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Archives for November 2023

GM wants you to know that it’s also unhappy with the slow pace of its EV businessGM wants you to know that it’s also unhappy with the slow pace of its EV business
Andrew J. Hawkins
Andrew J. Hawkins
Cruise on the chopping block.

General Motors’ willingness to lose a ton of money on self-driving cars is coming to an end, with the automaker planning to announce that it will slash spending on Cruise in a call on Wednesday. A pedestrian was seriously injured last month when a Cruise vehicle drug her 20 feet after a hit-and-run crash.

As I wrote last week, GM remained bullish on autonomous driving up until recently, even after its competitors reined in their own spending and scaled back their ambitions. Too bad it took a serious injury for GM to come to the same realization.

GM to cut spending on Cruise after accident - FT

[Reuters]

GM’s big bet on driverless cars turns sourGM’s big bet on driverless cars turns sour
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Cruise co-founder and CEO Kyle Vogt resigns.

His resignation follows an accident where a pedestrian who was struck by another vehicle became trapped underneath a Cruise robotaxi, which dragged her as it attempted to pull over. Rescuers needed to use the jaws of life to free her after Cruise disabled the vehicle.

The company recently announced one of GM’s lawyers would expand his role within Cruise. Then Motherboard reported Cruise’s first email to California’s DMV after the accident didn’t mention the whole dragging part. According to TechCrunch, Cruise engineering exec Mo Elshenawy will take over as president and CTO.

Robotaxi companies have a serious trust issue

Andrew J. Hawkins
Wes Davis
Wes Davis
Cruise didn’t tell the California DMV the full story of its robotaxi’s pedestrian strike at first.

Vice Motherboard reported yesterday that Cruise’s email summary of the accident said the car “hard-braked but was unable to stop” before hitting a pedestrian. But it didn’t mention that the car then pulled over, dragging the person with it.

California’s DMV revoked the company’s self-driving license. Cruise then halted robotaxi operation, later expanded the pause to include supervised and manually-driven Cruise trips for safety review.

Cruise Exec Omitted Pedestrian Dragging In Summary of Self-Driving Car Incident to California DMV, Email Shows

[vice]

Andrew J. Hawkins
Andrew J. Hawkins
Another bad week for self-driving cars.

Cruise continues to try to clean up the mess from a crash in early October that resulted in a woman being drug 20 feet underneath a driverless car. To hear more about it, you can check out my recent interview with Marketplace’s Matt Levin. We mostly spoke about the piece I wrote about the AV industry’s ongoing trust issues.

Cadillac’s new Optiq compact electric SUV will be its cheapest EVCadillac’s new Optiq compact electric SUV will be its cheapest EV
Andrew J. Hawkins
Andrew J. Hawkins
GM re-absorbs electric delivery company BrightDrop.

BrightDrop, which makes electric delivery vans, fleet management software, and a bunch of other commercial products, spun out of General Motors in early 2021. But now it’s getting spun back in (?) the main company, with GM citing “efficiencies” as the main reason. GM says production of the Zevo electric van will resume in spring 2024.

The news comes as GM and much of the rest of the auto industry has pulled back on some of its more ambitious EV plans in an effort to rein in costs and address softening customer demand.

Electric Delivery Startup BrightDrop Becomes Part of General Motors

[pressroom.gm.com]

iPhone 15 owners are having wireless charging issues in GM vehicles, tooiPhone 15 owners are having wireless charging issues in GM vehicles, too
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
Cruise robotaxi shutdown expands, pressing pause on supervised and manual trips too.

Cruise’s robotaxis are front and center of the industry’s trust issue after losing their California permit following an incident where a pedestrian ended up stuck underneath one of its cars.

It already halted service nationwide and said it’s installing new updates. Now Cruise has announced it’s taking its cars off of public roads while it undergoes a full safety review. Meanwhile, Cruise board member and GM legal executive VP Craig Glidden is “expanding” his role to lead Cruise’s Legal, Communications, and Finance teams.

In the coming days, we are also pausing our supervised and manual AV operations in the U.S., affecting roughly 70 vehicles. This orderly pause is a further step to rebuild public trust while we undergo a full safety review. We will continue to operate our vehicles in closed course training environments and maintain an active simulation program in order to stay focused on advancing AV technology.

Important Updates from Cruise

[getcruise.com]

Cruise is recalling 950 driverless cars after one of its vehicles ran over a pedestrianCruise is recalling 950 driverless cars after one of its vehicles ran over a pedestrian
GM is attracted to these new non-rare earth magnets for its EV motorsGM is attracted to these new non-rare earth magnets for its EV motors
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
GM’s autonomous Cruise vans put on pause.

After producing hundreds of the self-driving vans already, “we did make the decision with GM to pause production of the Origin,” said Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt in leaked audio obtained by Forbes and later confirmed by GM. The decision comes after Cruise recently halted its robotaxi services nationwide. The company is on a trust-building campaign after California suspended Cruise’s operating license, calling autonomous vehicles a public risk.

Under Fire Over Robotaxi Safety, GM Halts Production Of Cruise Driverless Van

[Forbes]

Robotaxi companies have a serious trust issueRobotaxi companies have a serious trust issue
The EV transition trips over its own cord

EV sales are skyrocketing, more than 100 models are on sale, and charging infrastructure is getting better. So why does everything seem so precarious all of a sudden?

Andrew J. Hawkins

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