The US Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT or the Department) announced a $25 million funding opportunity (RAVTRANS) for its Rural Autonomous Vehicle research program. Accredited universities are eligible to apply for this competitive, six-year cooperative agreement program. Recipients will use RAV program funding to conduct research regarding the benefits and... Read more →

SafeAI, a developer of autonomous vehicle technology for heavy industry, and Obayashi Corporation, a leading construction company, unveiled a retrofit zero-emission, autonomous haul truck. The Caterpillar 725 is the first haul truck retrofitted with autonomous and electrification technology. (Earlier post.) While autonomy and electrification have been implemented independently, this is... Read more →

Israel-based Foretellix, a provider of safety-driven verification and validation (V&V) solutions for Automated Driving Systems and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), closed an $85-million Series C funding round, bringing its total raised capital to $135 million. The funding round was led by 83North. TNew investors Temasek and Isuzu joined Woven... Read more →

Michigan State University (MSU) is entering into a two-year agreement with Politecnico di Milano in Italy, and the University of Alabama (which is collaborating with the PoliMOVE team) to participate in the Indy Autonomous Challenge. MSU is the first and only team from Michigan to race in the IAC series,... Read more →

Magna is enhancing its automated driving capabilities by joining NorthStar—Telia Sweden and Ericsson’s 5G innovation program for industrial enterprises. As part of the agreement, Telia and Ericsson have built a dedicated, private 5G network at Magna’s test track located in Vårgårda, Sweden, where new cutting-edge Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS)... Read more →

The Riverside, California City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday (11/28) to finalize an agreement with the all-electric autonomous shuttle company Ohmio to move its international headquarters from New Zealand to Riverside and manufacture the vehicles there. The company is touring multiple potential sites in Riverside for its facility. Ohmio also... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group and Motional announced that Hyundai and Motional’s jointly developed all-electric IONIQ 5 robotaxi will be manufactured at the newly opened Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Center Singapore (HMGICS). (Earlier post.) The first production-ready IONIQ 5 robotaxis will be deployed as part of Motional’s commercial services in the US,... Read more →

Elroy Air flew the world’s first turbogenerator-hybrid electric vertical take-off and landing (hVTOL) aircraft on 12 November 12 at its test-flight facility in Byron, California—the Chaparral C1. The C1 is an autonomous hVTOL aircraft, with distributed electric propulsion and a turbogenerator-battery architecture. Leveraging both its turbogenerator system and high-power batteries... Read more →

Level 3 highly automated driving, which allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel and temporarily divert their attention away from the road, will soon be available in the new BMW 7 Series. BMW Personal Pilot L3 relieves the person at the wheel of the task of driving... Read more →

Seoul Robotics , a 3D perception solutions company building a platform that uses deep learning AI, is partnering with ALP.Lab, an Austria-based test laboratory for automated driving systems, to provide 3D perception traffic safety systems for the DACH region (Germany (D), Austria (A), and Switzerland (CH)) and Central Europe. The... Read more →

In August, Pony.ai and Toyota announced they would form a joint venture to advance the future mass production and large scale deployment of fully driverless robotaxis. (Earlier post.) Pony has now unveiled the first BEV robotaxi concept in collaboration with Toyota based on the bZ4X (earlier post) produced by GAC... Read more →

Aurora Innovation opened the industry’s first lane for driverless trucks supported by commercial-ready terminals in Dallas and Houston. Nearly half of all truck freight in Texas moves along the I-45 between Dallas and Houston, making this corridor an ideal route for Aurora’s commercial launch. Similar to its first terminal in... Read more →

NEOM, the smart and sustainable regional development in northwest Saudi Arabia, is investing US$100 million, through the NEOM Investment Fund (NIF), into Pony.ai, a leading global autonomous driving company. Additionally, a joint venture will be established for autonomous technology solutions for the region. Through the joint venture, NEOM and Pony.ai... Read more →

NXP Semiconductors N.V. announced an investment in and collaboration with Zendar Inc., a software start-up developing autonomous vehicle systems with high-resolution radar. The investment aims to accelerate and improve high-resolution radar solutions for autonomous driving (AD) and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) to complement NXP’s scalable radar portfolio. NXP and... Read more →

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) notified Cruise that the department is suspending Cruise’s autonomous vehicle deployment and driverless testing permits, effective immediately. The DMV has provided Cruise with the steps needed to apply to reinstate its suspended permits, which the DMV will not approve until the company has... Read more →

New research out of IBM Research’s lab in Almaden, California, nearly two decades in the making, has the potential to drastically shift how we can efficiently scale up powerful AI hardware systems. Since the birth of the semiconductor industry, computer chips have primarily followed the same basic structure, in which... Read more →

Consumers are not comfortable with the testing and deployment of robotaxis—defined as a fully automated, self-driving vehicle used exclusively for ride-hailing service—on their city streets, according to the inaugural J.D. Power U.S. Robotaxi Experience Study. The study provides the first consumer feedback from robotaxi riders and those who have interacted... Read more →

Cruise, General Motors and Honda have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding aiming to establish a joint venture which will begin a driverless ridehail service in Japan in early 2026. The three companies aim to establish this new company in the first half of 2024 pending regulatory approvals. With this... Read more →

CEA-Leti, a technology research institute at France’s CEA, announced a new R&D initiative to contribute to a higher level of vehicle automation and cooperation by expanding the latest developments in vehicular wireless communications that improve reaction time, pedestrian detection and overall vehicle performance. Combining learnings from its participation in three... Read more →

ZF is expanding its relationship with Oceaneering International, Inc., headquartered in Houston, Texas. The agreement combines Oceaneering’s engineering, manufacturing, and integration expertise with ZF’s know-how in developing the building functions needed to advance autonomous driving. The agreement aims to deliver a four-digit number of ZF’s shuttles to customers in the... Read more →

Consumer confidence in fully automated, self-driving vehicles continues to decline for a second consecutive year, according to the J.D. Power 2023 US Mobility Confidence Index (MCI) Study. The index score for consumer automated vehicle (AV) readiness declined 2 points to 37 (on a 100-point scale), contributing to a 5-point decline... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz will launch its production-ready version of DRIVE PILOT in the United States. The class-leading system for conditionally automated driving rolls out in late 2023 with a limited fleet of SAE Level 31 equipped EQS Sedans in California and Nevada called DRIVE PILOT: First Class. In early 2024, Mercedes-Benz plans... Read more →

FAW Group, one of the largest Chinese automotive groups, and Mobileye, a global leader in autonomous driving solutions, announced a new strategic partnership leveraging their respective industry advantages in software, hardware and technology products. The two sides will work together to create new products based on Mobileye SuperVision and Mobileye... Read more →

Conigital, a UK-based driverless vehicle company with operations in Australia, Brazil, and India, said it has secured an offer of £500 million (US$626 million) in Series A+ funding. This investment, a combination of equity and debt, is the outcome of a strategic partnership with a global Private Equity (PE) infrastructure... Read more →

The BMW Group has chosen Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the preferred cloud provider for its automated driving platform. The BMW Group will develop its next-generation advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) using AWS to help innovate new features for its next generation of vehicles, the “Neue Klasse,” set to launch... Read more →

Schaeffler and VDL Groep are jointly exploring the development and production of a new generation of self-driving shuttles for public transport. The two will be showcasing a first demonstrator as well as all relevant automotive electrification and steering technology at the IAA Mobility show in Munich. Impression of the autonomous... Read more →

Vitesco Technologies, a leading international manufacturer of advanced powertrain technologies and electrification solutions and Cebi Group, a specialist in washer systems, are partnering to develop the Advanced Sensor Cleaning System (ASCS). ASCS is a highly integrated all-in-one solution that can keep more than 10 environmental sensors clean with water pressure... Read more →

Beep Inc., provider of autonomous shared mobility solutions, and Oxa, an autonomous vehicle software developer, are partnering to deploy vehicles driven by Oxa’s self-driving software product, Oxa Driver, as Beep continues to advance its testing and operations across the United States. Marking UK-based Oxa’s entry into the US market, the... Read more →

Horizon Robotics, a leading provider of energy-efficient computing solutions for advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in consumer vehicles, has formed a strategic partnership with Aptiv PLC and its subsidiary Wind River in China. (Aptiv acquired Wind River in 2022.) Aptiv is a global technology company focused on making mobility safer,... Read more →

Geely Holding Group and Baidu Inc announced a significant milestone in their strategic partnership with the introduction of JI YUE, a premium intelligent technology brand. Inaugural JI YUE 01 model will enter production with first deliveries in the fourth quarter of 2023. JI YUE’s primary goal is to provide an... Read more →

Israel-based Foresight Autonomous Holdings, a developer of automotive vision systems, has signed a paid proof-of-concept (POC) project with the Chinese subsidiary of one of the world’s leading manufacturers of industrial equipment, heavy machinery, construction and mining equipment. The Fortune 500 company will evaluate Foresight’s QuadSight technology to provide autonomous capabilities... Read more →

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved resolutions granting additional operating authority for Cruise and Waymo to conduct commercial passenger service using driverless vehicles in San Francisco. The approval includes the ability for both companies to charge fares for rides at any time of day. The requirements for the resolutions... Read more →

Israel-based ParaZero Technologies Ltd., an aerospace company focused on drone safety systems for commercial drones and urban air mobility aircraft, has received a second order for its custom safety system for drones by one of the world’s largest automotive manufacturers. The repeat order follows an agreement previously signed with the... Read more →

Boeing subsidiary Wisk Aero recently completed the public demonstration flight of a fully autonomous, electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL), fixed-wing air taxi. The milestone flight, which took place at EAA AirVenture, also marked the company’s first public demonstration of its 5th Generation autonomous, eVTOL technology demonstrator (Cora). Wisk completed... Read more →

Pony.ai, a leading global autonomous driving company, Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. (TMCI) and GAC Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. (GTMC) will form a joint venture to advance the future mass production and large-scale deployment of fully driverless robotaxis. The joint venture company will be established in 2023, with an... Read more →

The BMW Group launched its new test site for fully automated development and test drives in Sokolov (Czechia), the Future Mobility Development Center (FMDC). As the first development location of its kind in central Europe, the FMDC, in which BMW Group invested €300 million, will play a key role in... Read more →

Inceptio Technology, a China-based developer of autonomous driving technologies for heavy-duty trucks (earlier post), announced that the Inceptio Autonomous Driving System has powered more than 40 million kilometers of accident-free trucking on China’s highways. This latest milestone underlines the safety and reliability of Inceptio’s full-stack autonomous driving solution, as well... Read more →

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. (VWGoA) is starting its first autonomous vehicle test program in Austin beginning in July 2023. The company will kick off its program with a batch of 10 all-electric ID. Buzz vehicles outfitted with an autonomous driving (AD) technology platform developed by the global Volkswagen Group... Read more →

Researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Western Michigan University (WMU) have enabled standard raised pavement markers to transmit GPS information that helps autonomous driving features function better in remote areas or in bad weather. Working with partners, ORNL engineers are placing low-powered sensors in... Read more →

At an Investor Day event in Seoul, Hyundai Motor said that it will accelerate its transition toward becoming a smart mobility solution provider by securing a large-scale investment of KRW 109.4 trillion (US$85 billion) over the next 10 years, including KRW 35.8 trillion (US$27.8 billion) for electrification. The company aims... Read more →

by Dr James Jeffs, Senior Technology Analyst at IDTechEx Computer chips have been part of cars for a long time, but no one really cares about them until they stop working or they are late to the production line, grinding manufacturing to an industry-shaking halt. However, the research within IDTechEx’s... Read more →

Nissan carried out another demonstration of its in-development LIDAR-based advanced driver-assistance technology, which now features intersection collision avoidance. An event held at a Nissan facility here showcased the technology’s ability to perform certain automatic collision-avoidance maneuvers in the more complex environment of intersections. Development of this technology is being carried... Read more →

Mercedes‑Benz announced that its DRIVE PILOT system for SAE Level 3 conditionally automated driving received certification from California state authorities. With this milestone, Mercedes-Benz is the first car manufacturer with authorization to introduce such a SAE Level 3 system in a standard-production vehicle for use on public freeways in the... Read more →

Luminar and Plus, a global provider of highly automated driving and fully autonomous driving solutions, announced a partnership to advance highly automated driving and safety systems for commercial vehicle manufacturers. Under the agreement, Luminar will be the exclusive provider of mid- to long-range lidar for PlusDrive, Plus’s factory-installed assisted driving... Read more →

BASELABS, the specialist for sensor fusion, is now offering the acquisition of its complete software IP in the field of environment perception for automated driving in ASIL D. In contrast to the previous licensing model, buyers of the IP will be able to use the software without restrictions. The maturity... Read more →

Komatsu and Toyota Motor launched a joint project to develop an Autonomous Light Vehicle (ALV) that will run on Komatsu’s Autonomous Haulage System (AHS). To realize further safety and productivity improvements in mines by running autonomous haul trucks and automated ALV controlled by AHS, Komatsu and Toyota are launching an... Read more →

Simulation software specialist rFpro announced a collaboration with Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation to develop high-fidelity sensor models integrated into rFpro software. The collaboration will focus on improving the fidelity of simulation solutions to reduce significantly the requirement to collect physical data during the sensor development cycle. It will enable perception... Read more →

Pyka, a developer of autonomous electric aviation technology, was awarded a $7-million California Competes Tax Credit with the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz), approved last week by the California Competes Tax Credit Committee. The California Competes Tax Credit is an income tax credit for businesses that... Read more →

Bosch and Plus are collaborating on assisted driving solutions for commercial trucks. Through a new technology agreement, Plus is offering its PlusDrive solution with the integrated steering system from Bosch featuring hardware and software to deliver driver assistance and partially automated features to commercial vehicles. PlusDrive-enabled L2++ vehicles are equipped... Read more →

ZF has joined the Navigation Data Standard (NDS) Association. In this association, automotive manufacturers, suppliers, map providers, and developers of map-based applications and services are establishing a global standard for digital maps in Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) resolution formats. ZF will use the standard both for its... Read more →