Amazon’s robotaxis hit the streets of California

Robotaxis from Amazon’s self-driving vehicle biz Zoox are now on the streets of California.

Zoox’s vehicles are purpose-built for autonomous driving and do not feature any manual controls.

The company’s full-time employees are the first to take advantage of the autonomous shuttle service.

Jesse Levinson, Co-Founder and CTO of Zoox, commented:

“Getting to be the world’s first passenger in a robotaxi with no manual controls on open public...

14 February 2023 | Applications

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

XPENG prepares its own robotaxi fleet, flying car, and robot

XPENG is preparing to launch its own robotaxi fleet, the world’s first fully-electric flying car, and an AI-powered robot.

The luxury vehicle maker said that its latest G9 SUV became China’s first mass-produced commercial vehicle to pass the government-led Autonomous Driving Closed-field Test. The G9 will be used for XPENG’s robotaxi fleet.

“Obtaining the road test permit by our mass-produced commercial vehicles – with no retrofit – is a major achievement,”...

25 October 2022 | Applications

Intel’s self-driving firm Mobileye files for an IPO

Intel-owned self-driving firm Mobileye has filed for an IPO (Initial Public Offering).

Mobileye was acquired by Intel for $15.3 billion in 2017 and specialises in developing chips and software for autonomous driving and driver-assistance systems.

Intel reportedly expected Mobileye to be valued at $50 billion but is now anticipating somewhere around $30 billion due to global economic uncertainties.

Mobileye’s filing with the SEC highlights steady revenue...

3 October 2022 | Connected Vehicles

Cruise is expanding its robotaxi trials to Arizona and Texas

California-based autonomous driving firm Cruise has announced that it’s expanding pilots of its robotaxis to Arizona and Texas.

https://twitter.com/kvogt/status/1569419156063408128

Cruise, which is owned by General Motors, launched driverless rides in San Francisco back in February. The announcement this week marks the first expansion of Cruise’s service.

Our team is going from zero footprint in Austin (no test vehicles or maps) to driverless...

13 September 2022 | Connected Vehicles

China to hit mobility giant Didi with a $1B fine

Chinese authorities are set to hit mobility giant Didi with a $1 billion fine, a move that could end a torrid period for the firm.

Didi has been in the spotlight of the Chinese government after the company raised $4 billion from selling its stocks in New York.

Beijing launched a data security probe into Didi in the days after its New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listing; claiming that it was “illegally collecting user data”. However, both the country’s regulators and...

20 July 2022 | Connected Vehicles

Pony.ai agrees to recall its self-driving system

Pony.ai has agreed to advice from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to recall its self-driving system.

NHTSA says that it’s the “first recall of an automated driving system”.

On 28 October 2021, a Pony.ai vehicle crashed into a street sign in Fremont, California after turning right. No-one was injured in the incident, but it was enough for California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to suspend Pony.ai’s driverless testing...

9 March 2022 | Connected Vehicles

Baidu wants to deploy robotaxis in 100 cities by 2030

Chinese tech giant Baidu has set out plans to deploy robotaxis in 100 cities by 2030.

Baidu’s first target is to cover 65 cities by 2025, followed by a further 35 cities by 2030.

The roadmap was unveiled by CEO and Co-Founder Robin Li during Baidu’s Q4 2021 earnings call.

Revenues from Baidu Core increased 21 percent year-over-year in 2021, driven by a 71 percent increase in non-advertising revenue–showing the company is finding success away from its...

2 March 2022 | Connected Vehicles

Cruise offers free robotaxi trips in San Francisco without backup drivers

Self-driving vehicle service Cruise is offering free public robotaxi trips in San Francisco without backup drivers.

The free trips will use Cruise’s fleet of retrofitted Chevrolet Bolt vehicles that includes Poppy and Tostada. These vehicles are ‘Level 4’ meaning they’re fully driverless and don't require a backup driver but still feature a steering wheel, pedals, mirrors and everything required for manual control.

Cruise was granted approval to test its...

2 February 2022 | Connected Vehicles