Argo AI, Lyft and Ford Motor Company are collaborating to commercialize autonomous ride hailing at scale. The partnership brings together all of the pieces necessary to create a viable autonomous ride hailing service, including the self-driving technology, vehicle fleet and transportation network needed to support a scalable business and deliver... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company will begin a test operation of its RoboShuttle service on 9 August in South Korea. The demand-responsive, high-occupancy vehicle service, powered by autonomous driving and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, will operate along a 6.1-km route in Sejong Smart City. The pilot operation will be conducted using Hyundai... Read more →

Volkswagen Group executives laid out the basics of the new Group strategy “NEW AUTO – Mobility for Generations to Come”, which will see the Group realign from being a from vehicle manufacturer to a leading, global software-driven mobility provider. The guiding principle is to be the development of sustainable, connected,... Read more →

China-based self-driving startup AutoX unveiled its full Gen5 self-driving system this week. The autonomous driving platform, which is specifically designed for robotaxis, uses NVIDIA DRIVE automotive grade GPUs to reach up to 2,200 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of AI compute performance. In January, AutoX launched a commercial robotaxi system... Read more →

A new forecast from Juniper Research concludes that the revenue generated by the use of MaaS (Mobility-as-a-Service) platforms, which integrate different transport services (including buses, taxis, rail and metro) into a single app, will exceed $52 billion by 2027, up from $405 million in 2020. The new research, Mobility-as-a-Service: Business... Read more →

Twenty-one California nonprofits, local governments, transit agencies, and Native American tribal governments in under-resourced communities have been awarded up to $1 million each by the new Clean Mobility Options Voucher Pilot Program (CMO) to develop and launch zero-emission mobility projects, such as bikesharing and ride-on-demand services, aimed at overcoming transportation... Read more →

Toyota’s global brand for new mobility services, KINTO, is now introducing the Toyota Mirai fuel cell vehicle into its KINTO Share fleet in Sweden. Since KINTO started its Swedish operations one year ago, the mobility service provider has grown rapidly to almost 1.000 cars in operation today, covering almost all... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Group and Grab Holdings Inc. are enhancing their ongoing strategic partnership in mobility services to focus on accelerating EV adoption in Southeast Asia. The Group—including Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Corporation—and Grab will further develop new pilots and initiatives that lower the barriers of entry for Grab driver... Read more →

Daimler Mobility AG has awarded the in-house developed Mobility Blockchain Platform to the mobility start-up bloXmove as part of a licensing agreement. The software has been expanded and incubated in the last three years as part of the Blockchain Factory together with selected partners. With this step, Daimler Mobility wants... Read more →

The first self-driving prototypes based on the future Volkswagen ID. BUZZ production electric vehicle will begin testing in Munich, Germany, this summer. It marks a milestone for Volkswagen Group and its Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand (VWCV), which plans to implement Level 4-capable autonomous driving technology for self-driving vans. Light commercial... Read more →

Strategy Analytics’ Automotive Connected Mobility service released its H1 2021 Global Ride-Hailing Market Update and its associated Global Ride-Hailing Forecast, tracking more than 140 unique operators across 119 different countries. Although 2020 was tough for ride-hailing operators everywhere, with a decline of 18% in worldwide total revenue (gross bookings) across... Read more →

Toyota Motor Europe (TME) has started KINTO Europe GmbH, a limited liability company with headquarters in Cologne, Germany. Toyota Financial Services Corporation (TFSC), Japan, holds 51% of the company’s shares, with the remaining 49% owned by TME. Both TME and TFSC are wholly owned by Toyota Motor Corporation, based in... Read more →

Nissan began a field test of new mobility services as part of a partnership to promote future community building in Japan. The partnership agreement between three local governments and eight companies aims to develop new modes of transportation, and to promote the use of renewable energy, in the Hamadori area... Read more →

Researchers at MIT report that the entrance of transportation network companies (TNCs)—specifically Uber and Lyft, which together have a 98% share of the market—in cities led to increased road congestion in terms of both intensity (by 0.9%) and duration (by 4.5%); an 8.9% decline in transit ridership; and an insignificant... Read more →

Kia Corporation has begun to lay the groundwork for its innovative Purpose-Built Vehicle (PBV) business, partnering with cold chain startup ‘S.lab Asia Inc.’ to break into Singapore’s last-mile delivery market. On January 28, the two companies signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at launching a pilot project in Singapore using... Read more →

Cruise and General Motors have entered a long-term strategic relationship with Microsoft to accelerate the commercialization of self-driving vehicles. Microsoft is joining GM, Honda and institutional investors in a combined new equity investment of more than $2 billion in Cruise, bringing the post-money valuation of Cruise to $30 billion. To... Read more →

In France, Luca de Meo, CEO Groupe Renault, presented the group’s new strategic plan— “Renaulution”—which, among other more specific elements, aims to shift Groupe Renault’s strategy from volumes to value. In accordance with this value-driven organization, the company will no longer measure its performance on market shares and sales but... Read more →

The coronavirus pandemic is having a lasting impact on people’s mobility habits all over the world, according to the findings of the Continental Mobility Study 2020. Private car use has seen strong growth, while sharing and hailing services, which have been booming in recent years, are suffering a significant slump.... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation is introducing an operations management system to support the providing of services that will enable practical use of the e-Palette, a battery-electric vehicle for autonomous mobility as a service (Autono-MaaS) applications. In collaboration with a range of partners, it is also planning to operate the vehicles in... Read more →

Hyundai Motor Company announced an updated roadmap for its future business Strategy 2025 at the 2020 CEO Investor Day’\ forum held virtually in Seoul. The comprehensive mid- to long-term strategy reinforces Hyundai’s plan to lead the future mobility industry as a Smart Mobility Solution Provider. The updated Strategy 2025 roadmap... Read more →

Volvo Group Venture Capital AB has invested in Flock Freight, a technology company based in Solana Beach, California, that pools shipments to fill unused trailer space. The company uses algorithms to match multiple LTL (less than a truckload) shipments into one shared truckload that eliminates all terminals and hubs, improving... Read more →

FCA Italy S.p.A. (FCA), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., and ENGIE EPS, an Italian technology player in energy storage and e-mobility, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at creating a Joint Venture to become a leader in the European e-Mobility landscape. The JV would rely... Read more →

The Volkswagen Group and Greece have agreed to establish a mobility system on the Mediterranean island of Astypalea. To that end, the current transport system on the island will transition to electric vehicles and renewable power generation. In the long run, Astypalea will strive to become a model island for... Read more →

SEAT has created its first multimodal mobility platform as a service through its SEAT:CODE software development center. This platform is the first software product developed and marketed by the company in order to operate and manage vehicle fleets 100% digitally. SEAT MÓ has been the first operator to use this... Read more →

The BMW Group and Daimler Mobility AG are transferring the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) business of their joint subsidiary moovel Group GmbH to Mobimeo GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn. At the same time, the two shareholders are focusing the moovel Group’s market presence on the existing offering... Read more →

Viggo, a technology-driven Danish ride-hailing service, has ordered 300 Fisker Ocean electric SUVs, marking Viggo’s largest single order to date. Viggo, founded in 2019, is aiming to challenge the standards for urban transportation through advanced data-driven innovation, zero-emission cars and Scandinavian simplicity. Since founding, Viggo has built a network of... Read more →

Daimler Insurance Services and Swiss Re have entered into a strategic partnership for automotive and mobility insurance and launched a new company called Movinx. Both shareholders of the 50/50 joint venture will leverage their complementary expertise to establish a new business model. The aim is to develop fully digital automotive... Read more →

Volkswagen and Uber have launched a pilot project for the utilization of electric vehicles within the sustainable ride hailing service “Uber Green”. The objective of the pilot project is to use a number of year-old e-Golf vehicles which may run into three digits. Volkswagen has already been using the e-Golf... Read more →

Uber is committing to become a fully zero-emission platform by 2040, with 100% of rides taking place in zero-emission vehicles, on public transit, or with micromobility. The company is also setting an earlier goal to have 100% of rides take place in electric vehicles (EVs) in US, Canadian, and European... Read more →

Porsche Digital has spun off its own company in the field of e-mobility, thereby expanding its digital business portfolio. “&Charge” offers a digital platform through which users can obtain credit for their online purchases for electric mobility. The start-up, which is based in Frankfurt am Main in Germany, thus offers... Read more →

Premium EV manufacturer NIO has launched Battery as a Service (BaaS) for customers in China. NIO BaaS users can purchase a car without the battery, making EVs more price competitive against existing powertrains, while also providing the flexibility to change battery capacity depending on their needs and pay accordingly. In... Read more →

DeepRoute, an international self-driving vehicle technology provider, and Cao Cao Mobility, a strategically invested business of Geely Technology Group, are partnering to advance the design, development and commercialization of Cao Cao’s autonomous robo-taxis service. The autonomous vehicles, powered by DeepRoute’s innovative self-driving technology solution, will be deployed at the 2022... Read more →

Toyota Motor Corporation and Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company, are expanding their global collaboration, applying AWS’ portfolio of services to expand Toyota’s Mobility Services Platform (MSPF), an ecosystem to help Toyota engineers develop, deploy, and manage the next generation of data-driven mobility services for driver and passenger... Read more →

Kia Motors Corporation plans to expand its partnerships with global mobility companies to meet the needs of a diverse range of customers worldwide. Kia’s President and CEO Ho Sung Song shared the company’s strategy for global mobility during his visit to the company’s Sohari plant in Korea to review launch... Read more →

The Orange County (CA) Transportation Authority (OCTA) has a Tesla Model X SUV as its first all-electric vehicle in the OCTA Vanpool program. The Tesla X is provided by Green Commuter, one of three vanpool companies contracted by OCTA to provide vehicles to commuters in Orange County to help them... Read more →

Lyft announced that, following on the success of its rental pilot in California, it is partnering with SIXT rent-a-car to expand car rentals across the US. Starting this August, Lyft riders in Seattle, Las Vegas, and Miami will be able to rent a SIXT car through the Rentals tab in... Read more →

A global survey of more than survey found that more than 120 auto tech leaders by Informa Tech Automotive Group found that 57% expect that COVID-19 will quicken the pace and rate of consolidation within the automotive industry. In addition, with an increased reluctance to use public transportation, more than... Read more →

Kia Motors Corporation has founded ‘Purple M’, a new start-up designed to offer customized EV mobility services. Purple M is a new joint venture created in partnership between Kia Motors and CODE42.ai, a Korean technology firm pioneering the transition to autonomous Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS). Through this new start-up, Kia and CODE42.ai... Read more →

Mobileye, an Intel Company, and WILLER, one of the largest transportation operators in Japan, Taiwan and the Southeast Asian region, have formed a strategic collaboration to launch an autonomous robotaxi service in Japan and markets across Southeast Asia, including Taiwan. Beginning in Japan, the companies will collaborate on the testing... Read more →

Replacing a gasoline-powered ride-hailing vehicle with an electric vehicle can deliver three times the carbon benefits of a personally owned electric vehicle, according to a study by a University of California, Davis, researcher of Uber and Lyft data. The paper is published in the journal Nature Energy. Ride-hailing vehicles travel... Read more →

AMPLY Power (earlier post) is managing the charging of electric buses for SolTrans, a public transportation provider for south Solano County, California. Unique to this application, AMPLY is operating its cloud-based software in conjunction with the fueling of SolTrans buses that run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). Soltran’s Operations and... Read more →

Uber Technologies will acquire delivery service Postmates for approximately $2.65 billion in an all-stock transaction. This transaction brings together Uber’s global Rides and Eats platform with Postmates’ delivery business in the US. Postmates is complementary to Uber Eats, with differentiated geographic focus areas and customer demographics. Postmates also has established... Read more →

Electric cars are becoming an attractive business proposition for high-mileage vehicle operators such as ride-sharer Uber in key EU capitals such as Paris, Berlin, Madrid and Lisbon, a new study by research and campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) has found. Medium-sized battery-electric cars are on average 14% cheaper to... Read more →

Ridesharing company Lyft—in collaboration with Environmental Defense Fund—has commited to reach 100% electric vehicles on the Lyft platform by 2030. By working with drivers to transition to electric vehicles, we have the potential to avoid tens of millions of metric tons of GHG emissions to the atmosphere and to reduce... Read more →

Honda Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned Honda subsidiary in China, has established Hynex Mobility Service Co., Ltd., a new joint venture company with Neusoft Reach Automotive Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Hynex Mobility Service will strive to advance connected services and offer new value users can enjoy through their... Read more →

Hyundai Motor will display a 1:8-scale model of its ‘UAM-PBV-Hub’ smart mobility ecosystem (earlier post) in its headquarters lobby until June 12 and at global events afterward. The 1:8-scale model on display is a miniature of the exhibit shown at CES 2020 and includes integration of its Urban Air Mobility... Read more →

Swiss start-up Bestmile has developed an orchestration platform for on-demand mobility providers that steers every vehicle in a fleet in real time. The focus is on the control of autonomous vehicles. Bestmile’s cloud-based mobility services solution features its Fleet Orchestration Platform, native professional and public applications, and API-enabled integration with... Read more →

A new study from Juniper Research has found that the total number of MaaS (Mobility-as-a-Service) platform users (which integrates different transport services, including buses, taxis, rail and metro into a single app), will grow by more than fivefold by 2021 compared with 2019. This means the market will reach more... Read more →

Intel Corporation today has acquired Moovit, a mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) solutions company, for approximately $900 million ($840 million net of Intel Capital equity gain). Moovit is known for its urban mobility application that offers travelers around the world multimodal trip planning by combining public transportation, bicycle and scooter services, ride-hailing, and... Read more →

Charging-as-a-service provider AMPLY Power is managing the charging of electric buses for Eastern Contra Costa Transit Authority, which is operating under the name Tri Delta Transit. AMPLY identified 40% of annual energy savings its managed charging software platform could realize, while guaranteeing vehicles were charged and ready to work each... Read more →