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☆ Self-driving cars were supposed to take over the road. What happened?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Caitlin O'Hara/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesGeneral Motors bought a self-driving company in 2016. Big talk, smaller resultsUrmson, while leading Google’s self-driving car project before founding Aurora, talked of his preteen son never needing to get a driver’s license. A self-driving car, without a steering wheel or pedals, would have to be able to drive itself in literally every situation possible. “It’s really, really hard,” Waymo’s then-CEO John Krafcik said in 2018 of self-driving technology. Companies developing lidar, widely seen as a key component for self-driving vehicles, as well as self-driving companies, have seen their stocks plummet recently.

☆ Rivian owners can’t help but gush about their trucks, flaws and all
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

“The Rivian is probably my favorite vehicle.”A Rivian R1T leaves the assembly line at its manufacturing plant in Normal, Illinois. Rivian owners have generally praised the R1T's features, including the gear tunnel for extra storage. Barnhart was one of several Rivian owners who said they were pleased with how accurately Rivian estimates its vehicles range. Feehley and other Rivian owners say it’s common to get questions from curious onlookers in parking lots, or to have people in cars driving alongside them taking pictures. Rivian owners describe being unwilling to ever sell their trucks.

☆ Mobileye goes public, raising millions for Intel
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington, DC CNN —Intel spun out its driver-assist subsidiary Mobileye Wednesday and raised $861 million in the initial public offering. Intel had purchased Mobileye in 2017 for $15.3 billion, but announced in Dec. 2021 that it would spin out Mobileye. Mobileye, founded in 1999 in Israel, was an early leader in emerging driver-assist technology that can perceive the road and steer accordingly. Mobileye says being a public company again may help it draw attention to its products. “It’s important for us to amplify attention and a public company platform really allows you to do that,” Mobileye spokesman Dan Galves told CNN Business Wednesday.

☆ Ford, VW pull plug on robotaxis in blow to self-driving car industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Ford said Wednesday that it had concluded that the large-scale profitable commercialization of self-driving cars was further out then expected. Some Argo AI employees will join Ford for that work, Farley said. The company was developing robotaxis, self-driving vehicles that can operate in a ridehail service that does not require human drivers. The team effort allowed Ford and VW to share the hefty costs of developing self-driving cars. Companies have found that developing self-driving cars is incredibly expensive.

☆ Elon Musk didn’t want EV tax credits. Now Tesla is warming up to them
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington, DC CNN —Tesla buyers may be able to take advantage of new federal tax credits for electric vehicles next year, the automaker’s executives said Wednesday. The remarks represent a reversal of sorts for the car maker, as Tesla CEO Elon Musk had spoken out against proposed electric vehicle tax credits in the last year. “This is written by Ford/UAW lobbyists, as they make their electric car in Mexico.”Tesla and Elon Musk have signaled that they're embracing the new electric vehicle tax credits. The most highly voted question asked about Tesla’s ability to meet thresholds for the electric vehicle tax credits in 2023, 2024 and 2025. The Tesla Model X SUV and Tesla Model S sedan appear unlikely to qualify, as SUVs must not cost more than $80,000 and sedans must not surpass $55,000.

☆ Waymo to expand robotaxi service to Los Angeles
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington, DC CNN —Waymo, the robotaxi provider of Google’s parent company Alphabet, said Wednesday that it will expand its ridehail service to Los Angeles. It is taking steps towards offering public robotaxi trips in San Francisco as well as downtown Phoenix, which is close to Chandler. Waymo began operating robotaxis in Arizona in 2017 and opened the service to the public in October 2020. Last year one Waymo robotaxi became stranded on a road while carrying a passenger and then unexpectedly drove away as the company’s roadside assistance arrived. Google gave the first robotaxi ride in October 2015 to a blind man in Austin, Texas.

☆ Why convenience stores aren't rushing to replace gas pumps with EV chargers
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Washington, DC CNN —Gas stations with convenience stores seem like an obvious location for electric vehicle chargers. The bipartisan infrastructure bill is providing $7.5 billion to help pay for electric vehicle chargers that could help gradually replace gas pumps. Convenience stores with fuel pumps account for 80% of fuel purchased in the US, according to the industry trade group. Customers charging electric vehicles must stick around longer, so they may be more likely to buy food and other goods. That way the convenience stores aren’t pulling a huge amount of power from the grid at once.

☆ Tesla Autopilot’s safety questioned after latest fatal motorcycle crash
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Driver-assist crash data that automakers like Tesla must report to NHTSA was published Monday and revealed that Autopilot was engaged. A Utah motorcycle rider was killed in July after being struck by a Tesla driver using Autopilot. Utah Department of SafetyA Tesla driver using Autopilot struck a motorcycle lying on a road on July 7 at 4:47 a.m in Riverside, California. Motorcycle safety advocates say they’re concerned that the software fails to see motorcycles and lulls Tesla drivers into a sense of complacency and inattentiveness. Europe’s vehicle safety programs test if driver-assist systems identify motorcycles.

Washington, DC CNN —Nikola founder Trevor Milton was convicted Friday by a U.S. jury of fraud in a case alleging he lied to investors about the electric and hydrogen fuel cell company’s technology. The jury found Milton guilty on a count of securities fraud and two counts of wire fraud after deliberating for roughly five hours. Milton was acquitted on another count of securities fraud. He also was accused of defrauding the seller of a Utah ranch, who accepted Nikola stock options as part of the purchase price based on Milton’s claims about the company. Milton, who called the report criticizing Nikola a “hit job,” and “lies,” resigned from his position as Nikola chairman in Sept. 2020.

☆ Tesla's autopilot software is under investigation in Europe following a tweet
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Green tweeted that Tesla recently added the name of an Australian and Asian vehicle testing ground to its software. There are other vehicle testing grounds also listed in the code, he said, located in Europe, China and Korea. Important tests that benchmark vehicle safety happen at these sites, which have government and industry support. Now Euro NCAP, Europe’s government-backed organization that evaluates vehicle safety, is investigating Tesla following this suggestion. The organization has examined Tesla’s software updates to test vehicles and not found any fault, Williams said.

☆ A tweet launched an investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot software
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Green tweeted that Tesla recently added the name of an Australian and Asian vehicle testing ground to its software. There are other vehicle testing grounds also listed in the code, he said, located in Europe, China and Korea. Important tests that benchmark vehicle safety happen at these sites, which have government and industry support. The organization has examined Tesla’s software updates to test vehicles and not found any fault, Williams said. Though there is no indication that Tesla software is interfering with any testing, It’s not unheard of for an automaker to use software to manipulate a test.

☆ Confused drivers think they have ‘self-driving’ cars. That’s dangerous, an insurance group warns
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington, DC CNN Business —Drivers are putting too much trust in their vehicles’ driver-assist features, which may lead to dangerous situations, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). These systems are all driver-assist features that combine adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping systems, primarily to keep a car in a lane and following traffic on the highway. The IIHS called for automakers to design these driver-assist features to promote proper use. Drivers were more likely to conduct non-driving tasks like these when using the driver-assist features. The findings were based on phone and online surveys of roughly 600 regular users of SuperCruise, Autopilot and ProPilot Assist.

☆ Elon Musk announces Tesla Semi production after Twitter deal returns
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-07 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington, DC CNN —Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Thursday that production of its Semi truck has begun, and deliveries to one customer, Pepsi, will occur in December. Tesla first announced the Semi in November 2017 and production was said to begin in 2019. Musk, the world’s richest man, has sold about $15 billion in Tesla stock this year, but it’s still not clear if Musk has sufficient liquid funds to close the Twitter deal. Musk, who has received commitments for debt and equity financing, may need to sell additional shares of Tesla to finance the purchase. Tesla shares fell roughly 5% in trading Friday morning.

☆ Tesla robot slowly walks on stage at AI Day
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-30 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Washington, DC CNN —Tesla revealed on Friday a prototype of a humanoid robot that it says could be a future product for the automaker. The robot, dubbed Optimus by Tesla, walked stiffly on stage at Tesla’s AI Day, slowly waved at the crowed and gestured with its hands for roughly one minute. Tesla plans to use its AI expertise to develop a humanoid robot. Compared to that, it’s going to be very impressive.”Tesla is not the first automaker to develop a humanoid robot. In its final form, Asimo was a child-size humanoid robot capable of untethered walking, running, climbing and descending stairs, and manipulating objects with its fingers.

☆ How much ‘pain’ is the Fed willing to inflict? Wednesday’s rate hike will offer clues
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-21 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has acknowledged the economic pain this rapid tightening regime may cause. A larger hike is possible, but unlikelySome economists even expect the Fed to implement a massive — and historic — full-point rate hike on Wednesday. It meant that people understood the seriousness of the Fed’s commitment to getting inflation rates back down to 2%, he said. They want higher bond yields,” former New York Federal Reserve President Bill Dudley told CNN back in May. The Federal Reserve announces its rate hike decision Wednesday at 2 p.m.

☆ Biden administration picks former Chicago, DC transportation leader to head EV charging program
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington, DC CNN Business —Gabe Klein, who has led transportation departments in Washington, DC and Chicago, will head the Biden administration’s $7.5 billion program to build out the country’s electric vehicle charging network. His leadership in DC and Chicago was marked by being among the first transportation departments to embrace emerging transportation trends like car-sharing, bikeshare and bike lanes. Gabe Klein, shown in 2015 in Washington, DC, will lead the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation. Electric vehicles have much smaller carbon footprints than gas-powered vehicles over the typical lifetime of a vehicle. The federal government passed new tax credits for electric vehicles last month.

☆ Why your car's speedometer goes up to 160 mph
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-10 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

It displayed a classically-styled speedometer that reached 160 mph, an auto industry norm. As early as the 1920s, cars could be purchased with speedometers going as high as 120 mph, according to Bruce Woolsey, president of Michigan-based auto parts supplier Bob’s Speedometer. The first 160 mph speedometer he’s aware of was in the Cunningham C-3 from the 1950s. Apple Carplay's speedometer includes a 160 mph speed limit in one version. AppleFollowing Claybrook, auto safety leaders have turned to other tactics to address speeding.

☆ Tesla’s ‘full self-driving’ isn’t worth $15,000, say many who bought it
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-07 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Washington, DC CNN —Tesla’s price for the feature it calls “full self-driving” has increased again. CNN Business spoke with 13 people who have cars with the “full self-driving” beta and the overwhelming majority, 11 people, said they felt it wasn’t worth $15,000. Moody said he expects consumers to pay for the monthly subscription of “full self-driving” rather than pay $15,000 for the promise of the feature’s future potential. Burke spoke with CNN Business during a multi-month road trip around the United States. Burke said that if he was in the market again for a Tesla, the $15,000 price for “full self-driving” would be worth it to him.

☆ Tesla Model Y's Autopilot gets best grade in European safety tests
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-07 | by ( Matt Mcfarland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Washington, DC CNN —The Tesla Model Y received the highest grade of any vehicle in a European safety test that ranked driver-assist systems like the automaker’s controversial Autopilot system. Tesla’s other vehicles were not tested, but its new models have the same standard driver-assist technology as the Model Y. In 2019, a Tesla Model 3 received an overall five-star score. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating cases in which Tesla vehicles using Autopilot have rear-ended emergency vehicles stopped on roadways. Tesla received a score of 7.7 out of 9 points on the emergency braking near pedestrians.

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