo Ventures partner Shawn Carolan, who invested in Uber and Jump Bikes, said collision companies and auto dealerships that had worked with Kinetic as pilot customers helped convince his company to lead the deal.

“They were saying, ‘This reduced our cycle time by several days.’ Or ‘We got cars back to customers faster and cheaper’ and ‘It made my life a lot easier,'” he explained. “So we knew this was already solving a huge problem.”

Before starting Kinetic with his co-founders, COO Chris Weber and CTO Sander Marques, Naikal worked as vice president of software engineering at Velodyne, a company that made lidar sensors that allowed robots, drones and autonomous vehicles to detect and avoid objects in their environment. surrounding environment. Velodyne merged with Ouster in 2023.

Weber previously worked as an operations manager at Uber, while Marques is a veteran technology entrepreneur whose previous company developed motor control modules for high-performance vehicles.

Kinetic will one day provide its services to robo-taxi fleets, Naikal said, as well as owners of other autonomous vehicles. But for now, the startup is focused on hiring, training technicians and building out its service centers across the United States to handle a higher volume of auto repairs, particularly electric vehicles which represent a greater share of cars on American roads each year. .

Until now, Kinetic has mainly worked on Ford Chewed up, General manager Chevrolet Bolt, Hyundai Ioniq electric vehicles and some Teslas in its existing service centers, the CEO said.

Market research firm Canalys forecasts that combined sales of plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles will reach 2.2 million units in 2024 in North America, representing approximately 12.5% ​​of all vehicle sales new in the region.

“Car insurance for electric vehicles, and across the board, has been a major contributor to inflation rising by around 20% when looking at the Consumer Price Index over the past 12 months ” said Naikal. “I would like to hope that we can gain a few points while making people more comfortable by going electric.”