Tesla contracted Mapbox for a $5 million project a couple years back. Their main product, Mapbox Drive, draws data from multiple mapping sources and can be installed into the dashboards of modern vehicles. In a filing with the SEC, Tesla did not get more specific than calling it a “vehicle map-related project.”
Rather than using a fleet of vehicles like TomTom or Here to build their maps, they rely on GPS data garnered from phones. Last June, Forbes reported the company was planning to have its software installed in an undisclosed auto manufacturing partner’s vehicles by the end of 2016. It was not clear if that was Tesla, but given the deal between them it’s definitely an educated guess.
They have raised $62.8 million according to Crunchbase including from Tesla investor DLB Partners. DFJ Grwoth, the Foundry Group, Thrive Capital, Pritzker, Janis Krums, Promus Ventures, and Jon Winkelried are also on their list of financial backers. Their challenge will be to continue fostering relationships with manufacturers even as they become weary about software companies from Silicon Valley trying to cut into their business.
“The big tech giants want to own the relationship with the consumer,” Mapbox Co-Founder and CEO Eric Gundersen told Forbes last year. “We want to empower car companies to own the relationship with the driver.
Voor mij zo klaar als een klontje........op korte termijn geen HD-maps van TT in de Tesla maar eenvoudige maps van MapBox........weliswaar deels gebaseerd op basis kaartmateriaal van TT. Maar dat is gerommel in de marge. Dan maar hopen dat de RRS van Bosch-TT nog iets voor Tesla kan betekenen op korte termijn.