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 →

Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) has started building an initial development model of a lunar exploration mobility rover in tandem with aerospace partners. In July 2022, the Group signed a joint multilateral research agreement with six Korean research institutes in the aerospace sector to run and support a consultative body... Read more →

Woven by Toyota, Inc., a mobility technology subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation (“Toyota”), will play a key role in Toyota’s next generation products and technology as announced by Koji Sato, President and CEO of Toyota, at a recent press event held in Tokyo. (Earlier post.) Toyota’s vision for a mobility... Read more →

Now in its second-generation, the Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle delivers an EPA-estimated zero tailpipe emission range of 402 miles on the Mirai entry-level XLE grade. The 2023 XLE grade has a starting MSRP of $49,500. An Advanced Technology Package, which includes Bird’s Eye View camera, front and rear... Read more →

SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, introduced two new LNP THERMOCOMP compounds that offer the potential to improve signal gain performance vs. ceramics in second-generation automotive global navigation satellite system (GNSS) antennas. The new products, LNP THERMOCOMP ZKC0CXXD compound and LNP THERMOCOMP ZKC0DXXD compound, help enable the design... Read more →

Daimler Truck subsidiary Torc Robotics, a pioneer in commercializing self-driving vehicle technology, signed an agreement to acquire Algolux Inc. Torc is acquiring Algolux for its award-winning intellectual property and expertise in the areas of computer vision and machine learning. Algolux perception technology in two views, combining both regular computer vision... Read more →

General Motors’s Ultra Cruise, the company’s next-generation advanced driver assistance system designed to enable ultimately hands-free driving in 95% of all driving scenarios, will have a 360-degree view of the vehicle through a unique sensor suite when it launches on the Cadillac CELESTIQ. Ultra Cruise uses a blend of cameras,... Read more →

Honda will showcase the new capabilities of the latest generation of its prototype Honda Autonomous Work Vehicle (AWV) (earlier post) to improve construction industry and worksite efficiencies at CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2023 in Las Vegas, 14-18 March 2023. The fully programmable all-electric Honda AWV leverages the company’s emerging advanced autonomous technology to... Read more →

Ford Motor Company has established Latitude AI, a wholly owned subsidiary focused on developing a hands-free, eyes-off-the-road automated driving system for millions of vehicles. With the formation of Latitude, Ford adds a team of machine learning, robotics, software, sensors, systems engineering and operations talent as the automaker grows and expands... Read more →

Torc Robotics, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG and a pioneer in commercializing self-driving vehicle technology, has signed an agreement to acquire Algolux Inc. Torc is acquiring Algolux for its award-winning intellectual property and expertise in the areas of computer vision and machine learning. This acquisition brings together Algolux’s... Read more →

The US Department of Transportation has awarded a $15-million grant to renew the Center for Connected and Automated Transportation (CCAT), based in Ann Arbor and led by the University of Michigan. The partnership now brings together nine colleges and universities to focus on significantly advancing the US transportation system with... Read more →

BMW Group and Valeo are expanding their long-existing relationship with a new partnership. After the major announcement of their collaboration for ADAS domain controller, sensors and software for parking and maneuvering for BMW’s upcoming platform generation Neue Klasse, the BMW Group and Valeo have now announced their cooperation for the... Read more →

WiTricity is collaborating with YuTong Bus, the number one bus brand in China, to provide wireless charging for YuTong’s autonomous e-buses. This marks the first commercial application of wireless charging for an autonomous electric e-bus, with WiTricity providing a key feature in one of the most advanced public transportation systems... Read more →

Polestar and automotive technology company Luminar will expand the integration of Luminar’s lidar systems to the Polestar 5—the electric 4-door GT expected to launch in 2024 based on the Polestar Precept concept car. This expanded partnership provides a foundation to further collaborate on lidar integration and design on Polestar’s future... Read more →

Audi has presented the activesphere crossover study with electric drive and quattro. As the fourth model in the series, the Audi activesphere concept marks the culmination of sphere concept vehicles, following on from the Audi skysphere roadster in 2021, and both the Audi grandsphere sedan, and the Audi urbansphere space... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz is the world’s first automotive company to bring SAE Level 3 conditionally automated driving to the US, with Nevada being the first state to confirm the compliance of the system with state regulations. The Mercedes-Benz DRIVE PILOT system is the first and only SAE Level 3 system in a... Read more →

In the future, the energy needed to run the powerful computers on board a global fleet of autonomous vehicles could generate as many greenhouse gas emissions as all the data centers in the world today, according to a new study from MIT researchers that explored the potential energy consumption and... Read more →