Autonomous Cars

The Alphabet-owned company was previously only giving rides to people on its interest list. Now it will be open to anyone who downloads the Waymo app. The robotaxi operator says its also testing out rides to Nashville International Airport, and hopes to begin offering service soon. And coming later this year, Waymo will be an option in the Lyft app in Nashville.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration kicked off a new rulemaking aimed at eliminating the requirement for brake pedals as long as the vehicle is fully automated. If it passes, it would be a gift to companies like Zoox that make purpose-built AVs without traditional controls. Safety advocates have expressed concerns about these moves, arguing that its premature to eliminate the requirement for manual controls and could pose a safety risk.

The recall comes just weeks after Waymo vehicles drove past ramp closure signs in Arizona and entered closed lanes in San Francisco, according to a filing with the NHTSA. The company paused freeway service last month due to the issue, which it’s fixing with a software update.

The company has yet to launch in its first market (San Francisco, later this year) but is already gearing up for its second. In Houston, Uber will be competing for passengers with Waymo and Tesla. But the ridehail company is in it to win it, having already secured a 50,000 square-foot facility for maintenance, and a charging pitstop for its Lucid-made, Nuro-powered robotaxis.

The 5,458-acre site in Wittman, Arizona, was once the centerpiece of Apple’s ambition to build its own self-driving car. But after Tim Cook pulled the plug on Project Titan, the tech company put the testing ground up for sale. The deal, recorded June 5th in Maricopa County filings, is for $220 million — nearly twice the $125 million Apple paid for it in 2021. And it comes as Waymo expands its presence in Arizona, including new office space in Tempe.

The over-the-air software update will allow Lucid Gravity owners to drive hands-free on “compatible” North American highways. A manual tug of the turn signal will also initiate hands-free lane changing. The software update will also bring to the Gravity new Google Maps’ Smarter Navigation feature, Adaptive High Beams, and more detailed battery information.

Virginia doesn’t allow autonomous vehicles yet, but Wired reports the company told state officials in a meeting this week its vehicles are in the state, mapping Arlington and Alexandria with their sensors. Updated laws governing self-driving vehicles are still under discussion, but it’s preparing to bring its vehicles one step closer to Washington, D.C., despite public skepticism and some recent issues.

Parent company Stellantis said it would be integrating Wayve’s tech into its STLA AutoDrive platform to enable “hands-free, door-to-door supervised automated driving across both urban streets and highways.” Think of it as Stellantis’ answer to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving. The automaker also has a preexisting deal with Nvidia, Uber, and Foxconn to make robotaxis.

First, Waymo vehicles needed a software update to stop trying to drive through flooded roads. Then, a neighborhood in Atlanta was overwhelmed by empty Waymos that caused a traffic jam in a cul-de-sac.

Business Insider thinks so, pointing to some recent evidence like Uber’s CTO tweeting about a “scary Waymo moment” and an Uber white paper that emphasizes a hybrid model of human- and robot-powered rides over an AV only model. Driverless Digest’s Harry Campbell is also predicting that Waymo and Uber’s partnership may be running out of steam.

In an earnings call last month, Elon Musk was feeling bullish that Full Self-Driving (Supervised) would soon be authorized in the European Union, especially after the Level 2 automated system was approved for use in the Netherlands. But according to emails seen by Reuters, EU regulators are in no rush to give the green light. They have issues with FSD, including “the system’s tendency to speed, whether it is safe to use on icy ​roads and drivers’ ability to circumvent features designed to prevent cell-phone use.”

Di Jin says the robo taxi took off with his luggage still in the trunk. But the real issue is how the company handled the issue. First, it told him the cab couldn’t be turned around to return his items, then it tried to charge him for shipping.

California cops will now be allowed to give tickets to self-driving cars for traffic violations, raising some interesting philosophical questions.

Emergency response officials from San Francisco and Austin met with regulators from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in a private meeting last month to clear the air about robotaxis, according to a recording obtained by Wired. Waymo vehicles are “freezing” in front of fire stations and committing more traffic violations, the officials said. Waymo declined to attend the meeting.

For the first time, the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles approved new regulations allowing for the testing and deployment of heavy-duty autonomous trucks. The agency also expanded its current rules to allow law enforcement to cite operators for moving violations involving their autonomous vehicles. AV companies are also now required to respond to first responder calls within 30 seconds, and to allow officials to clear AVs from emergency zones.

Eight months after the iOS app launched, Tesla has released an Android version of its Robotaxi app. The service expanded to Houston and Dallas last week, but still seems to only have a small number of vehicles actually on the road.

The Amazon-owned company is testing robotaxi rides with employees as passengers to and from the Las Vegas airport. The plan is to offer the service publicly in the near future. But as many have noted, it may be tough going in a vehicle without any dedicated storage space for luggage.

The company said today its robotaxis in the two Florida cities would be available to anyone using its ridehail app. Waymo typically invites select riders on a rolling basis before opening up its service to anyone with the app. The company take riders on Miami’s freeways, so routes could be a little quicker than usual.

Uber and Volkswagen are now testing their first robotaxis on the streets of LA, in anticipation of launching a commercial service later this year. The all-electric VW ID Buzz minivans are using autonomous technology developed by VW subsidiary, MOIA America. The company plans on scaling the fleet to 100 vehicles during the testing phase. Each vehicle will have a safety driver ready to take over in case something goes wrong.