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| Self-driving setbacks: AV companies bruised in California showdowns |
SAN FRANCISCO — Delays, defeat and dystopia.
Tuesday marked a sobering and perhaps seminal milepost in efforts to deploy and expand the presence of autonomous vehicles in California.
In the morning, the California Public Utilities Commission again delayed a vote on commercial robotaxi applications from Cruise and Waymo. Cruise wants to expand and Waymo wants to begin service in San Francisco.
In the afternoon, a state Senate subcommittee unanimously advanced legislation that would prohibit self-driving trucks from operating on the state’s roads.
In between, Jeffrey Tumlin, director of transportation at the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency, said current deployments on city streets have sown havoc. He warned that without cooperation from self-driving technology companies, self-driving taxis could cause “dystopic scenarios” related to traffic and safety.
Tumlin sketched a troubling portrait of everyday problems that have knotted traffic, upset first responders and concerned transit riders. His assessment was part of his keynote address Tuesday at the Automated Road Transportation Symposium, an annual gathering of top industry, academic and governmental insiders hosted by the Transportation Research Board.
He has aired concerns before, but they came Tuesday amid a fresh barrage of other forces shaping both public opinion and policy related to self-driving technology in California.
— Pete Bigelow
What you need to know
Robotaxi ventures making slow but sure progress: Ten companies are leading the development of self-driving technology for robotaxis.
Stuck in slow lane, NHTSA proposes new regulatory path for self-driving vehicles: The program would be an alternate to the exemption requests process, and General Motors could be a prime beneficiary.
Daimler Truck is making cautious cool: The Freightliner owner has weathered the zero-emission transition by having multiple technology approaches.
How e-fuel could extend the life of ICE vehicles in the electric age: Porsche, Stellantis, Ferrari, BMW and other automakers are taking a hard look at carbon neutral e-fuel to extend the life of the internal combustion powertrains in their sports cars and pickups.
Roundup
Nikola turns to Delaware law to help finance hydrogen pivot.
Bosch launches production of fuel cell power modules for Nikola trucks.
Smart Eye’s Driver Monitoring System monitors vital signs.
EV charging firms oppose Texas’ ‘premature’ plan to mandate Tesla standard.
Toyota to make hydrogen fuel cells in Kentucky in December.
TeraWatt has designs on providing juice that EV trucks need.
Brain Food
Water + CO2 + energy = e-fuel.
Last mile
Rolls-Royce threatens to blacklist EV flippers.