Making the Wrong Bets on Future Transportation Now Would Be Costly
Autonomous cars have entered City Council meetings, political campaigns and state legislation where making decisions about what cities should build today, is unnerving some transportation planners and transit advocates.
Unrealistic hopes for driverless cars could lead cities into plans they may come to regret.
New forms of transportation like Uber and Lyft are heavily subsidized by venture capital today, and so cities that expect private services to replace public transit are counting on those subsidies, too. They’re betting that driverless cars will get here, changing the economics of transportation, before the venture capitalists lose patience.
Read the article at The New York Times.
GM’s Cruise is the Front-Runner in the Autonomous Race
General Motors bought Cruise in 2016 as a 40-person startup. Today, it employs 740 people with an all-electric fleet of 180 vehicles travelling the hills of San Francisco, with 18 fast chargers in a parking garage.
For now, the Cruise AVs must have a human on board for safety for now. Its learning has made it a front-runner among competitors such as Waymo, Uber, Ford, Tesla and others to deliver on its promise to launch self-driving cars through a ride-sharing platform in 2019. GM has also quietly developed its own ride-sharing app called Cruise Anywhere and has been testing it with its employees.
Read the article at USA Today.
Drivers Value Car Safety, but They Also Want to be in Control
A national survey shows that drivers planning on buying a new or used vehicle in the next two years, are more interested in the crash-reducing safety features than the self-driving technology. Experts say the tech isn't yet predictable enough for drivers to feel comfortable depending on it.
"These haven’t even been out long enough to have proven themselves safe, so it seems natural that drivers want to maintain control until the technology proves its effectiveness,” said Kelly Funkhouser, program manager for vehicle interface at Consumer Reports. “Consumers don’t yet think their cars are better drivers than they are—but they want their cars to help them become better drivers.”
Read the article at MSN.
The Transition to EVs is Increasingly Dependent on Tesla’s Success
The success of EVs is crucial in so many ways—to the success of the U.S. auto industry, cleaning up our cities, and slowing climate change. So far, Tesla is the only company leading that charge.
Tesla plays an essential role as a visionary by consistently pushing the envelope on EV technology, forcing a rethinking of what EVs are and can be. It is likely that by the end of this year, Tesla will account for over 60% of all EV sales in the United States (up from 43% in May–June).
Read the article at Forbes.
Trump EPA Plans To Revoke California’s Smog-Fighting Power: Report
It’s a provocative move expected to result in a major legal battle.
The Trump administration plans to eliminate the special waiver that allows California to regulate automobile emissions as part of its proposed revision of Obama-era standards, Bloomberg and Reuters reported Monday.
It is likely the proposal, which is expected to come out this week, would trigger a high-stakes legal fight between the federal government and the nation’s largest car market.
Read the article at Huffington Post.
