Self-driving cars are finally here, and how they are deployed will change how we get around forever. From Tesla to Google to Uber to all the major automakers, we bring you complete coverage of the race to develop fully autonomous vehicles. This includes helpful explanations about the technology and policies that underpin the movement to build driverless cars.
Starting this week, certain members of the public will be able to hail a ride in one of the company’s autonomous Jaguar I-pace vehicles. The service area covers 37 square miles of Austin, where Waymo has been piloting its ridehail service with employees since last year. And the full commercial launch of Waymo’s robotaxi service will start “early next year” — and will be available exclusively in the Uber app.
The Waymo car was trying to make a turn and stopped as Vice President Harris’ motorcade was arriving at The Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco, halting the motorcade, according to The San Francisco Standard.
A police officer was able to move the car. We reached out to Waymo, SF police, and the VP’s campaign to learn more. For now, here’s video from ABC 7 News in the Bay Area.
I’m not sure if this counts as Hollywood magic yet, but this is how Tesla’s promoting its robotaxi unveiling event. Elon Musk had announced an August date for the event, but then it was pushed back until October 10th.
The invitations say that remarks will begin at 7PM PT, if you’d like to clear some time in your schedule.
South Korea’s Electronic Times reports that the two companies met three times at Waymo’s headquarters in California to discuss “contract manufacturing of robotaxis.” Waymo is said to be looking for a “replacement” for its Zeekr vehicles, which could become more costly to procure thanks to Biden’s tariffs. Waymo spokesperson Ethan Teicher declined to comment on the report.
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The driver-assist and self-driving company ceased production of its laser sensors as it streamlines operations in the face of tough headwinds.
Lidar is a crucial ingredient in autonomous vehicles, helping them create 3D renderings of their environment. Mobileye says it is making “substantial progress on our EyeQ6-based computer vision perception.” It’s unclear whether this means the company is going all-in on cameras, like Tesla.
Volvo’s new flagship EV has plenty of luxury bells and whistles, but some of its technology is still TBA.
Reuters reports Tesla’s China plant will build a six seat version of the refreshed electric crossover late next year as the seven-seater’s third row isn’t “large enough for a large-sized dog.”
The state’s DMV is inviting proposals for how best to regulate heavy-duty autonomous vehicles, which have so far been prohibited on California’s public highways. Meanwhile, the California state legislature advanced a bill to require a human operator in robot trucks at all times. Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a similar proposal last year, but hasn’t said whether he would do it again.
After almost two years of testing and a gradual phase-in program, Waymo says its finally ready to provide 24/7 robotaxi service at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport. It’s a pretty big milestone, given how financially essential airports trips are for all human-powered ridehail and taxi services. Waymo also recently completed its 100,000th trip to the airport, and is available for curbside pickup at Terminals 3 and 4. Airport pickups are typically pretty chaotic. So, good luck robots!
The robotaxi company says its doing 100,000 paid trips a week, up from 50,000 a week last May. This comes after the company got rid of its waitlist in San Francisco, and expanded its service area in the city. Saswat Panigrahi, chief product officer, had this to say about the milestone:
People still think of autonomous vehicles as the faraway future, but for more and more people, they’re now an everyday reality.
People also don’t want to hear lots of robot cars honking at each other in parking lots as part of their everyday reality, but I digress. (Fixed this time, hopefully?)
Sophia Tung, who runs a 24/7 livestream of a Waymo parking lot, says on Reddit she’ll interview the director, Vishay Nihalani on the stream on Monday at 2:30PM PT / 5:30PM ET.
Tung plans to discuss the robotaxis’ 4AM honking and Waymo’s subsequent fix. She’s taking suggestions, like asking about highway testing or odd parking lot behavior. (There’s a spreadsheet.)
Correction: Nihalani is Waymo’s director of product management and operations, not the operations boss.
The Alphabet-owned company is taking its robotaxis to snowier climes, namely “Truckee, CA; Upstate New York; and across Michigan–from the Upper Peninsula to the metro Detroit area,” according to a post on X. So far, most driverless companies have avoided locations with messy weather, as rain and snow can really mess with the vehicle’s perception systems. But you can’t operate in dry, desert conditions forever and have a successful business.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Waymo has ventured onto snowy roads.
Waymo spokesperson Chris Bonelli explains why the problem started and why its autonomous cars are quieter now (shown in the livestream below):
We recently introduced a useful feature to help avoid low speed collisions by honking if other cars get too close while reversing toward us. It has been working great in the city, but we didn’t quite anticipate it would happen so often in our own parking lots. We’ve updated the software, so our electric vehicles should keep the noise down for our neighbors moving forward.
Ford CEO Jim Farley announced the European Commission’s approval of its hands-free BlueCruise driver-assist tech (despite an ongoing NHTSA investigation), which means Mustang Mach-E buyers in 15 EU countries can now get the feature (and some current owners can get it through a software update).
BlueCruise has been driven for more than 213 million miles globally, according to Ford — up from 200 million in June.
During Alphabet’s earnings call on Tuesday, CFO Ruth Porat said the company will “commit to a new multi-year investment of $5 billion” into Waymo, which has launched its robotaxi service in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix.
