Self-driving cars are finally here, and how they are deployed will change how we get around forever. From Tesla to Google to Uber to all the major automakers, we bring you complete coverage of the race to develop fully autonomous vehicles. This includes helpful explanations about the technology and policies that underpin the movement to build driverless cars.
After months of testing, the company’s autonomous Zeekr minivans will be deployed in the Mile High City this fall. Waymo will use a mixed fleet of Jaguar I-Pace with the 5th-gen hardware and Zeekr RTs with 6th-gen hardware. I remain impressed that Waymo is able to clear all the tariffs and restrictions on Chinese-made electric vehicles.
The fourth installment in the automaker’s Master Plan series seizes on flashy new buzzwords: sustainable abundance.
Inside the algorithm that gives Waymo its marching orders between rides.
We may start to see Waymo robotaxis in a lot more cities in the coming months, the company’s co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana said on Hard Fork this week:
“You’re going to start seeing our cars in a lot of cities. If you think about our business in terms of scale, we’re currently giving hundreds of thousands of rides every week and, in all likelihood, by the end of next year, we will be offering around one million rides per week.”
Mawakana didn’t specify which cities, but we already know that the company plans to launch in Washington, DC, Miami, and New York City, and has been gathering data in Houston, Orlando, San Antonio, Las Vegas, San Diego, and even Japan.
Mayor Eric Adams announced that the DOT has granted Waymo a permit to test up to eight autonomous vehicles in Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn with a safety driver at the wheel. Waymo aims to eventually operate its robotaxis without safety drivers, which NYC currently prohibits.
The AV startup closed on a round of funding that started earlier this year with an initial tranche of $106 million. An additional $97 million comes from Uber and a bunch of returning investors. Nuro recently announced a deal with Uber for a fleet of 20,000 luxury Lucid-made robotaxis. But it’ll have to achieve certain “milestones” before it receives the rest of Uber’s investment.
A new Spotify integration will let you connect your account to Waymo, allowing you to play your favorite tunes while the robotaxi takes you to your destination. Waymo also offers the ability to cast music, as well as listen to a selection of curated radio stations.
According to Bloomberg, the automaker is looking to “lure back” some of the 1,000 workers it axed earlier this year after shutting down the beleaguered robotaxi division. The workers would be rehired as part of a renewed push into personally owned autonomous vehicles, a project that’s being led by ex-Tesla and Aurora executive Sterling Anderson.
The vehicle was one of Baidu’s Apollo driverless vehicles, according to local media reports. A female passenger was inside the robotaxi when it fell into a deep construction pit. She was apparently uninjured, though rescue crews had to use a ladder to get her out.
‘There are two Teslas,’ attorney Brett Schreiber told us. ‘There’s Tesla in the showroom and then there’s Tesla in the courtroom.’
We here at The Verge remain committed to our mission to bring you all relevant windshield wiper news. So it is with great pleasure that I point you to this MotorTrend piece about Waymo’s new Zeekr-made robotaxi, and its plethora of tiny windshield wipers. Eight to be exact: four on the roof, and one at the corner above each wheel. (There are also two regular sized wipers, but who cares about that?) These diminutive wipers are meant to keep the various sensors clean and free of road grime. I remember first encountering Waymo’s tiny lidar wipers back in 2019. I’m glad to see that they’re still in the game, and still itty bitty.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it was certifying Amazon’s robotaxi service for demonstration purposes, while also ending the investigation into whether the company sidestepped safety regulations. The exemption was the first under NHTSA’s newly streamlined regulatory process for approving vehicles without traditional controls, like steering wheels and pedals. As part of the agreement, Zoox is required to “remove or obscure” all references to its purpose-built autonomous shuttles complying with federal motor vehicle safety regulations.
When it’s in the Bay Area. Tesla has sent out invites for its “ride-hailing service,” conspicuously absent any Robotaxi branding.
Tesla doesn’t have permits for autonomous taxis in California, so its rides include a supervisor in the driver’s seat, who Reuters reports must be “ready to take over at all times” — in Austin the supervisor sits in the passenger seat. A first fan video shows the car doing most of the work, but the human driver’s hands always stay near the wheel.
In Dallas, Waymo’s fleet will be managed through “a new strategic, multi-year partnership with Avis Budget Group,” Waymo says.
[waymo.com]
The delivery took place in Austin, Texas, last month. Apparently the vehicle did fine until it arrived at its destination, at which point it promptly parked in a fire lane. This photo appeared in the company’s second quarter earnings report for shareholders. Nice work, everyone.
Tesla’s robotaxis have been on the road in Austin for just three days, and already there have been nearly a dozen incidents of bad driving behavior.
The two people were shot Sunday night while sitting in a Waymo robotaxi near Santa Monica’s 3rd Street promenade, KCAL News reports. We still don’t have any details about the condition or identities of the victims, and police are still actively searching for a suspect. The shooting comes a few weeks after five Waymo vehicles were vandalized and destroyed during anti-ICE protests in downtown Los Angeles.
By most accounts, the company’s robotaxi launch in Austin yesterday went off without a hitch. Most of the Tesla fans and influencers who received invites to test it out said the experience was “smooth” and “natural.” But you knew something was going to happen, and that something turned out to be a robotaxi briefly driving in the opposite lane of traffic. Not a good look.
An industry-favored 2017 law made Texas a hotbed for AV investment, but critics say safeguards are needed as driverless cars fill public roads.
