The modern auto industry traces its roots to 1885 in Germany when mechanical engineer Karl Benz designed and built the world's first automobile powered by an internal combustion-engine. Unknown then, the invention would radically change how humans lived and societies developed.

The future of mobility is sure to bring about even more changes, and our June newsletter gives you a sneak peek of what those may look like. This month we feature three German mobility startups ranging from a transportation application to projects on sensing and mapping for autonomous vehicles. 

In a spotlight we check out Germany's quest to get ahead in electric-vehicle battery production including promising research in solid-state batteries. For our interview we sat down with a master of transportation modeling, Dr. Constantinos Antoniou of the Technical University of Munich, who will be a featured speaker at our event on " Automated Transportation" on July 9 in San Francisco.