San Francisco officials want the CPUC to slow robotaxi authorisations

San Francisco officials have sent letters to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) expressing their concerns over the pace of robotaxi deployments.

Driverless vehicle giants Cruise and Waymo have significant expansion plans for their respective operations in San Francisco. However, their existing deployments have been causing some problems for the city.

Some of the reported issues have included driverless vehicles stopping in the middle of the road for no...

31 January 2023 | Connected Vehicles

Uber launches hailing of Motional robotaxis in Las Vegas

Uber users in Las Vegas can now hail Motional’s robotaxis for autonomous trips around Sin City.

“Today, Motional becomes the first AV company to conduct all-electric autonomous rides on the Uber network for public passengers,” said Akshay Jaising, Motional’s VP of Commercialisation. 

The vehicles used for the rides will be adapted Hyundai IONIQ 5 electric cars. Motional, it’s worth noting, is a joint venture between Hyundai and...

7 December 2022 | Connected Vehicles

Waymo launches 24/7 autonomous ride-hailing service in San Francisco

Alphabet subsidiary Waymo has launched San Francisco’s first 24/7 fully-autonomous ride-hailing service.

Earlier this month, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) granted Waymo a permit to participate in the state’s pilot initiative to provide “driverless” autonomous vehicle (AV) passenger service to the public.

“We are seeing momentum build in this space and are working to assure the safe expansion of the driverless pilot program,” said CPUC...

21 November 2022 | AI

AutoX wins the race to build China’s first Level 4 robotaxi production line

Alibaba-backed AutoX has won the race to build the first Level 4 robotaxi production line in China.

Level 4 “mind off” driverless vehicles are fully autonomous and can handle complex urban driving situations. However, a human driver must be available and in a fit state to take control if required. If the human driver does not respond appropriately to a request to intervene, a Level 4 vehicle must be capable of pulling over safely.

AutoX has gained international...

22 December 2021 | Connected Vehicles

Road to Success: Ericsson’s connected car report highlights ‘significant’ opportunities

Ericsson has released a connected car report highlighting a number of “significant” monetisation opportunities for car manufacturers.

The report – Connected Cars: Succeeding in the midst of economic and societal transformation – also examines some of the challenges faced by automotive OEMs as they seek to secure their place in a world that’s rapidly changing.

Statista forecasts the connected car market to reach $166 billion by 2025 while some other...

2 September 2021 | 5G

AutoX’s driverless taxis reach 100 consecutive days of operation

Alibaba-backed autonomous vehicle firm AutoX has now operated a driverless taxi service for 100 consecutive days.

The service has been operating without a safety driver on the roads of Shenzhen, the most population-dense city in China.

Professor Jianxiong Xiao, Founder and CEO of AutoX, said:

“The first 100 days have been a huge step forward for us and for the entire industry in China.

We have learned so much from the feedback from our passengers...

7 May 2021 | AI

Nuro receives first permit to operate self-driving cars commercially in California

California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) has awarded Nuro the state’s first commercial permit for self-driving cars.

The permit allows Nuro to operate its autonomous vehicles commercially on the roads of two counties near the company’s Bay Area headquarters.

Nuro says it will soon announce its first commercial deployment with an “established” partner. The company’s fleet of Prius cars will kick-off the deployment but will later be joined by Nuro’s...

24 December 2020 | Connected Vehicles

Vodafone builds a 5G network for HORIBA MIRA to test connected cars

Vodafone has built a private 5G network for the automotive experts at HORIBA MIRA to test connected cars.

The high speeds and low latency of 5G networks are unlocking new possibilities for connected vehicles. HORIBA MIRA partnered with Vodafone to deploy a 5G network at its Midlands headquarters so it can explore and develop some of these opportunities.

HORIBA MIRA has over 70 years of experience in developing iconic vehicles. The company’s facilities in Nuneaton are...

3 November 2020 | Connected Vehicles

Arm unveils new solutions for IoT and automotive applications

Arm has unveiled new computing solutions designed for improving autonomy in IoT and automotive settings.

Arm has announced a suite of new IP including the Arm Cortex-A78AE CPU, Mali-G78AE GPU, and Mali-C71AE ISP. Each will work in tandem with supporting software and tools to enhance the autonomous workload capabilities of silicon providers and OEMs.

Chet Babla, VP of Automotive and IoT at Arm, said:

“Autonomy has the potential to improve every aspect of our...

29 September 2020 | Connected Vehicles

NVIDIA DRIVE shifts to Ampere architecture, supports Level 5 self-driving

NVIDIA is shifting its autonomous car platform DRIVE over to its brand new Ampere architecture.

The capabilities of DRIVE are expanding significantly. DRIVE is no longer just an entry-level ADAS (Advanced driver-assistance systems) solution and can now support complete Level 5 autonomous driving like robotaxis.

DRIVE will now use NVIDIA’s Ampere GPUs which promise to be “the company’s largest leap in performance to date within its eight generations of GPUs,” and...

15 May 2020 | AI