| Volume 28 Welcome to the next edition of our bi-weekly recap of the latest and greatest in connected and on-demand mobility. If you’re not already receiving this email, you should be: Subscribe |
| Regulators make headway on wheelchair access for ride-hail StreetsBlog Cal, April 9th The state of California just took an important step forward to improve accessibility for users of wheelchairs and medical scooters on ride-hailing apps like Uber, Lyft, or HopSkipDrive. The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is working to implement a 2018 bill (S.B. 1376) that requires ride-hailing companies to make rides on their apps more readily available to these riders. |
| Polaris and Optimus Ride are co-developing ‘fully autonomous’ low-speed shuttles The Verge, March 30th Autonomous shuttle startup Optimus Ride and power sports vehicle manufacturer Polaris are teaming up to co-develop a new lineup of vehicles that will be low-speed, electric, and self-driving. |
| Tesla kicking inattentive drivers off “full self driving” beta testing Motor Trend, April 9th Tesla owners, are you getting excited to try the much-hyped FSD (Full Self-Driving) autonomous driving feature in Beta testing form? You had better make and keep a habit of keeping your eyes on the road. |
| Toyota launches semi-autonomous cars in Japan, coming to the US this fall Auto Week, April 8th With the global auto industry’s push toward vehicles becoming cleaner and safer, Toyota Motor Corp. unveiled in Japan new versions of the Lexus LS and Toyota Mirai, both equipped with advanced-driver assistance. Toyota officials in the US told Autoweek the 2022 LS 500h AWD with Advanced Drive, as the system is called, is expected to arrive at dealerships here this fall. |
| AxleHire raises $20 million to redefine last mile logistics Business Wire, April 7th AxleHire, a logistics innovation leader for last-mile delivery, today announced $20 million in new funding. This capital will enhance the company’s capabilities to deliver a more seamless same-day and next-day experience through new sortation technology, an expanded network of locations, and additional talent. |
| Porsche puts Taycan EV in its subscription fleet Wards Auto, March 29th Porsche’s U.S. subscription and rental programs now include the Taycan, the German automaker’s first all-electric sports car. |
| Domino’s Pizza pilots driverless delivery with Nuro autonomous car in Houston CNBC, April 12th Domino’s Pizza’s newest deliverer isn’t a person — it’s a self-driving car. The restaurant company said Monday that an autonomous car made by Nuro will start delivering pizzas in Houston this week as part of a pilot program. |
| This electric vehicle startup believes Tesla and Biden are getting it wrong Observer, April 12th In the early 2010s, when modern-day electric vehicles just started gaining traction in the U.S. and a few pockets in the world, Tesla and an Israeli startup called Better Place proposed a novel concept to solve the issue of long battery-charging times: Instead of re-charging, why not just swap dead batteries out altogether? |
| Aptera and its solar car are back from the dead The Verge, April 1st A decade ago, a small electric vehicle startup died. But now it’s back from the dead — and so is the government program that helped kill it. This zombie company, called Aptera, is once again trying to sell people on a curious idea: an ultra-efficient three-wheeled electric vehicle powered, in part, by solar panels. |
| AI safety system offers autonomous vehicle drivers seven seconds warning Intelligent Transport, April 6th A team of researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed a new early warning system for autonomous vehicles that uses artificial intelligence to learn from thousands of real traffic situations. The study of the system was carried out in cooperation with the BMW Group. |
| Intel’s Mobileye will launch a fully driverless delivery service in 2023 The Verge, April 12th Mobileye, the company that specializes in chips for vision-based autonomous vehicles, announced that it will launch a full-scale, fully driverless delivery service starting in 2023. The company, a subsidiary of Intel, is joining forces with self-driving delivery startup Udelv to run this new service. |
