Waymo Matches Human Drivers' Safety, Despite Underreported Crashes
Waymo in SF has comparable safety rate to UberLyft human-driven rides in SF, says Cardozo prof Matthew Wansley, citing academic study, but notes the human-driven crashes in this set are likely underreported. He thinks AVs are making a “positive contribution” to safety overall.
Waymo’s Years of Scaling Contrast Tesla’s Brand‑new Robotaxi
People forget how long it took Waymo to get to the point where it started scaling seriously. It didn’t happen in the first year. The Tesla Robotaxi service is not even a year old yet.
Regulators, Not Tesla, Allow Misleading Autopilot Labels
David Zipper note that Tesla has gotten away with calling something “autopilot” and “self driving” even though it’s not “autopilot” or “self driving.” Notes that the failure is regulators, not companies.
Tech Firms Blur Tool vs Solution; AVs Aren’t Salvation
“Tech companies deliberately obfuscate the distinction” between a tool and a solution, says Peter Norton. This applies to AVs, he notes. [they may be a tool for something, but we need to define what that thing is in NYC.] High-tech...
Tesla's Self-Driving 14.3.1 Navigates SF Like AGI
Tesla Self-Driving 14.3.1 tours San Francisco. Sometimes it feels like driving through this city requires AGI, but Cybertruck just does it so perfectly. https://t.co/Rayj1Bzi7G
Waymo's 92% Safer Claim Is Just Marketing
The “92% safer” line from Waymo “is a marketing line,” says Bloomberg’s David Zipper. Any serious academic will tell you, on safety, “we don’t know.”
Mass Adoption Dulls the Joy of Driving
Everyone keeps saying “oh, the Waymo, it’s so fun, get in!” says Rachel Weinberger. Notes this reasoning ignores the entire history of the 20th century where “the number of people who wanted to use the motor vehicle entirely ruined the...
AV Safety Data Ignores Induced Driving, Says Zipper
David Zipper says that the context-free AV boosters on social media are generally engineers. This is all a 20th century throwback to having a singular goal of moving motor vehicles fast. He notes that the AV safety data is meaningless...
Safety Debate Distracts From Proven Transit Solutions
“The safety question is actually a distraction” on AVs, says RPA’s Rachel weinberger. “We have the technology to make motor vehicles much safer. … we have speed governors … the safest way is to get more people on transit....
Waymo Manager Walks Out, Stifles Critical Debate
Panelists and guests at this Roosevelt House AV summit uniformly disappointed that Waymo northeast policy manager gave his pitch and then left rather than listening to the two more skeptical panels to follow and having a real discussion. https://t.co/pwVnR2g2OA
Tesla FSD Misreads Exit, Recovers on Tight Ramp
I asked Tesla Self-Driving 14.3.1 to exit the Mason / O'Farrell Garage in Downtown San Francisco. It tries to go up instead of down, so I had to intervene to help it find the right path. But it handled the tight...
Cybertruck Becomes a Deadly Safety Disaster, Regulators Lag
Elon Musk wanted the Cybertruck to be his dream vehicle. Now people are burning alive inside them. On Tech Won’t Save Us, I spoke to Dara Kerr to explore the safety disaster that the vehicles have become and why regulators aren’t...
Nigeria Taxes Heavy Vehicles to Curb Pollution, Spur EVs
Nigeria is imposing a new levy on buyers of heavy-engine vehicles, including SUVs and trucks, to price pollution, encourage EV adoption and boost tax revenue https://t.co/ofdTMwXoM3
SpaceX Registers Over 18% of U.S. Cybertrucks Q4
"SpaceX, the Musk-led rocket and satellite maker, accounted for 1,279 — or more than 18% — of the 7,071 Cybertrucks registered in the US during the fourth quarter, according to registration data that S&P Global Mobility provided to Bloomberg News."...
Decade of EVs Leads to Unexpected New Excitement
when I started driving an EV like 10 years ago and even when starting to write about EVs full time 5 years ago, I had not expect I would be excited about seeing stuff like this: https://t.co/YfIXJAPP9O
Tesla's “Hammer Down” Signals Semi Production Start
Does "Hammer down" mean Tesla is done with Semi prototype runs and starts mass production?
Midday Fast Charging Leverages Low Solar Prices, Reducing Cost Exposure
Fastned: "Fast charging peaks at midday, exactly when solar generation pushes electricity prices to their lowest. ⚡️throughput naturally avoids the costly morning & evening peaks, creating a structural hedge: more MWh delivered doesn't mean proportionally higher cost exposure." https://t.co/HO96yJFNhp
French Media Skips Tesla in Dutch Autonomy Approval
a French news channel covering that autonomous cars were approved in Netherlands but not mentioning once that it was about Tesla. Imagine the siloes people live in, even today.
Pay €1k Extra for 30 kWh More Energy
Two of these cost 1000 euros more than Luc’s iX3 and together offer 30kWh more for you to enjoy 😅 #alwaysbecharging ⚡️⚡️⚡️ https://t.co/VukQVQFH3Q
Boston Should Lead Autonomous Shift to End Auto Deaths
If Boston is going to stay the most family-friendly city in US we should be the first to go fully autonomous and end automobile deaths. We could get there by 2030 with the right incentives/regs. It's the new...
Ford CEO Plans to Deepen Ties with Chinese Automakers
Ford's $F CEO said the company is looking to expand business ties to Chinese 🇨🇳 automakers - Bloomberg
Use Existing Outlets, Skip Expensive Home Charger
Get a quote from a few different electricians. Prices can sometimes vary widely. Some electricians will charge more than they need to because they know EV owners tend to have higher incomes and will pay it. A dedicated wall charger...
Early Terafab Supplier Talks Reveal Near‑Term Pilot Plans
New and detailed report on early Terafab talks with key suppliers and some of details of near term ambitions for pilot line. With colleagues in Asia 👇
Robotaxis Now Deliver Takeout Without Human Drivers
Futuristic Robotaxis Couriers Deliver Takeout Fully Unmanned by @Fabriziobustama #EmergingTech #SmartCity #Tech #Technology #Innovation #TechForGood https://t.co/7G85SoJXSX
Tesla's First Unsupervised Cars Limited to Robotaxi Zones
Based on Tesla’s stated forecasts, unsupervised on customer vehicles will come first. (but you will have to be in an existing Robotaxi geofence)
EU Law Threatens British Car Makers, $94bn Trade
The EU should urgently adjust a proposed law that will discriminate against British automobile manufacturers and undermine $94 billion of annual trade, according to a trade group https://t.co/XnG2unYGQg
Consumers Prefer Robotaxis Over Owning New Luxury Robocars
A new robocar: https://t.co/yEijU7C02N I can see how this would sell a few. Rich people like having something that's different than the flood of Teslas here in Silicon Valley. And seeing a new approach to transportation that's based wholly around autonomy...
US EV Slump Stems From Bad Cars, Not Demand
The headlines last year about the 'automakers leaving EV market b/c buyers don't want them' were so off-base. The issue was US automakers (w/ the exception of Tesla) were making sh*t EVs. The market is there. Just make a good...
Giga Texas Water Use Claims Are Wildly Exaggerated
We debunked the Giga Texas & Terafab water usage drama that tries to discredit @elonmusk and create fear to locals. We ran all the calculations, it’s fully overblown. Save this into your mythbusting folder and surface when needed: https://t.co/3dWDUsQnaC
Tesla FSD Misidentifies Non‑emergency Vehicle, Slows Unnecessarily
File this ... again ... under two steps forward and one step back. Slowing for an emergency vehicle, on the other side of the road, that is not in an emergency situation. No sirens and no flashing lights. Tesla's FSD does...
Safety Beats Hardware: Heterogeneous Fleets Demand Robust FSD
No service running at scale is ever going to have a homogenous set of hardware. That’s like saying “wouldn’t it be easier for Apple to let everyone upgrade to iPhone 17 rather than making their software backwards compatible?” A heterogeneous...
India’s EV Push Still Hinges on Chinese Supply Chains
Battery and EV manufacturing are more dependent on China than ever despite billions in investment under the Make in India initiative Yes, innovative Chinese companies like BYD, CATL, and REE/magnet producers... https://t.co/CmFd1U4boY
Driverless Cars Will Redefine Transportation and Urban Life
What will the world look like when driverless cars start to hit the road? My latest for @IMechE https://t.co/aNC74D2qG4
Cloud Outage Halts Connected Cars, Exposing New Risks
Connected Cars Are Working Until The Servers Go Dark A system outage—not a mechanical failure—left drivers unable to stary their vehicles. Tge Intoxalock incident highlights the growing risks of cloud-dependent transportation. https://spectrum.ieee.org/connected-vehicle-risks?share_id=9358666
Building Trust for Robotaxis in British Asian Communities
𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 My column in the @AsianVoiceNews on building trust through inclusive & accurate conversations, especially amongst the British Asian community as London prepares itself for robotaxi deployment later this year... Thanks @RupanjanaDutta for covering this important topic...🙏🏽
Waymo Impresses with Consistently Striking Visual Design
got to hand it to Waymo - it does have great visuals all across its materials https://t.co/mthVhatwiH
Waymo Launches Operator‑supervised Autonomous Rides, Eyes Public Rollout
NEWS: @Waymo says they are officially beginning autonomous driving with an operator behind the wheel. Usually, the next steps are non-operator rides with employees riding, and then rollout to public. Read more in our next Robotaxi Report newsletter https://t.co/D50SrmWYPO https://t.co/sz1hLnphpl
Rolls‑Royce Unveils $9.5M Limited‑edition EV
Rolls-Royce Project Nightingale. 100 of these EVs will be made. Yours for just $9.5 million. https://t.co/wWg4OB8LMz
Nissan's Electric Juke Looks Even Worse than Original
I didn't think it was possible but Nissan was able to create an even worse looking Juke for its electric version -.- https://t.co/r1djLjjD9u
AI4 Already Outperforms Human Safety
AI5 will go into Optimus and Supercomputer clusters AI4 is already good enough to achieve better than human safety for self-driving
Uber's $10B Robotaxi Bet: Catch‑up After Market‑Driven Pause
Wild that Uber was one of the leaders in this space for a while, but then took its eye off the ball to appear sensible to the stock market, and is now racing to catch up. Uber commits $10bn to robotaxis...
Network Operators Could Unlock Australia’s Kerbside EV Charging
Can networks solve Australia’s “chicken-and-egg” EV problem? The battle for control of kerbside charging #energysky -- via Renew Economy: https://t.co/xpzheDun47 https://t.co/eaZ3zueOeo
Chinese Cars Outperforming Ford? Consumer Perception Shifts
What does that mean, the Chinese cars are so much better than what Ford is selling?
Waymo's Mandatory Google Login Kills User Interest
Downloaded @Waymo app as I was curious to try out its autonomous robotaxis Then deleted it after 10 seconds Absurd requirement to log in with a @Google account Hard no.
Tesla FSD Seamlessly Merges Traffic, Navigation, Autonomy
Initially, I wasn't sure why we were exiting the 51 and getting onto McDowell but I've learn to trust some aspects of Tesla's FSD. Real-time traffic, navigation and autonomous driving, all wrapped up into one. It's hard to beat.
Both Federal and Future Baden-Württemberg Governments Back Efficient Engines
.@MKreutzfeldt: "It's not only the black-red federal government that is fighting for the "highly efficient combustion engines", which have already been a frequent topic, but also, according to the exploratory paper, the future green-led state government in Baden-Württemberg" https://t.co/OPUx6ShDLy
EV Tariffs Fall Short; Europe Uncovers Chinese FX Meddling
Indeed -- EV tariffs (CVDs) also were clearly an insufficient response (lower than China's old WTO bound 25% auto tariff on Tesla and BYD, easy workaround with plug in hybrids) And Europe only now discovering Chinese intervention in the fx market
Subaru Introduces Roomier, $39,995 Mid‑Size EV SUV
@subaru_usa's doing a nice job of diversifying its EV portfolio and the Trailseeker is a nice addition. This mid-size all-electric SUV is way roomier than the Solterra, but it also has an attractive $39,995 starting cost. #subaru #subarunation https://t.co/BBqtpjm8mA
Ford Warns Chinese Car Entry Will Devastate U.S. Manufacturing
Ford’s top executive says allowing Chinese automakers to sell their cars in the US would be “devastating” to American manufacturing Bigger question: Why is that the case, now? https://t.co/0BoCuZ9nvf
Lucid Secures $1.05B, Swaps CEO, Expands Uber Robotaxi Deal
Lucid Group released a trifecta of major updates, announcing a $1.05 billion capital raise, a leadership change, and an expanded robotaxi partnership with Uber and an affiliate of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. https://t.co/F4hrNUg0UO