Andrew J. Hawkins

Transportation editor

Andrew J. HawkinsMar 26

Stellantis employees are getting ticketed for parking their non-Stellantis vehicles at work.

The company apparently gives parking priority to employees who own Jeep, Chrysler, Dodge, or Ram vehicles, The Wall Street Journal reports. But if you get caught parking a rival brand in the wrong lot, you get a warning. And now many Stellantis employees are posting their frustrations on Reddit. One employee said he got a ticket for parking his Eagle Talon sports car in the lot — despite Eagle being a defunct nameplate from Chrysler.

Uber aims to launch Europe’s first robotaxi service with Pony AI and Verne

Andrew J. HawkinsMar 26

Andrew J. HawkinsMar 25

In a pinch, Waymo relies on cops and firefighters to move its robotaxis.

The company has a roadside assistance team that it dispatches to move vehicles when they get trapped. But sometimes Waymo needs emergency responders to actually get behind the wheel. TechCrunch got the 911 dispatches and incident reports from California:

“Highway patrol turned everyone around, but unfortunately our car is not able to turn around,” one of Waymo’s remote assistance workers told an area 911 dispatcher, according to a recording obtained by TechCrunch in a public records request. The employee wanted officers on the scene to drive the robotaxi away, and to arrange transportation for the passenger inside.

Sony and Honda ain’t feelin’ the Afeela anymore

Andrew J. HawkinsMar 25

Google’s Android Automotive is moving from the dashboard to the ‘brain’ of the car

Andrew J. HawkinsMar 24

Zoox is bringing its robotaxis to Austin and Miami

Andrew J. HawkinsMar 24

Donut Lab’s solid-state battery could barely hold a charge after getting damaged

Andrew J. HawkinsMar 23

GM begins ‘supervised’ autonomous testing on public roads.

The automaker plans to start supervised public-road testing on limited-access highways across California and Michigan, with the goal of reaching 200 vehicles this year. According to GM:

Each vehicle will operate with a trained test driver at the wheel who is capable of taking manual control at any time. This marks a significant transition from manual data collection to active automated technology testing on public roads.

GM has said it will launch its first hands-free, eyes-off Level 3 driving feature in the Cadillac Escalade IQ in 2028.