Tag Archives: Autonomous Driving

Twist: NHTSA Tesla Autopilot Probe Now Includes Other Automakers

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has been doing a deep dive into Tesla’s Autopilot to determine if 765,000 vehicles from the 2014 model year onward are fit to be on the road. We’ve covered it on numerous occasions, with your author often making a plea for regulators not to harp on one company when the entire industry has been slinging advanced driving aids and distracting infotainment displays for years.

Apparently someone at the NHTSA either heard the blathering, or was at least of a similar mind, because the organization has expanded its investigation to include roughly a dozen other automakers.

On Monday, letters were issued to major manufacturers — reportedly including BMW, Honda, Toyota, and Ford Motor Co. — requesting a “comparative analysis amongst production vehicles equipped with the ability to control both steering and braking/accelerating simultaneously under some circumstances.”

Bloomberg was the first to learn of the regulatory notices and stated that they included comprehensive documentation on how driver-assistance features work for each company, as well as how they know when and if a system was engaged in the event of an accident. Since the Tesla probe originally started by investigating vehicle crashes in the presence of rescue and law-enforcement vehicles, the NHTSA also wants to know how various systems handle their presence. Automakers were asked by regulators to respond no later than November 17th, 2021.

This is probably something the Department of Transportation should have been looking into years earlier, rather than allowing the industry to implement features that debatably went onto the market unproven. Now we’re in a situation where driving aids have become the norm and regulators are just starting to get serious about looking into some of the resulting complications. But it’s difficult to say what’s right when regulations often have unintended consequences and rarely seem to take the larger picture into account.

It’s not difficult to imagine a scenario where the NHTSA wants all manufacturers to network all vehicles with emergency responders to prevent future incidents where an automobile goes haywire near some flashing lights and road flares. While that would almost assuredly result in a technical violation of the Fourth Amendment, counties lacking such protections have already implemented traffic enforcement centers (e.g. China) that track networked vehicles in real time and individual automakers have data hubs on U.S. soil doing roughly the same thing.

But that’s just one possible scenario.

Regulators could just as easily attempt to establish a set of rules relating to how, when, and where these systems can be operated. A certification and testing protocol could also be implemented to ensure their effectiveness or automakers might be forbade from implementing certain functions entirely. Nobody but bureaucrats hold any love for red tape, and it’s bound to result costly recall campaigns. However doing nothing might leave millions of vehicles on the road with potentially hazardous safety and convenience packages and I haven’t the faintest idea whether that’s going to be the best or absolute worst solution to this problem. There are several issues here begging to be addressed (safety, privacy, a lack of standardization, increased costs, manufacturing complexities, etc.) but so many regulatory actions turn out to be counter productive that it makes one hesitant to endorse anything.

As pickles go, this one is taking up the whole damn jar — thanks partially to regulators dragging their feet and out-of-touch legislators having next to no idea how any of these systems worked. Rather than examining things seriously six or seven years ago and attempting to establish a competent regulatory framework that could be updated as new technologies cropped up, the government now has to play catchup and plot a course of action while it’s still learning how these systems function.

[Image: Virrage Images/Shutterstock]

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Lyft Sells Self-Driving Business Unit to Toyota for $500 Million

Lyft has been using the autonomous prototypes in the Las Vegas market.

Lyft Inc. sold its autonomous vehicle technology unit, Level 5, to Toyota Motor Co. for $550 million, following the lead of its rival, Uber Inc.

The company launched Level 5 in 2017 to build a self-driving system for its network of vehicles. The goal, ultimately, was to eliminate the need for drivers. The company grew to nearly 400 employees, but as Lyft continues to lose money overall, it needed to find ways to end its string of quarterly losses.

Not only will it get $550 million from Toyota, it will also stop funneling multiple millions of dollars into a development project with no finish line in sight for a payoff. Lyft gets $200 million immediately and the remaining $350 million will be paid in installments during the next five years.

Uber finalized a similar deal last fall, selling its autonomous vehicle unit called Advanced Technology Group to Aurora led by former Waymo chief Chris Urmson for $400 million.

Immediate financial relief

Lyft has provided 100,000 self-driving rides as part of its autonomous technology development.

The ride-hailing company said selling its Level 5 subsidiary puts it back on the path to profitability. First and foremost, it cuts $100 million of annualized non-GAAP operating expenses on a net basis, Co-founder and President John Zimmer noted in the announcement.

“Assuming the transaction closes within the expected timeframe and the COVID recovery continues, we are confident that we can achieve Adjusted EBITDA profitability in the third quarter of this year,” Zimmer said in a statement.

The company isn’t getting out of the robotaxi business. It’s already partnered with Motional and Waymo to develop self-driving tech and now it will just rely on that partnership to move toward autonomous vehicles. Working with the pair, Lyft’s already provided more than 100,000 self-driving rides in its vehicles in the last three years.

However, Lyft can now focus on what it can do best with autonomous vehicles by offering services such as routing, consumer interface and managing, and maintaining and cleaning partners’ autonomous vehicle fleets, which could mean added revenue, it said.

Uber made a similar choice

Lyft’s deal is similar to Uber’s move last December to sell its Advanced Technology Group, or ATG, to Aurora, the autonomous vehicle technology company founded by Google and Waymo veteran Chris Urmson. The deal came in at $400 million.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted after the sale of its ATG unit the company’s path to profitability had been shortened.

AVs were a critical component of the path to profitability by Uber, which now relies on part-time drivers or gig workers to ferry passengers, using its celebrated phone app. Uber invested huge sums in its internal AV project; however, was crippled in 2018 when one of its test vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. It never really recovered.

Uber also ended up with a 26% ownership interest in Aurora on a fully diluted basis, the company said in a filing.

Aurora and Uber agreed to collaborate to launch self-driving vehicles on its ride-hailing and food delivery network. Uber is also working on building out its freight logistics platform but is not operating its own trucks at present.

The completion of the deal caused Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to utter a familiar refrain to Reuters: “This essentially advances our path to profitability.” He said the deal should put the company on track for profitability by the end of this year, largely due to the fact Uber would no longer be investing vast sums of cash into ATG.


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Dominos, Nuro Team Up to Test Driverless Delivery Vehicles

Domino Nuro R2 Robot delivers

Domino’s and Silicon Valley startup Nuro are partnering to use the self-driving R2 robot to deliver pizzas in Houston.

The development of Autonomous Vehicle (AV) technology can sometimes be as easy as pie, a pizza pie that is.

Ann Arbor, Michigan-based pizza chain Domino’s and autonomous vehicle developer Nuro Monday unveiled a new self-driving pizza delivery vehicle. The two companies will be testing in a Houston neighborhood.

The way it works is that select customers who place a prepaid website order from the participating Domino’s store can opt to have their order delivered by R2, the nickname for the driverless vehicle, which got approval to drive on roads in California in February 2020 — first vehicle to get that approval in the U.S.

These select customers receive text alerts updating them on R2’s location and provide them with a unique PIN to retrieve their order once the vehicle arrives at their home. Customers may also track the vehicle via GPS on their order confirmation page. Once R2 arrives, customers will be prompted to enter their PIN on the robot’s touchscreen. R2’s doors will then open upward, revealing the customer’s hot Domino’s order.

Pizza delivery explores future of AVs

Domino Nuro autonomous pizza delivery

Domino’s and Nuro are launching autonomous pizza delivery in Houston, beginning this week.

“We’re excited to continue innovating the delivery experience for Domino’s customers by testing autonomous delivery with Nuro in Houston,” said Dennis Maloney, Domino’s senior vice president and chief innovation officer.

“There is still so much for our brand to learn about the autonomous delivery space. This program will allow us to better understand how customers respond to the deliveries, how they interact with the robot and how it affects store operations.”

Domino’s spokeswoman Dani Bulger said this system will not eliminate Domino’s need for delivery drivers, as this is a test intended to keep us ahead in the world of technology.

“We’ve introduced many innovations over the years, which have changed the roles of some jobs, but employment has continued to grow,” Bulger said. “We believe autonomous vehicles will play a role in our overall delivery strategy, alongside our delivery drivers, as we continue to provide the best delivery experience possible to our customers. We don’t use third-party delivery aggregators.”

This isn’t Domino’s maiden voyage with autonomous delivery vehicles. In 2017, the pizza maker teamed with Ford on a similar project in Ann Arbor. The test program ran six weeks and used driverless Ford Fusion sedans converted for specially for the project. Each vehicle is equipped with a heated compartment that can carry up to four pizzas and five side dishes.

The Niro R2 is designed to tackle the “last mile” deliveries, like groceries.

Much like the Nuro-Domino’s collaboration, customers punched in PIN to gain access to their order. There actually was a person behind the wheel of the prototype delivery vehicles — a Ford engineer monitoring the operation of the test cars. But the windows of the vehicles will be blacked out and there was no direct interaction with customers.

Size matters

The Silicon Valley startup rolled out its first iteration of R2 last fall. It’s specifically designed for “last mile” deliveries. To that end, the R2 is small. And that’s for a specific reason. Narrow vehicles allow for better passive and dynamic safety. This could help prevent pedestrian fatalities on roads.

Since Nuro vehicles only carry goods, the company can turn safety innovation inside out, shifting its focus to protecting those outside the vehicle.

The R2 features 360-degree cameras, as well as Lidar, short and long-range radar, and ultrasonic sensors. These techs combine that advanced hardware with a robust autonomy stack that includes mapping, localization, perception, and prediction. The result is a representation of the road without any blind spots.

Ford and Domino’s partnered in a test program to deliver pizzas using autonomous vehicles.

Intelligent production

The R2 is built using the principles of “Intelligent Production.” The company uses basic components when they make sense and crafts custom parts when needed. That allows Nuro to build the best system without being limited by the constraints of existing vehicles.

This approach allows Nuro to deploy and iterate quickly to create safe autonomous solutions as quickly as possible.

“Nuro’s mission is to better everyday life through robotics. Now, for the first time, we’re launching real world, autonomous deliveries with R2 and Domino’s,” said Dave Ferguson, Nuro co-founder and president. “We’re excited to introduce our autonomous delivery robots to a select set of Domino’s customers in Houston. We can’t wait to see what they think.”


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Krafcik Leaves Waymo After Five Years as CEO

John Krafcik NADA 2018

Waymo CEO John Krafcik is way gone, announcing his departure and the company’s plans to move the current COO and CTO into the role of co-CEO.

Add “former” to the title of Waymo CEO John Krafcik, who announced today he’s left the company.

The former Hyundai Motor America chief spent five years heading up the autonomous vehicle subsidiary of Google, which, according to his farewell on LinkedIn, “was called ‘Chauffeur’ internally.”

Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov, of whom Krafcik said “having seen their brilliance, vision, and commitment in play for years — I assure you they are very well suited for this,” take over as co-CEOs of the Mountain View, Calif.-based AI-focused company. As is often the case with senior executives, Krafcik will stay on in an advisory capacity.

“So now, with the fully autonomous Waymo One ride-hailing service open to all in our launch area of Metro Phoenix, and with the fifth generation of the Waymo Driver being prepared for deployment in ride-hailing and goods delivery, it’s a wonderful opportunity for me to pass the baton to Tekedra and Dmitri as Waymo’s co-CEOs,” he wrote.

Next steps

Waymo co CEO Tekedra Mawakana

Waymo named former COO Tekedra Mawakana as its new co-CEO to replace Krafcik.

Krafcik didn’t offer many details what the future holds, although it could be that he’s uncertain himself. He said he and his wife, Leila, will take a “coupbatical,” which he described as “a refresh period where we look forward to reconnecting with old friends & family, and discovering new parts of the world.

“After that, we’ve got a few ideas for focus and contribution that we’ll flesh out together and share when the time is right. We’ve already relocated to Austin, Texas, and we look forward to seeing some of you there, or on our travels.”

Krafcik once headed up Hyundai’s U.S. operations, helping lead the brand through an image renaissance and a period of rapid growth. He even earned the “Automotive Executive of the Year” in 2013. However, his run there ended in late 2013 after the South Korean automaker declined to renew his contract — despite the accolade.

However, he quickly landed on his feet, taking over as CEO of TrueCar just as the automotive sales and data website was readying to go public. His tenure there was short, however, as he moved on to Waymo, then-Google’s self-driving car project, just a little more than a year later in September 2015.

Dynamic duo

Waymo coCEO Dmitri Dolgov

Waymo CTO Dmitri Dolgov joins Mawakana as co-CEO with Krafcik’s departure.

As for the company, Mawakana and Dolgov now step into new roles. Previously the COO and CTO respectively, they are described as having “complementary skill sets and experiences.” Due to the nature of their roles, they’re already accustomed to working together.

Dolgov, who started in autonomy as part of Stanford’s DARPA Urban Challenge team, joined the company in 2009, when it was still referred to as Google’s self-driving car project. Over time, his influence and responsibility grew. He became CTO late in 2016.

Mawakana, joined­­ Waymo as a policy lead. Prior to joining the company in 2017, she led global policy teams at eBay, AOL, Startec and Yahoo, after beginning her career as Washington, D.C.-based law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP.


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Honda Gets Approval for Level 3 Driving in Japan

Honda just received approval to implement Level 3 autonomous technology in Japan.

Much of the focus on autonomous driving has been on Tesla, Waymo and, perhaps to a lesser extent, General Motors. However, it may be time to shine the spotlight on Honda as it passed a new milestone: Level 3 autonomy.

The automaker just received approval from Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to use its new technology to drive vehicles under certain conditions on roads in the country, in this case during congested highway traffic.

The new tech, which it calls Traffic Jam Pilot, will be made available on its Honda Legend before March 31, 2021, which is the end of its fiscal year, according to the automaker. It’s not currently in use in the United States.

(Honda adds new tech, tweaks styling to keep 2021 Accord fresh.)

In order to use Traffic Jam Pilot, Honda drivers must display this sticker.

The system has to meet some minimum requirements to be used, including its use doesn’t compromise the safety of the vehicle’s occupants or other road users, adopt cyber security measures to prevent unauthorized access by hackers, a driver monitoring function, an operating recording device and a sticker on the back of the vehicle indicating it’s an automated vehicle.

Honda’s the first automaker to take advantage of changes to an amendment to Japan’s Road Vehicle Act allowing Level 3 autonomous vehicles on the road, however, the company said it had no plans to stop there.

“Honda will remain dedicated to the further development of safety technologies while striving to serve people worldwide with the joy and freedom of mobility, providing people with peace of mind and inspire their feeling of curiosity,” the company said in its release.

(Honda quitting F1, shifting resources to EV development.)

The MILT, which keeps tabs on all of the efforts by automakers in this arena, views this technology playing an important role in road safety in the future.

“Self-driving cars are expected to play a big role in helping reduce traffic accidents, provide transportation for the elderly and improve logistics,” said Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism.

Autonomous vehicles come with six levels, ranging from 0 to 5. For example, Level 2 cars can control their own speed and steering but must have an alert driver able to take control at all times. Tesla’s Autopilot and GM’s Super Cruise would be examples of Level 2 autonomous, which is typically described as semi-autonomous.

(Tesla Autopilot slammed as Consumer Reports gives top rating to Cadillac Super Cruise.)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has repeated said the company’s full-service driving function will be operational by the end of this year, but it’s unlikely to be able to be used at that point, pending U.S. government (and other foreign governments) approval. The company plans to charge as much as $10,000 for the technology.

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Tesla Chooses Texas for Next Gigafactory

In case you were wondering if Texas or Oklahoma was the site for the new Gigafactory, that’s Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas on the left.

Things are coming up roses for Tesla these days – yellow roses – as the California-based EV maker announced it will build its next Gigafactory on a 2,000-acre plot of land just outside Austin, Texas.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed the choice – Tulsa, Oklahoma was the other finalist – during the company’s second quarter earnings call. He said the site, which is on the banks of the Colorado River, would be an “ecological paradise” with a hiking and biking trail open to the public, should open sometime next year.

The plant, dubbed GigaTexas, will build a variety of vehicles, including the new Cybertruck and the Tesla semi. It will also handle Model 3 and Model Y production for the eastern half of North America. He also noted that Tulsa could still be in line for a future factory. After announcement, Musk was quick to point out the company will still grow in California.

(Tesla reports $104M Q2 profit; fourth consecutive quarter of profits.)

“We expect California to do Model X and S for worldwide consumption, and 3 and Y for the western half of North America. We also think the Tesla Roadster … would make sense in California. I think this is a nice split between Texas and California.”

Tesla’s Cybertruck is one of four products that the company will build at GigaTexas once it’s complete.

In addition to what is going to get built where in the U.S., Musk addressed potential future products and how they fit into the company’s plans.

“It would be reasonable to assume we’d make a compact vehicle of some kind, and probably a high capacity vehicle of some kind,” he said. “These are likely things at some point. I do think there’s a long way to go with 3 and Y, Cybertruck and semi. There’s a long way to go with those. I think we’ll do the obvious things.”

While future product is critical to the company’s long-term growth, Musk says he’s got his eyes on a short-term prize: full-self driving. The CEO has long predicted that (insert year here) will be when FSD will be available in vehicles.

However, after years of missed deadlines, the company may be on track to meet his latest goal of having it available sometime this year. He called it the “most important thing” on his very full agenda, adding “everything else is pretty small by comparison.”

(Texas offers Tesla $80M in incentives for new gigafactory.)

Musk has been selling the FSD to buyers for several years now but increasing the price for the dormant technology during the past few years, starting at $5,000 to add it and now it sits at $8,000 and it’s going to get pricier as it gets closer to launch. However, there’s a good reason to charge so much money for the technology, Musk believes, as you’ll get what you pay for — and then some.

Tesla is getting ready to produce its first heavy-duty model, the all-electric Semi. It, too, will be built at the new plant in Texas.

“I think the upgrading of the fleet to full-self driving, essentially with an over-the-air software update, I mean may go down as the biggest asset value increase in history as a step change,” he said. “Overnight … you’d have like, I don’t know, a few million cars suddenly becoming five times more valuable.”

Those vehicles also become an even bigger revenue stream for Musk and Tesla as then he can begin to sell access for services, like shopping, games, movies, etc. that could be used by drivers as they allow their vehicle to drive them to their destination.

In fact, Musk is using an advanced test version of the technology now and says he can drive from his home to the office without intervention. While he wouldn’t commit to it being ready this year, he suggested he thought it would be, then it would be a matter of governmental approvals.

(CEO Musk sees big growth coming soon for Tesla.)

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padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; } div#gJSomKNtPm .mailoptin-video-container iframe, div#gJSomKNtPm .mailoptin-video-container object, div#gJSomKNtPm .mailoptin-video-container embed, div#gJSomKNtPm .mailoptin-video-container video { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }#gJSomKNtPm .mo-optin-form-container .mo-optin-spinner { border-radius: inherit; position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; background: #fff url(https://www.thedetroitbureau.com/wp-content/plugins/mailoptin/src/core/src/assets/images/spinner.gif) 50% 50% no-repeat; left: 0; top: 0; opacity: 0.99; filter: alpha(opacity=80); } #gJSomKNtPm .mo-optin-form-container .mo-optin-success-close { font-size: 32px !important; font-family: “HelveticaNeue – Light”, “Helvetica Neue Light”, “Helvetica Neue”, Helvetica, Arial, “Lucida Grande”, sans-serif !important; color: #282828 !important; font-weight: 300 !important; position: absolute !important; top: 0 !important; right: 10px !important; background: none !important; text-decoration: none !important; width: auto !important; height: auto !important; display: block !important; line-height: 32px !important; padding: 0 !important; -moz-box-shadow: none !important; -webkit-box-shadow: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; } #gJSomKNtPm .mo-optin-form-container .mo-optin-form-wrapper .mo-optin-success-msg { font-size: 21px; font-family: “HelveticaNeue – Light”, “Helvetica Neue Light”, “Helvetica Neue”, Helvetica, Arial, “Lucida Grande”, sans-serif; color: #282828 !important; font-weight: 300; text-align: center; margin: 0 auto; width: 100%; position: absolute !important; left: 50%; top: 50%; -webkit-transform: translate(-50%, -50%); -moz-transform: translate(-50%, -50%); -o-transform: translate(-50%, -50%); -ms-transform: translate(-50%, -50%); transform: translate(-50%, -50%); } #gJSomKNtPm .mo-optin-form-container .mo-optin-form-wrapper .mo-optin-success-msg a { color: #0000EE; text-decoration: underline; }div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-headline, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container h2, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container h1 { font-size: 32px !important; }div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-description, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost p { font-size: 18px !important; }div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-note { font-size: 14px !important; }@media screen and (max-width: 768px) { div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-headline, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost h2, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost h1 { font-size: 30px !important; } div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-description, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost p { font-size: 18px !important; } div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-note { font-size: 14px !important; } }@media screen and (max-width: 480px) { div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-headline, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost h2, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost h1 { font-size: 25px !important; } div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-description, div#gJSomKNtPm div.mo-optin-form-container div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost p { font-size: 16px !important; } div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-note, div#gJSomKNtPm div#gJSomKNtPm_inpost .mo-optin-form-note * { font-size: 12px !important; } }div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-mailchimp-interest-container { margin: 0 10px 2px; } div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-mailchimp-interest-label { font-size: 16px; margin: 5px 0 2px; } div#gJSomKNtPm input.mo-mailchimp-interest-choice { line-height: normal; border: 0; margin: 0 5px; } div#gJSomKNtPm span.mo-mailchimp-choice-label { vertical-align: middle; font-size: 14px; } div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-mailchimp-interest-choice-container { margin: 5px 0; }div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-mailchimp-interest-label { display:inline-block!important; } div#gJSomKNtPm span.mo-mailchimp-choice-label { vertical-align:baseline!important; } div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-mailchimp-interest-container { padding:18px 0 6px 0; } div#gJSomKNtPm .mo-mailchimp-choice-label { font-size:16px!important; }