Aeva Technologies Inc (AEVA) 2023 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day. My name is Jen, and I will be your conference facilitator. I would like to welcome everyone to Aeva Technologies' Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded and simultaneously webcast.

再會。我叫 Jen，我將成為你們的會議主持人。我謹歡迎大家參加 Aeva Technologies 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。 （操作員說明）謹此提醒，今天的電話會議正在錄製並同時進行網絡直播。

I would now like to turn the call over to Andrew Fung, Director of Investor Relations. Andrew, please go ahead.

我現在想把電話轉給投資者關係總監馮安德魯 (Andrew Fung)。安德魯，請繼續。

Thank you, and welcome, everyone, to Aeva's Second Quarter 2023 Earnings Conference Call. Joining on the call today are Soroush Salehian, Aeva's Co-Founder and CEO; and Saurabh Sinha, Aeva's CFO.

謝謝並歡迎大家參加 Aeva 2023 年第二季度收益電話會議。今天參加電話會議的還有 Aeva 聯合創始人兼首席執行官 Soroush Salehian；以及 Aeva 首席財務官 Saurabh Sinha。

Ahead of this call, we issued our second quarter 2023 press release and presentation, which we will refer to today and can be found on our Investor Relations website at investors.aeva.com. Please note that on this call, we will be making forward-looking statements based on current expectations and assumptions, which are subject to risks and uncertainties. These statements reflect our views only as of today and should not be relied upon as representative of our views as of any subsequent date.

在此次電話會議之前，我們發布了2023 年第二季度新聞稿和演示文稿，我們今天將參考這些新聞稿和演示文稿，您可以在我們的投資者關係網站Investors.aeva.com 上找到這些新聞稿和演示文稿。請注意，在本次電話會議中，我們將根據當前的預期和假設做出前瞻性陳述，這些預期和假設存在風險和不確定性。這些聲明僅反映我們今天的觀點，不應被視為代表我們在任何後續日期的觀點。

These statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. For a further discussion of the material risks and other important factors that could affect our financial results, please refer to our filings with the SEC, including our most recent Form 10-Q and Form 10-K.

這些陳述受到各種風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與預期存在重大差異。有關可能影響我們財務業績的重大風險和其他重要因素的進一步討論，請參閱我們向 SEC 提交的文件，包括我們最新的表格 10-Q 和表格 10-K。

In addition, during today's call, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures, which we believe are useful as supplemental measures of Aeva's performance. These non-GAAP measures should be considered in addition to and not as a substitute for or in isolation from GAAP results. The webcast replay of this call will be available on our company website under the Investor Relations link.

此外，在今天的電話會議中，我們將討論非 GAAP 財務指標，我們認為這些指標可作為 Aeva 業績的補充指標。這些非公認會計原則措施應作為公認會計原則結果的補充，而不是替代或孤立於公認會計原則結果。本次電話會議的網絡直播重播將在我們公司網站的投資者關係鏈接下提供。

And with that, let me turn the call over to Soroush.

接下來，讓我把電話轉給索魯什。

Thank you, Andrew, and good afternoon, everyone. Aeva in Q2 continued to make good progress on the path towards commercializing our unique 4D LiDAR-on-Chip technology. I am excited by developments with existing collaborations as well as new opportunities and would like to highlight our key accomplishments, which are summarized on Slide 4.

謝謝你，安德魯，大家下午好。第二季度，Aeva 在將我們獨特的 4D LiDAR 片上技術商業化的道路上繼續取得良好進展。我對現有合作的發展以及新機遇感到興奮，並想強調我們的主要成就，這些成就在幻燈片 4 中進行了總結。

First, our collaboration with a top 10 OEM is going very well. We are deepening our engagements and integrating further into their AV stack. In Q2, we signed a strategic collaboration agreement where Aeva would provide our perception stack as well as jointly work with the OEM on neural network-based machine learning models in order to optimize the OEM's AV stack and achieve important use cases that previously challenged 3D time-of-flight LiDAR. In addition, the OEM has decided to expand its on-road deployment with Aeva 4D LiDAR on the back of the milestones we have delivered.

首先，我們與排名前十的整車廠的合作進展順利。我們正在深化我們的合作並進一步集成到他們的 AV 堆棧中。在第二季度，我們簽署了一項戰略合作協議，Aeva 將提供我們的感知堆棧，並與 OEM 共同開發基於神經網絡的機器學習模型，以優化 OEM 的 AV 堆棧並實現之前挑戰 3D 時間的重要用例飛行激光雷達。此外，在我們實現里程碑的基礎上，OEM 還決定擴大 Aeva 4D LiDAR 的道路部署。

Second, I'm happy to share that Aeva secured our first win in rail with Railergy, a leading supplier of railway automation solutions, including to Europe's largest freight carrier. Aeva's 4D LiDAR was selected due to our unique velocity data that delivers superior perception capabilities compared to the conventional 3D LiDAR supplier we will replace.

其次，我很高興與大家分享，Aeva 與 Railergy 取得了鐵路領域的首個勝利，Railergy 是鐵路自動化解決方案的領先供應商，客戶包括歐洲最大的貨運公司。之所以選擇 Aeva 的 4D LiDAR，是因為我們獨特的速度數據與我們將取代的傳統 3D LiDAR 供應商相比，能夠提供卓越的感知能力。

And third, we reached critical milestones with our industrial automation partners that keep us on track for a 2024 SOP, including the validation of the LiDAR-on-Chip module for the first industrial product by Nikon and progressing on track with our development milestones with SICK AG.

第三，我們與工業自動化合作夥伴達成了重要里程碑，使我們能夠朝著 2024 年 SOP 的目標邁進，包括驗證尼康首款工業產品的片上激光雷達模塊，以及與 SICK 一起實現開發里程碑股份公司。

I would now like to provide more color on our recent business developments, which begin on Slide 6. This past quarter, we significantly deepened our collaboration with a top 10 OEM on a number of fronts. The first is around perception software. We signed a strategic collaboration agreement to provide Aeva's perception stack built around our unique velocity data to help the OEM safely operate under important use cases. We will also jointly work on neural network-based machine learning models, incorporating data from Aeva's 4D LiDAR to optimize the performance of the overall AV stack.

我現在想對我們最近的業務發展提供更多信息，這些發展從幻燈片 6 開始。上個季度，我們在多個方面顯著加深了與排名前 10 的 OEM 的合作。第一個是關於感知軟件。我們簽署了一項戰略合作協議，提供 Aeva 圍繞我們獨特的速度數據構建的感知堆棧，以幫助 OEM 在重要用例下安全運行。我們還將共同開發基於神經網絡的機器學習模型，結合 Aeva 4D LiDAR 的數據來優化整個 AV 堆棧的性能。

As mentioned last quarter, Aeva's FMCW technology successfully enabled a key safety use case for highway driving that this OEM was unable to achieve previously with 3D time-of-flight LiDAR. Through our ongoing work, we have been able to demonstrate additional ways how FMCW's advantages over time-of-flight, such as direct velocity measurement and long range without the need to push high optical power enables new levels of perception that can help the OEM more reliably achieve their high standards for performance and safety.

正如上季度提到的，Aeva 的 FMCW 技術成功實現了高速公路駕駛的關鍵安全用例，而該 OEM 之前無法通過 3D 飛行時間 LiDAR 實現這一點。通過我們正在進行的工作，我們已經能夠通過其他方式展示 FMCW 相對於飛行時間的優勢，例如直接速度測量和遠距離測量，而無需提高高光功率，從而實現新的感知水平，從而幫助 OEM 更多可靠地達到性能和安全的高標準。

To provide an example, by leveraging velocity for every pixel, Aeva's Ultra Resolution differentiates stationary from dynamic points and brings camera-level resolution that can be up to 20x that of the conventional resolution. As a result, our LiDAR can detect small hazardous objects like a tire fragment at outwards of 50% greater range. And because we can instantly measure the velocity for every pixel, Aeva can more quickly and confidently classify objects as compared to 3D time-of-flight LiDARs that require multiple frames and points to infer velocity.

舉個例子，通過利用每個像素的速度，Aeva 的超分辨率可以區分靜態點和動態點，並帶來相機級分辨率，最高可達傳統分辨率的 20 倍。因此，我們的 LiDAR 可以在 50% 的範圍外檢測輪胎碎片等小型危險物體。由於我們可以立即測量每個像素的速度，因此與需要多個幀和點來推斷速度的 3D 飛行時間 LiDAR 相比，Aeva 可以更快、更自信地對物體進行分類。

Perception capability like this is critical to safely operate an application such as highway automation. We're thrilled that the OEM has decided to further leverage Aeva to accelerate development of perception software to enable its highway speed autonomy use cases.

像這樣的感知能力對於安全操作高速公路自動化等應用程序至關重要。我們很高興 OEM 決定進一步利用 Aeva 來加速感知軟件的開發，以實現其高速公路速度自動駕駛用例。

The second is that as we continue to achieve perception and development milestones, the OEM has decided to expand on-road deployment with our LiDAR further into 2024. This includes plans for additional vehicles equipped with Aeva 4D LiDAR that will be used to validate our perception software and overall AV stack in order to bring it to market.

第二個是，隨著我們不斷實現感知和開發里程碑，OEM 決定將我們的 LiDAR 的道路部署進一步擴大到 2024 年。這包括計劃增加配備 Aeva 4D LiDAR 的車輛，用於驗證我們的感知軟件和整體AV 堆棧，以便將其推向市場。

Overall, we are very encouraged by our progress with the OEM. Our focus will continue to be on supporting this OEM to achieve the requirements and positioning Aeva to be selected for the production vehicle program.

總的來說，我們對與 OEM 的合作進展感到非常鼓舞。我們的重點將繼續是支持該 OEM 達到要求，並將 Aeva 定位為量產車輛計劃的選擇。

Moving now to Slide 7, where I would like to share more about our first win in rail. Aeva 4D LiDAR has been selected by Railergy to enable their autonomous train solutions. Notably, we believe Aeva replaces a conventional 3D time-of-flight LiDAR supplier because our velocity data, Ultra Resolution and other benefits of FMCW enable Railergy to accurately and reliably identify obstacles on and around the rails, critical use case requirements that could not be achieved with 3D LiDAR. The first application with Railergy is for the largest freight operator in Europe to automate shunting activity, which is when trains are separated, moved and linked together with new cars.

現在轉到幻燈片 7，我想在這里分享更多關於我們在鐵路領域的第一次勝利的信息。 Railergy 選擇 Aeva 4D LiDAR 來支持其自動列車解決方案。值得注意的是，我們相信Aeva 會取代傳統的3D 飛行時間LiDAR 供應商，因為我們的速度數據、超分辨率和FMCW 的其他優勢使Railergy 能夠準確可靠地識別鐵軌上和周圍的障礙物，以及無法滿足的關鍵用例要求。通過 3D LiDAR 實現。 Railergy 的第一個應用是為歐洲最大的貨運運營商實現調車活動的自動化，即將列車分開、移動並與新車連接在一起。

Railergy's solution is intending to incorporate multiple Aeva LiDARs per locomotive to safely enable these actions autonomously. We are excited to work with Railergy and see opportunities to broaden deployment to Railergy's other customers, which include other major rail operators. And as the rail industry and regulators look to bring safer and more efficient transport, we are beginning to explore opportunities for different types of applications with leaders throughout the rail ecosystem, including locomotive OEMs, technology innovators and operators.

Railergy 的解決方案旨在為每個機車配備多個 Aeva LiDAR，以安全地自主執行這些操作。我們很高興與 Railergy 合作，並看到了向 Railergy 的其他客戶（包括其他主要鐵路運營商）擴大部署的機會。隨著鐵路行業和監管機構希望帶來更安全、更高效的運輸，我們開始與整個鐵路生態系統的領導者（包括機車原始設備製造商、技術創新者和運營商）探索不同類型應用的機會。

From our engagements, it is clear that Aeva's combination of long range, instant velocity and immunity to interference can offer unique advantages for rail automation applications. And we look forward to pursuing these opportunities to bring scaled deployment of 4D LiDAR in rail.

從我們的合作中可以清楚地看出，Aeva 集長距離、即時速度和抗干擾性於一身，可以為鐵路自動化應用提供獨特的優勢。我們期待抓住這些機會，在鐵路中大規模部署 4D LiDAR。

Let's now turn to Slide 8. I am happy to share that we are on track to begin startup production for our industrial automation programs in 2024. And I would like to provide some color on our recent progress with Nikon. This past quarter, we completed development and validation of our LiDAR-on-Chip module for the first product with Nikon. As previously mentioned, this first product is an industrial metrology solution that enables automated inspection during high-volume manufacturing.

現在讓我們轉向幻燈片 8。我很高興地告訴大家，我們有望在 2024 年開始啟動工業自動化項目的生產。我想介紹一下我們與尼康的最新進展。上個季度，我們與尼康合作完成了首款產品的片上激光雷達模塊的開發和驗證。如前所述，第一個產品是一種工業計量解決方案，可在大批量製造過程中實現自動檢測。

It requires micron-level precision, where we will leverage our same core 4D LiDAR chip used for automotive applications, but with different algorithms to achieve ultra-high precision. Due to our unique LiDAR-on-Chip module, we are able to offer these capabilities at a lower cost and a much smaller size compared to the current solution utilized today.

它需要微米級的精度，我們將利用與汽車應用相同的核心 4D LiDAR 芯片，但採用不同的算法來實現超高精度。由於我們獨特的片上激光雷達模塊，與目前使用的解決方案相比，我們能夠以更低的成本和更小的尺寸提供這些功能。

With all performance specifications confirmed, this paves the way for us to progress to the next stage, where we will work on the production qualification of our first industrial product together with Nikon ahead of SOP in late 2024.

所有性能規格均已確認，這為我們進入下一階段鋪平了道路，我們將在 2024 年底 SOP 之前與尼康一起進行我們的第一個工業產品的生產資格認證。

Switching gears now to the opportunities we're pursuing, let's turn to Slide 9. Railergy represents a new win this year and we are making progress on further expanding our number of program wins. In automotive, we continue to advance on large serious production programs with a number of leading vehicle OEMs. Feedback has been consistent and encouraging as more OEMs, including especially ones who have previously selected time-of-flight for initial pilot deployments, are appreciating that Aeva's differentiated FMCW technology can help safely enable their next-generation, broader-scale deployments.

現在轉向我們正在追求的機會，讓我們轉向幻燈片 9。Railergy 代表了今年的新勝利，我們正在進一步擴大我們的計劃勝利數量方面取得進展。在汽車領域，我們繼續與多家領先的汽車原始設備製造商共同推進大型、嚴肅的生產項目。隨著越來越多的原始設備製造商（尤其是那些之前選擇飛行時間進行初始試點部署的原始設備製造商）認識到Aeva 的差異化FMCW 技術可以幫助他們安全地實現下一代更大規模的部署，反饋一致且令人鼓舞。

In industrial automation, we have multiple ongoing engagements with large industrial sensing companies to leverage our perception platform for industrial measurement applications. Our focus as a company remains on programs for large-scale deployments with SOPs in the mid-decade, where each of these opportunities offer significant revenue potential for Aeva, and we continue to expect additional award decisions over the next 6 to 12 months.

在工業自動化領域，我們與大型工業傳感公司進行了多次合作，以利用我們的感知平台進行工業測量應用。作為一家公司，我們的重點仍然是在十年中使用SOP 進行大規模部署的計劃，其中每個機會都為Aeva 提供了巨大的收入潛力，並且我們繼續預計在未來6 到12 個月內會做出更多獎勵決定。

With that, I'll turn it over to Saurabh.

這樣，我就把它交給 Saurabh。

Thank you, Soroush, and good afternoon, everyone. I would like to discuss our Q2 2023 financial results, which are summarized on Slide 11. Revenue for Q2 was $0.7 million on account of continued deliveries of Aeries II to existing and new customers. Non-GAAP operating loss was $31.1 million reflecting our ongoing disciplined and strategic approach to R&D and other operating spend. Gross cash use, which we define as operating cash flow less capital expenditure, was $28.5 million, which primarily consists of use of cash for operating expenses.

謝謝索魯什，大家下午好。我想討論一下我們 2023 年第二季度的財務業績，幻燈片 11 中對此進行了總結。由於持續向現有客戶和新客戶交付 Aeries II，第二季度的收入為 70 萬美元。非 GAAP 運營虧損為 3110 萬美元，反映出我們對研發和其他運營支出持續採取嚴格的戰略方針。現金使用總額（我們將其定義為運營現金流減去資本支出）為 2,850 萬美元，其中主要包括用於運營支出的現金。

We finished the quarter with cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities totaling $261.2 million and weighted average shares outstanding was 220.5 million in Q2. In summary, Aeva continues to maintain a solid financial position as we progress on our objectives. We are very encouraged by the commercial momentum in Q2. And looking ahead, we will continue to execute with a strategic approach to allocate resources and optimize spend to further our existing programs and new opportunities.

本季度末，我們的現金、現金等價物和有價證券總額為 2.612 億美元，第二季度加權平均已發行股票為 2.205 億股。總之，隨著我們在實現目標方面取得進展，Aeva 繼續保持穩健的財務狀況。我們對第二季度的商業勢頭感到非常鼓舞。展望未來，我們將繼續採用戰略方法來分配資源和優化支出，以推進我們現有的計劃和新的機會。

I will now turn the call back to Soroush for closing remarks.

現在我將把電話轉回給索魯什，讓其致閉幕詞。

Thanks, Saurabh. Halfway into 2023, we have made strong progress on our objectives for the year and I am extremely excited about where we stand at a number of our advanced-stage opportunities. The entire Aeva team is incredibly focused on converting these engagements into additional wins.

謝謝，索拉布。 2023 年已過半，我們在今年的目標上取得了巨大進展，我對我們在許多高級階段機會方面的進展感到非常興奮。整個 Aeva 團隊非常專注於將這些參與轉化為額外的勝利。

As I conclude, I want to thank each member of the Aeva team for their ongoing dedication as well as our stakeholders for their continued support.

最後，我要感謝 Aeva 團隊的每位成員的持續奉獻以及我們的利益相關者的持續支持。

With that, we will now open the line up for questions.

至此，我們現在開始提問。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question today will come from Antoine Chkaiban with New Street Research.

（操作員說明）今天我們的第一個問題將來自 New Street Research 的 Antoine Chkaiban。

Can you maybe provide more details on the strategic collaboration with the top 10 OEM that you just announced? Any indication on volumes and are there any other LiDAR vendors in the pipeline for that specific project? And maybe also when in 2024 do you expect to expand on the road deployment? And what key milestones do you still need to achieve to get there?

您能否提供更多關於您剛剛宣布的與排名前十的整車廠戰略合作的細節？有任何關於數量的指示嗎？是否有其他 LiDAR 供應商正在為該特定項目進行準備？也許您預計 2024 年什麼時候會擴大道路部署？為了實現這一目標，您還需要實現哪些關鍵里程碑？

Yes. Antoine, happy to answer the questions. So first of all, we are very encouraged that OEMs in the automotive space, and especially with this top 10 OEM, are seeing continued value and significance in our perception software, right? So let me first, before I answer the question, [highlight on] how we got here. So first -- we first started on the hardware side, delivering Aeries II hardware to this OEM and then integrating in their vehicles. And from there, starting the on-road deployment in the past quarter, [as I already] mentioned. And then from there, with additional units and additional vehicles built, we continued to hit our milestones for the hardware. And we've been able to really address some of the most challenging use cases using our 4D LiDAR technology in which previously, this OEM was having challenges to address with time-of-flight 3D-based LiDAR technology. Now we are further deepening our relationship into software. And with that, we have signed a strategic collaboration agreement to include Aeva's perception software, really built around our velocity data, to achieve some of those key driving scenarios that have been quite difficult to achieve in.

是的。安托萬很高興回答問題。首先，我們感到非常鼓舞的是，汽車領域的 OEM，尤其是這家排名前 10 的 OEM，看到了我們的感知軟件的持續價值和重要性，對嗎？因此，在回答這個問題之前，讓我首先[強調]我們是如何走到這一步的。首先，我們首先從硬件方面開始，向該 OEM 提供 Aeries II 硬件，然後集成到他們的車輛中。從那裡開始，上個季度開始道路部署，[正如我已經]提到的。然後從那時起，隨著建造了更多的單位和車輛，我們繼續達到硬件的里程碑。我們已經能夠使用 4D LiDAR 技術真正解決一些最具挑戰性的用例，在此之前，該 OEM 面臨著使用基於飛行時間的 3D LiDAR 技術來解決的挑戰。現在我們正在進一步深化我們與軟件的關係。由此，我們簽署了一項戰略合作協議，其中包括 Aeva 的感知軟件，該軟件實際上是圍繞我們的速度數據構建的，以實現一些以前很難實現的關鍵駕駛場景。

This includes, for example, driving scenarios at highway speeds. We're talking here, not 30 to 40 miles per hour, but really highway speed, 60-plus miles per hour. And being able to have the vehicle come to a safe stop, especially in those former cases in which it's difficult to perhaps detect objects that are small or very low reflectivity on the roadway, such as a tire fragment and such. So that's, I think, where 4D LiDAR really shines and has been able to provide those capabilities.

例如，這包括高速公路上的駕駛場景。我們這裡談論的不是每小時 30 到 40 英里，而是真正的高速公路速度，每小時 60 英里以上。並且能夠讓車輛安全停止，尤其是在以前很難檢測到道路上較小或反射率非常低的物體（例如輪胎碎片等）的情況下。我認為這就是 4D LiDAR 真正發揮作用並能夠提供這些功能的地方。

And we're now working with them on neural network-based machine learning models, as I mentioned, to really address some of those former cases that were not really possible before. Looking ahead, as we mentioned, we plan to expand our development fleet with our technology with this OEM into 2024, on the road with multiple vehicles starting in '24 -- beginning of '24. And in a nutshell, really deepening our engagement with this OEM moves us from hardware into the software stack, which we believe creates a flywheel effect for further embedding Aeva's perception stack and the velocity data, I think, at the heart of the AV software stack with this OEM, and we're very encouraged by it.

正如我所提到的，我們現在正在與他們合作開發基於神經網絡的機器學習模型，以真正解決一些以前不可能實現的案例。展望未來，正如我們所提到的，我們計劃到 2024 年利用我們與這家 OEM 的技術來擴大我們的開發車隊，從 24 年開始，在 24 年初開始使用多輛車輛上路。簡而言之，真正加深我們與這家 OEM 的合作使我們從硬件轉向軟件堆棧，我們相信這會產生飛輪效應，進一步將 Aeva 的感知堆棧和速度數據嵌入到 AV 軟件堆棧的核心與這個OEM 合作，我們對此感到非常鼓舞。

Okay. And maybe as a quick follow-up, can you maybe update us on how scaling capacity and taking costs down is playing out? Have things trended as you expected over the last 90 days?

好的。作為快速跟進，您能否向我們介紹一下擴大容量和降低成本的最新進展？過去 90 天內，事情的發展趨勢是否符合您的預期？

Yes, yes, happy to. So we have continued to progress on delivering of our Aeries II product to multiple customers and including, of course, in automotive as well as industrial space. And case in point is really our ability to do that has led us to make meaningful advances in progress with a number of customers. For example, the top 10 OEM, with us being able to get into the software stack and putting this strategic collaboration in place on that front. For example, for us, being able to secure our first win in rail with Railergy, and which we're pretty excited about as well and others. So I think our ability to continue on deploying Aeries II is obviously critical to our progress with customers across both automotive and industrial applications as well as around some of the metrology applications.

是的，是的，很高興。因此，我們在向多個客戶提供 Aeries II 產品方面不斷取得進展，當然也包括汽車和工業領域的客戶。一個恰當的例子是，我們有能力做到這一點，這使我們在與許多客戶的合作中取得了有意義的進展。例如，排名前 10 的 OEM，我們能夠進入軟件堆棧並在這方面開展戰略合作。例如，對我們來說，能夠與 Railergy 一起在鐵路領域取得第一場胜利，對此我們和其他人都感到非常興奮。因此，我認為我們繼續部署 Aeries II 的能力顯然對於我們在汽車和工業應用以及一些計量應用方面與客戶取得的進展至關重要。

As I mentioned on the call, we have also completed the development milestones for Nikon and our customer for the first target deployment in '24, SOP in '24, with the metrology application. So we feel pretty good about that. And obviously, we're working towards our SOP targets with some of these customers.

正如我在電話中提到的，我們還完成了尼康和我們的客戶的開發里程碑，即 24 年的首次目標部署、24 年的 SOP 計量應用程序。所以我們對此感覺很好。顯然，我們正在與其中一些客戶一起努力實現我們的 SOP 目標。

And your next question will come from Colin Rusch with Oppenheimer.

你們的下一個問題將由科林·魯什和奧本海默提出。

With the relationship with Nikon and the ability to pull the time frame forward, can you talk a little bit about how that happened and what elements are going a little bit better than you anticipated?

憑藉與尼康的關係以及將時間框架提前的能力，您能否談談這是如何發生的以及哪些元素比您預期的要好一些？

Yes, Colin. Happy to answer that. As we have said before, I guess maybe at the beginning of the year, we had planned to find opportunities in which we can pull forward our industrial automation launches. And with Nikon, we have really been able to deliver on milestones on or ahead of timing and really focused on our ability to actually achieve the micron-level precision. That's one of the unique advantages of FMCW, is that we can tune the software with the same core chip module and LiDAR that we have in automotive, but different -- for different applications, different software. Instead of maybe going hundreds of meters of range, we can trade that down to a lower distance, but then achieve ultraprecise accuracy, which gets us to micron-level precision. We have now completed that.

是的，科林。很高興回答這個問題。正如我們之前所說，我想也許在今年年初，我們曾計劃尋找機會來推進我們的工業自動化發布。與尼康一起，我們確實能夠及時或提前實現里程碑，並真正專注於我們實際實現微米級精度的能力。這是 FMCW 的獨特優勢之一，就是我們可以使用與汽車相同的核心芯片模塊和 LiDAR 來調整軟件，但不同的是——針對不同的應用，使用不同的軟件。我們可以將其降低到更短的距離，而不是達到數百米的範圍，然後實現超高精度，這使我們達到微米級的精度。我們現在已經完成了。

Nikon has completed also their validation and verifying the performance specs and the key metrics that really matter for their industrial metrology manufacturing inspection applications. And they're pleased with that and that's allowed them to build further confidence for us to move now to the next phase of industrializing and getting the product ready for late next year. And I think really one of the key reasons for us to be able to do that is because we have been doing this for a while already with our Aeries II product. It's the same hardware. We have had significant experience in developing and releasing new software functionality and validating that with the key customers. And that's one of the key factors that's lead us to be able to do that, as well as our ability to actually produce those modules in the sufficient quantities that Nikon needed to qualify (inaudible).

尼康還完成了對其工業計量製造檢測應用真正重要的性能規格和關鍵指標的驗證和驗證。他們對此感到滿意，這使他們對我們現在進入工業化的下一階段並為明年年底的產品做好準備建立了進一步的信心。我認為我們能夠做到這一點的關鍵原因之一是我們已經通過 Aeries II 產品做到這一點有一段時間了。這是相同的硬件。我們在開發和發布新軟件功能以及與主要客戶進行驗證方面擁有豐富的經驗。這是我們能夠做到這一點的關鍵因素之一，也是我們能夠實際生產尼康合格所需數量的這些模塊的能力（聽不清）。

That's super helpful. And then with the OEMs, congratulations on continuing to move forward with some of these vehicle OEMs. Certainly seeing some of the other emerging LiDAR providers struggle with actually delivering on some of the road maps. Can you talk a little bit about how your conversations are changing with those OEMs? Because I assume that you're at the table with most everybody talking about future-proofing some of their platforms. And how tangible some of those programs are getting in terms of the potential to move forward in the sales process for you guys?

這非常有幫助。然後是原始設備製造商，祝賀您繼續與其中一些車輛原始設備製造商一起前進。當然，其他一些新興激光雷達供應商在實際交付某些路線圖上也遇到了困難。您能談談您與這些原始設備製造商的對話發生了怎樣的變化嗎？因為我假設您和大多數人都在談論他們的一些平台的未來發展。對於你們來說，這些計劃中的一些計劃對於推動銷售流程的潛力有多大？

Yes, sure. So look, we are generally quite encouraged, very pleased with the progress we're making across the automotive space, in addition to industrial. I think as we mentioned, where we also see a lot of interesting development is especially in areas where a number of OEMs in the past have had experience with time-of-flight or 3D LiDAR, and were -- for initial deployments. But since engaging with us, seeing some of the key unique selling points and advantages of FMCW and how this is really the next-generation technology that's coming to market. Then working with us and measuring our capability and absolutely deliver on the milestones, on the requirements over time, these 2, I think, factors have really helped us to be able to make meaningful progress with a number of automotive OEMs in the space.

是的，當然。所以看，除了工業之外，我們總體上對我們在汽車領域取得的進展感到非常鼓舞和非常滿意。我認為，正如我們所提到的，我們還看到了許多有趣的發展，特別是在許多 OEM 過去擁有飛行時間或 3D LiDAR 經驗的領域，並且已經進行了初步部署。但自從與我們合作以來，我們看到了 FMCW 的一些關鍵獨特賣點和優勢，以及它如何真正成為即將進入市場的下一代技術。然後與我們合作，衡量我們的能力，並絕對實現里程碑，隨著時間的推移滿足要求，我認為，這兩個因素確實幫助我們能夠與該領域的許多汽車原始設備製造商取得有意義的進展。

And I think we've always talked about that, with where we believe the industry is headed. And some of that is starting to form shape with the progress that we are making, as is the case in the top 10 OEM; as is the case with Railergy, both of which have had experiences with 3D time-of-flight LiDAR now deciding to really replace and (inaudible) us with as the technology [provider]. So that's what I can share.

我認為我們一直在談論這個問題，以及我們認為行業的發展方向。隨著我們取得的進展，其中一些已經開始形成，就像前 10 名 OEM 的情況一樣；就像 Railergy 的情況一樣，這兩家公司都擁有 3D 飛行時間 LiDAR 的經驗，現在決定真正取代我們（聽不清）作為技術[提供商]。這就是我可以分享的。

And your next question comes from Joe Moore with Morgan Stanley.

你的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的喬·摩爾。

I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about the win with Railergy and particularly when you think about the train market, how big is that? Is it -- and I think other opportunities to expand beyond that into other sort of autonomous train efforts?

我想知道您是否可以多談談 Railergy 的勝利，特別是當您考慮火車市場時，它有多大？我認為還有其他機會將其擴展到其他類型的自動駕駛列車方面嗎？

Joe, happy to answer that. So first of all, yes, we're pretty excited about our first win in rail here. Again, this is another example of how unique capabilities FMCW enables scenarios for automation that are currently challenged when you use time-of-flight technology. And this is exciting for us because it's our first expansion into rail applications, and we're really starting to see some of the breadth [apps] and applications that FMCW can help end customers solve. I can give you some context of the overall opportunity in rail here. So the overall opportunity in rail globally is about over $1 billion in the market opportunity. We're talking about 100,000 locomotives globally. And of that, it's about 15,000 locomotives in Europe alone. And we're talking about multiple LiDARs per locomotive.

喬，很高興回答這個問題。首先，是的，我們對我們在鐵路領域的第一次勝利感到非常興奮。這又是 FMCW 獨特功能如何實現當前使用飛行時間技術時面臨挑戰的自動化場景的另一個示例。這對我們來說是令人興奮的，因為這是我們首次擴展到鐵路應用，而且我們確實開始看到 FMCW 可以幫助最終客戶解決的一些廣度[應用]和應用。我可以在這裡向您介紹鐵路行業的整體機會。因此，全球鐵路行業的總體機會約為 10 億美元以上的市場機會。我們談論的是全球 100,000 輛機車。其中，僅歐洲就有約 15,000 輛機車。我們討論的是每個機車有多個激光雷達。

So the opportunity with Railergy specifically is really with the first deployment in Europe with the largest European freight carrier, thinking of about 2 to 4 LiDAR per locomotive and ASPs of multiples higher than in automotive. And we're beginning in 2025 for one of our LiDAR for the rail with Railergy. Separately, we are engaged with some of the leaders in the space. That includes train OEMs; that includes technology providers and some of the (inaudible) operators that we see potential to expand further in the rail application. And Railergy alone also is working with other major rail operators beyond Europe, due to further solutions and various applications, including in Europe and in the U.S. and other global markets.

因此，Railergy 的機會實際上是在歐洲與最大的歐洲貨運公司進行首次部署，考慮到每個機車大約有 2 到 4 個 LiDAR，並且 ASP 比汽車高出好幾倍。我們將於 2025 年開始與 Railergy 合作開發一款用於鐵路的 LiDAR。另外，我們還與該領域的一些領導者進行了接觸。其中包括火車原始設備製造商；其中包括技術提供商和一些我們認為有潛力在鐵路應用中進一步擴展的（聽不清）運營商。由於進一步的解決方案和各種應用，包括歐洲、美國和其他全球市場，Railergy 還與歐洲以外的其他主要鐵路運營商合作。

We'll move next to Suji Desilva with ROTH MKM.

我們將與 ROTH MKM 一起前往 Suji Desilva。

Hi, Soroush and Saurabh. So just trying to understand, Soroush, the additional auto customers that could follow this Tier 1 you're working with, would they -- would those engagements take the same form of this in terms of a development engagement and then weaving the software together? Would they have a different shape? And concurrent with that question, the ability of Aeva to handle multiple of these engagements concurrently or kind of focusing resources on one and then have it kind of flow forward sequentially? I'd be curious to understand how it would waterfall from here.

嗨，索魯什和索拉布。因此，Soroush，我想了解一下，其他汽車客戶可能會遵循與您合作的第 1 層，他們會 - 這些合作會在開發合作方面採取與此相同的形式，然後將軟件編織在一起嗎？它們會有不同的形狀嗎？與這個問題同時存在的是，Aeva 是否有能力同時處理多個此類事務，或者將資源集中在一個事務上，然後按順序向前推進？我很想知道它會如何從這裡瀑布下來。

Yes, Suji, happy to answer that. So look, I think we are here building a framework and a platform in which we plan and intend to deploy in collaboration with multiple OEMs over time, with the focus of creating kind of 1 core product with FMCW hardware technology, but also our approach to software is being in a modular way in which we can build the key software features on top of our hardware in a way that can be qualified with, let's say, the first OEM, including with this top 10 OEM, but can also be then from there, scaled and deployed across multiple other programs.

是的，Suji，很高興回答這個問題。所以看，我認為我們正在構建一個框架和平台，我們計劃並打算隨著時間的推移與多個 OEM 合作部署，重點是使用 FMCW 硬件技術創建一種核心產品，同時也是我們的方法軟件採用模塊化方式，我們可以在硬件之上構建關鍵軟件功能，這種方式可以通過第一家OEM（包括這家排名前10 的OEM）的認證，但也可以從在那裡，在多個其他項目中進行擴展和部署。

And that's something that has always been in front of us, and that's something that we have here with our (inaudible) solution. So I think it's very important to start early on with the vehicle manufacturers so that especially bringing a new technology with automated driving, so that you can ensure timely validation, ensure addressing the core cases and really making sure it works before it comes too close to production, and that's the example that we have. And we're hoping that we can leverage this playbook with other OEMs as well.

這是我們一直面臨的問題，也是我們通過我們的（聽不清）解決方案所擁有的。因此，我認為儘早與汽車製造商合作非常重要，特別是引入自動駕駛新技術，這樣您就可以確保及時驗證，確保解決核心案例，並真正確保它在距離目標太近之前發揮作用。生產，這就是我們的例子。我們希望其他 OEM 廠商也能利用此手冊。

Of course, each customer is going to be different. Sometimes it may not make sense to provide all the modules of the perception software. But that modular approach, I think, is a critical part of our strategy.

當然，每個客戶都會有所不同。有時提供感知軟件的所有模塊可能沒有意義。但我認為，這種模塊化方法是我們戰略的關鍵部分。

To your second part of the question about kind of our ability and resources to support multiple OEMs. Today, we have the sufficient staff to be able to support all the engagements that we have today. As we, of course, go along, we're continuing to hire and expanding on the team so that we can support some of those key programs on the OEM. But again, our strategy is not to go and spray and pray, across many, many opportunities. We're focused on a number that is a refined number of opportunities with large scale, that each of which provide meaningful opportunity for us and potential for the company. And with a focused approach, we think that's the right way to go about with our first deployment and then from there, we can expand.

關於問題的第二部分，我們支持多個 OEM 的能力和資源。今天，我們擁有足夠的員工來支持我們今天的所有活動。當然，隨著我們的發展，我們將繼續招聘和擴大團隊規模，以便我們能夠支持 OEM 上的一些關鍵項目。但同樣，我們的策略不是在很多很多的機會中去噴灑和祈禱。我們專注於大量的大規模機會，每個機會都為我們提供了有意義的機會並為公司提供了潛力。通過集中的方法，我們認為這是進行首次部署的正確方法，然後我們可以進行擴展。

Okay. Great. My other question is on the industrial auto, the Nikon engagement. I guess start of production sometime calendar '24. Just curious what the shape of that initial unit ramp might look like or just the size of that opportunity, if you want to talk about it that way, for a run rate. And just competitively, I know there's other industrial LiDAR vendors out there with high unit run rates already, obviously, a less featured one than yours. So maybe you could talk about the pricing strategy here versus those guys, just to contrast what's already out there in the market versus what you're going to bring to market?

好的。偉大的。我的另一個問題是關於工業汽車，尼康參與。我猜想在 24 日曆年的某個時候開始生產。只是好奇初始單位斜坡的形狀可能是什麼樣子，或者只是這個機會的大小，如果你想這樣談論它，對於運行率。就競爭而言，我知道還有其他工業激光雷達供應商已經具有很高的單位運行率，顯然，功能不如你們的供應商。因此，也許您可​​以談論這裡與那些人的定價策略，只是為了對比市場上已有的產品與您將要推向市場的產品？

Yes, absolutely. So -- so look, first of all, the planned launch is towards late 2024 and then starts with volume and scale up from there. Obviously, industrial, the volume and pricing is quite different than in automotive. But just to give you a sense here, we're talking about orders of magnitude in terms of differences in our ASP between automotive and what is really feasible here. And marching along, the key factors for us is that we're using the same core technology that we're developing already for automotive. So we can use the economies of scale, the same manufacturing line, of course with some customizations and such certain things that may not be needed as, for example, long range and such and different software to allow for that.

是的，一點沒錯。因此，首先，計劃的發佈時間是 2024 年底，然後從那時起開始擴大數量和規模。顯然，工業領域的數量和定價與汽車領域有很大不同。但為了讓您有所了解，我們正在討論汽車與真正可行的產品之間的 ASP 差異的數量級。繼續前進，對我們來說關鍵因素是我們正在使用我們已經為汽車開發的相同核心技術。因此，我們可以利用規模經濟、相同的生產線，當然還有一些定制和某些可能不需要的東西，例如遠程和不同的軟件來實現這一點。

But from a development perspective, it's

但從發展的角度來看

(technical difficulty)

（技術難度）

years to multiple iterations of our LiDAR-on-Chip module. And because we have been able to innovate everything down to the silicon products module basis, we're able to achieve such lower costs at an ability to build these for Nikon and also helping reduce the size and the form factor of the end product and provide additional benefits to the end customers. So that's what I can say there.

我們的片上激光雷達模塊的多次迭代需要數年時間。由於我們能夠對矽產品模塊基礎上的一切進行創新，因此我們能夠為尼康製造這些模塊，從而實現更低的成本，並幫助減小最終產品的尺寸和外形尺寸，並提供為最終客戶帶來額外的好處。這就是我可以說的。

And our next question will come from Richard Shannon with Craig-Hallum.

我們的下一個問題將由理查德·香農和克雷格·哈勒姆提出。

I didn't get a chance to listen to your prepared remarks, so apologies if I'm overlapping with some previously asked questions. But I think the first one I want to follow up was actually a part of Suji's question, which is how to think about the size of this opportunity with Nikon specifically. I think the time frame is, I think, is well understood. Obviously, the ASPs are quite a bit higher, but it's hard to think about what kind of volumes are here. So maybe if you just want to take it up to the TAM or SAM level here and get a sense of a couple of years after this ramps, what kind of opportunity does this offer for Aeva?

我沒有機會聽你準備好的發言，所以如果我與之前提出的一些問題重疊，我深表歉意。但我認為我想跟進的第一個問題實際上是Suji問題的一部分，即如何具體考慮尼康的這個機會的大小。我認為這個時間框架是很好理解的。顯然，平均售價要高得多，但很難想像這裡的銷量是多少。因此，如果您只是想將其提升到 TAM 或 SAM 級別並了解此升級後的幾年情況，這將為 Aeva 提供什麼樣的機會？

Yes. I think -- look, what I can say is maybe I can give you, yes, high-level figures about the business. So Nikon itself is doing about $500 million, $600 million a year of business in the industrial metrology space. There are a lot of leaders in this space.

是的。我想——聽著，我能說的是，也許我可以給你，是的，有關該業務的高級數據。因此，尼康本身在工業計量領域的業務每年約為 5 億美元、6 億美元。這個領域有很多領導者。

(technical difficulty)

（技術難度）

customers in automotive manufacturing and aerospace and others, customers including BMW, (inaudible) and others. So we really see opportunity there starting with automotive and expanding further to high-volume manufacturing with that. Obviously, what we're looking to do is providing a part of the system, right, which is a chip module plus the software.

汽車製造和航空航天等行業的客戶，包括寶馬（聽不清）等。因此，我們確實看到了從汽車行業開始並進一步擴展到大批量製造的機會。顯然，我們要做的是提供系統的一部分，對吧，這是一個芯片模塊加上軟件。

At a high level, if you think about ASPs from -- in this space for a full entire solution, we're talking about $100,000-plus per unit with some of those ASPs in the industrial solution. Obviously, we take a portion of that check, I won't comment on specifics, but that should give you some rough sense about opportunity and with scale. And this is just for the industrial metrology applications with high-volume manufacturing. We do see opportunities further from there over time, other applications for potential around general-volume electronics manufacturing and such, wherever you need to actually inspect and be precise about that. That -- can't comment on right now, but that maybe should give you some general guidelines about that.

在較高的層面上，如果您考慮整個解決方案領域的 ASP，我們談論的是工業解決方案中的一些 ASP，每單位價值超過 100,000 美元。顯然，我們接受了該檢查的一部分，我不會評論具體細節，但這應該讓您對機會和規模有一些粗略的認識。這僅適用於大批量製造的工業計量應用。隨著時間的推移，我們確實看到了更多的機會，以及圍繞通用電子製造等領域的其他潛在應用，無論您在哪裡需要實際檢查並精確地進行檢查。目前無法對此發表評論，但這也許應該為您提供一些有關此問題的一般準則。

Okay. Fair enough. That's a reasonable answer. Follow-on question here was kind of more in the industrial space here with SICK. And I think your investor presentation says some, let's see, you're progressing on development milestones with them with being on track for 2024. Does that mean you're expecting to start generating some revenues with them? If that's not the case, please correct the time frame there. And then what are some of these milestones you have to progress through to get to that point?

好的。很公平。這是一個合理的答案。接下來的問題更多地涉及 SICK 的工業領域。我認為你的投資者演講表明，讓我們看看，你正在與他們一起在發展里程碑上取得進展，並有望在 2024 年步入正軌。這是否意味著你期望開始與他們一起創造一些收入？如果情況並非如此，請更正那裡的時間範圍。那麼要達到這一點，您必須完成哪些里程碑？

Yes. No, that's correct. We're obviously working with them currently on developing

是的。不，這是正確的。顯然我們目前正在與他們合作開發

(technical difficulty)

（技術難度）

hardware and we do expect from a revenue standpoint, we also continue to scale into '24. That's correct. And I think from a milestone standpoint, we have been working closely with SICK AG around ensuring that the performance metrics for the industrial end customers across different configurations. One of the key things there across is we're working also across software configurations, configurability with SICK, which in industrial differences, there's multiple different types of customers with -- each with different types of requirements. And I think one of the unique advantages for FMCW and Aeva is that we can tune those -- the performance of the system with software, and effectively, configurability into the actual system without touching the hardware. And that's 1 of the seminal points in which SICK was -- eventually decided to work with us after (inaudible) for this product segment. And so we're working with them around ensuring to define, validate and qualify those different configurations for some of the lead customers there in the industrial sector. That's the work that we're doing for now and later in 2024. And so far, we're progressing good on that.

硬件，我們確實希望從收入的角度來看，我們也將繼續擴大規模到'24。這是正確的。我認為從里程碑的角度來看，我們一直與 SICK AG 密切合作，確保工業終端客戶在不同配置下的性能指標。其中關鍵的事情之一是，我們還與 SICK 進行軟件配置和可配置性方面的合作，在行業差異中，存在多種不同類型的客戶，每種客戶都有不同類型的要求。我認為 FMCW 和 Aeva 的獨特優勢之一是我們可以通過軟件調整系統的性能，並在不接觸硬件的情況下有效地將可配置性調整到實際系統中。這是 SICK 的開創性點之一——最終決定在（聽不清）該產品領域與我們合作。因此，我們正在與他們合作，確保為工業領域的一些主要客戶定義、驗證和鑑定這些不同的配置。這就是我們現在和 2024 年晚些時候正在做的工作。到目前為止，我們在這方面進展順利。

There are no further questions at this time and we will now conclude today's conference call. Thank you for attending.

目前沒有其他問題，我們現在將結束今天的電話會議。感謝您的出席。