NVIDIA has entered a partnership with Uber to equip more of the rideshare company’s vehicles with its autonomous driving infrastructure. The deal centers on NVIDIA’s Drive AGX Hyperion 10 autonomous vehicle development platform, a computer and sensor system that can make any vehicle capable of level 4 self-driving, as well as its Drive software. According to the press release, this partnership will see Uber’s global fleet of autonomous vehicles growing to 100,000 vehicles over time, beginning in 2027.
Several notable auto brands are also collaborating with NVIDIA on the push toward developing truly autonomous vehicles. Stellantis, Lucid and Mercedes-Benz are working on vehicles that would support NVIDIA’s L4 technology. Aurora, Volvo Autonomous Solutions and Waabi are pursuing work on implementing Drive AGX Hyperion 10 into long-haul freight vehicles.
Japanese automaker Isuzu Motors announced plans to build a new test course dedicated to autonomous vehicles, with the aim of accelerating the adoption of Level 4 autonomous technologies in trucks and buses.
Isuzu claims that the new facility will be the first dedicated autonomous driving test course to be established by a commercial vehicle manufacturer in Japan. It will be built on a 190,000 sq m plot within the proving grounds of its Isuzu Hokkaido Proving Ground Company (IHPG) subsidiary, and will be designed to accommodate large commercial vehicles such as heavy-duty trucks with trailers and articulated buses.
Switch Auto Insurance and Save Today!
Powered by Money.com – Yahoo may earn commission from the links above.
The new facility will feature multiple testing areas, including simulated urban streets, highway merging and exiting sections, and rural roads. Each area will be equipped with different types of road and traffic infrastructure, making it possible to safely replicate complex driving scenarios that are difficult to conduct on public roads, enabling the verification and validation of autonomous driving technologies. The facility is expected to be partially operational by the summer of 2026 and fully operational by September 2027.
Isuzu confirmed that the new autonomous vehicle proving ground will also be made available to companies and organizations outside the Isuzu Group, including autonomous driving startups, automotive parts suppliers, and the transport infrastructure sector, “thereby helping to advance the deployment of autonomous driving technologies throughout society.”
“Isuzu to build a dedicated test track for autonomous CVs” was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand.
The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Elon Musk unveiled a prototype of Tesla’s Robovan on Thursday night during the company’s We, Robot event in Los Angeles. The Robovan will be an electric, autonomous vehicle roughly the size of a bus, designed for transporting people around high density areas. It will carry up to 20 people at a time and also transport goods, according to Musk.
“We’re going to make this, and it’s going to look like that,” said Musk on Thursday night as the Robovan rolled towards center stage. That’s about as much as Musk was willing to say, and we’re not even sure that much is true.
Musk didn’t mention how much the Robovan would cost, how Tesla would produce it, or when it will come out. However, it does look pretty cool.
Elon Musk unveiling the Robovan at Tesla’s We, Robot event. (Image credit: Tesla)Image Credits:Tesla
The Robovan has a retro-futuristic look – somewhere between a bus from The Jetsons and a toaster from the 1950s. It features silver metallic sides with black details, and strips of light running parallel to the ground along its sides, with doors that slide out from the middle. Inside, there are seats and room to stand, with tinted windows throughout. There is no steering wheel, since it’s autonomous.
“One of the things we want to do – and we’ve done this with the Cybertruck – is we want to change the look of the roads,” said Musk. “The future should look like the future,” he said, repeating an old line.
The inside of the Robovan prototype. (Image credit: Tesla)
It looks similar to other purpose-built robotaxis, like those designed by Zoox and Cruise. Only Tesla’s van is much bigger. In China, WeRide has built a similar Robobus.
That said, the Robovan showed on Thursday is only a prototype. Despite what Musk says, there’s no telling what the real thing will look like or when it will actually come out.
Tesla had kept the design of the vehicles it introduced on Thursday pretty close to the chest. The only real hint we had was from Tesla’s 2023 Investor Day, when the automaker teased a couple of new vehicles that appeared to be designed for volume production: One smaller vehicle that appears now to be the Cybercab, and a larger one that we can now say is likely the Robovan.
The stated goal at the time was to produce 20 million vehicles per year by 2030. That would mean that Tesla needs to increase production and sales by about 15 times from 2022.
During Thursday’s event, Musk did not outline any plans for building new production facilities or retooling existing facilities to accommodate either the Cybercab or the Robovan. He also didn’t provide much in the way of timelines for the Robovan, though he predicted the Cybercab would start production in 2026 or 2027.
State regulators on Friday gave the green light for Waymo to expand into Los Angeles and San Mateo counties, clearing the way for the driverless taxi service to launch in the coming months.
Exactly when Waymo services will be available in Los Angeles is still to be determined, but the decision by the California Public Utilities Commission will open the streets of America’s second-largest city to a fleet of autonomous vehicles — even as self-driving cars continue to be the subject of safety concerns and some public criticism.
Waymo, formerly known as the Google self-driving car project, is owned by Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and already operates in parts of San Francisco.
The company is allowed to operate fully autonomous vehicles and carry public passengers as part of its testing and promotion, and has been testing its driverless white Jaguars in Los Angeles for more than a year. An invitation-only period rolled out in Los Angeles County last year, giving some a chance to experience the service firsthand.
“As always, we’ll take a careful and incremental approach to expansion by continuing to work closely with city officials, local communities and our partners to ensure we’re offering a service that’s safe, accessible and valuable to our riders,” Waymo spokesperson Julia Ilina said in a statement.
But Waymo’s expansion has been met with some skepticism — and the vehicles have at times been targets of vandalism. Last month, a crowd burned an empty Waymo car in San Francisco’s Chinatown, though the motive for that attack was unclear.
Los Angeles officials have expressed concern over the deployment of the driverless vehicles, and some have backed legislation introduced by state Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San José) that would give local officials more power to regulate them.
L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn called the CPUC’s approval “a dangerous decision.”
“These robotaxis are far too untested and Angelenos shouldn’t be Big Tech’s guinea pigs. Decisions like this one should be informed by cities, not made over city objections,” Hahn said in a statement.
Peter Finn — president of the Teamsters Joint Council 7, a union that represents freight and delivery truck drivers — said the commission’s decision comes less than a month after Waymo issued a recall because of a software issue. That recall was prompted by incidents in Phoenix in December, when two Waymo vehicles struck the same pickup truck minutes apart as it was being towed.
“The fact that this permit is being granted following such a fiasco raises a lot of questions about the due diligence conducted during this process and how forthcoming Waymo is with both regulators and the general public,” Finn said in statement.
Currently, local jurisdictions have no say in the commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles. The CPUC cleared the expansion of Waymo’s operations despite letters of opposition from officials in South San Francisco, San Mateo and Los Angeles counties, and multiple transportation agencies.
In a protest letter to the commission, the L.A. Department of Transportation argued that there needs to be standardization of disengagement protocols and more oversight over the automated vehicles before they are deployed.
“Any expansion by Waymo will set a precedent for these companies and those looking to enter the marketplace to deploy without any rules or safeguards in place that were promulgated without meaningful coordination with local jurisdictions,” the letter said.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass asked regulators in November to increase their scrutiny of autonomous vehicles and said the city should have a say in how they are regulated.
At the time, she pointed to one of the Waymo driverless cars operating in Los Angeles that had failed to initially stop for a traffic officer at Beaudry Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard on Aug. 3, 2023. The officer had been signaling east- and westbound traffic to come to a stop.
Groups submitting letters of support for the Waymo expansion included United Way Bay Area, the California Chamber of Commerce, the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California and Southern California Resource Services for Independent Living, among others.
Before the commission’s approval, San Mateo County Atty. John D. Nibbelin protested, saying the county didn’t have enough information on the expansion plans or enough engagement with Waymo.
“The ‘quick and simplified’ advice letter review process … is insufficient to develop the evidence necessary to fully understand the potential impacts and issues Waymo’s expansion into San Mateo County will create, including accounting for the differing needs and hurdles Waymo will face operating in San Mateo County,” Nibbelin’s letter to the commission stated.
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has been one of the best-performing stocks on the market over the last decade as it proved that electric vehicles (EVs) can be a viable business, and even a highly profitable one. However, recently, Tesla stock has been looking surprisingly mortal. The stock trades down by roughly half from its peak in 2021, and its fourth-quarter earnings report shows why the stock has faded.
Tesla’s revenue growth continues to slow and profits are falling, and that pattern continued in Q4. Automotive revenue rose 1% year over year to $21.6 billion, and overall revenue was up just 3% to $25.2 billion. These metrics reflect the impact of lower prices as the company looks to stay competitive, gain market share, and overcome headwinds from higher interest rates.
As a result of lower prices, operating income fell 47% year over year to $2.06 billion, and adjusted earnings per share fell 40% to $0.71. Tesla missed estimates on the top and bottom lines, and it also forecast slower production growth in 2024.
Seemingly, Tesla is less of a millionaire-maker stock than it was two years ago. What’s an ambitious investor to do with this news? If you’re looking for growth stocks that can help make you a millionaire, keep reading.
Image source: Tesla.
Nvidia has powerful tailwinds pushing it higher
Tesla and every other artificial intelligence (AI) stock can’t make their technology without the help of one company, and that’s Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA).
Nvidia stock soared over the last year as its chips are in extraordinarily high demand from companies like OpenAI, Oracle, Meta Platforms, and Tesla, among others. Nvidia, which invented the graphics processing unit (GPU), has a significant head start over its rivals. AI systems like OpenAi’s ChatGPT and autonomous vehicle systems like Tesla’s full self-driving rely on massive training models that use the kind of chips and accelerators Nvidia makes.
That strong demand should help power Nvidia stock higher this year as it’s coming off a third quarter in which revenue tripled year over year and its generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) profit rose by 12x.
As profits have soared, the company’s valuation has come down, and it appears to be set for another strong year in 2024 as cloud infrastructure companies and others are still rapidly building out their AI infrastructure. This should favor Nvidia.
General Motors is more profitable than Tesla
Tesla made its name in electric vehicles, but there are signs of slowing demand for EVs that could spell trouble for Tesla and its peers. It also creates an opening for traditional automakers like General Motors (NYSE: GM) whose stocks got hammered as investors chased EV stocks and abandoned legacy automakers.
As a result, GM stock now trades at a price-to-earnings ratio of just 5. GM may not offer the same growth potential that Tesla does, but the company has a growing EV and autonomous vehicle (AV) business in Cruise, whose rollout has taken a pause after San Francisco regulators suspended operations.
GM remains more profitable than Tesla and is reporting solid growth with a 14% increase in vehicles sold to 2.6 million. That’s a strong growth clip for a mature business and from a stock priced for no growth. Notably, that’s also significantly faster than Tesla’s Q4 revenue growth.
GM’s low valuation also gives the company a greater opportunity to return cash to shareholders. In fact, the company announced a $10 billion accelerated share repurchase program in November and raised its dividend by 33% to $0.12 a share.
Considering the growth in its legacy car business and its investments in electric vehicles and autonomy, GM should be able to bridge the gap with EVs and AVs when the time comes. If GM delivers another strong earnings report, the stock could soar.
Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now?
Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Stock Advisor provides investors with an easy-to-follow blueprint for success, including guidance on building a portfolio, regular updates from analysts, and two new stock picks each month. The Stock Advisor service has more than tripled the return of S&P 500 since 2002*.
Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Jeremy Bowman has positions in Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms, Nvidia, Oracle, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends General Motors and recommends the following options: long January 2025 $25 calls on General Motors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom walked out of the Tesla gigafactory in China last month feeling jazzed about the future.
A future where people do a lot less driving, instead being whisked around by autonomous cars and flying taxis. A future where, he said, the “entire transportation system is completely reorganized.”
“I think it’s going to come very fast,” Newsom said to reporters on the last day of his trip to China promoting clean energy partnerships with California.
“With AI in particular aiding this advancement, I think it’s just going to explode and you’re going to start seeing driverless flying cars as well.”
Newsom made it clear that he’s committed to keeping California the global leader in the development of autonomous technology and said the state shouldn’t “cede the future” to other countries or states.
A tech-friendly, entrepreneurial streak has been one of Newsom’s hallmarks since he entered politics. As lieutenant governor in 2011, he famously set up his San Francisco office in a private hub of tech start-ups. Newsom boasts of having bought one of the first Teslas ever sold, and has had a longstanding relationship with Elon Musk, whom he calls “one of the world’s great innovators.”
But the governor’s effusive comments about autonomous vehicles come as the technology is causing outrage in some California cities, putting Newsom in conflict with many fellow Democrats who are calling for more oversight of the robotic cars on public roads. He’s clashing with mayors and other local officials who want more control over the expansion of robotaxis in their cities, as well as with state lawmakers who believe California’s system for regulating autonomous vehicles is insufficient.
Martha Hubert writes a message opposing robotaxi expansion on Aug. 10 in San Francisco.
(Godofredo A. Vásquez / Associated Press)
The friction is growing as autonomous vehicle companies ramp up their lobbying in Sacramento. Cruise, Waymo, Motional and the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Assn. collectively spent about $2.4 million on lobbying the state government in the first nine months of this year — more than three times the $671,579 they spent lobbying in all of last year, according to disclosures filed with the Secretary of State. Much of that increase is due to a huge jump in spending by Waymo, the business owned by Google’s parent company that operates robotaxis in San Francisco and Santa Monica, with plans to expand to other parts of L.A. this month.
Skepticism from local officials has intensified since a Cruise robotaxi dragged a person down a San Francisco street last month, and the company allegedly failed to disclose footage of the wreck. The DMV suspended Cruise’s permits and the General Motors-owned company announced it is suspending U.S. operations while it works to “rebuild public trust.” It recalled its autonomous fleet to perform a software update.
On Nov. 1, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass wrote a fiery letter to state regulators saying the city wants more say in regulating driverless taxis and she criticized the state for a lack of attention to “public safety, road safety, and other serious concerns.”
“To date, local jurisdictions like Los Angeles have had little to no input in AV deployment and are already seeing significant harm and disruption,” Bass wrote to the state Public Utilities Commission, which approved a massive expansion of robotaxis in August.
Newsom appoints the members of the Public Utilities Commission and oversees the Department of Motor Vehicles, the two agencies tasked with regulating autonomous vehicles. He told reporters he agreed with the DMV’s decision to ban Cruise from San Francisco streets following the crash that left a pedestrian seriously injured.
Even before the Cruise debacle, city officials in San Francisco criticized the state’s move to grow the presence of autonomous vehicles. The fire chief complained that robotaxis are a danger to emergency response because they stop in traffic, pull up too close to firetrucks that are unloading equipment and block firehouse driveways. The police officers union also raised concerns about their expansion. After the Public Utilities Commission approved the expansion, San Francisco’s city attorney filed motions asking it to reverse course, which the commission declined to do.
Now a state lawmaker is pressing the DMV for more information on how it permits autonomous vehicles, how it addresses safety concerns and why it suspended Cruise’s permit. The formal inquiry by state Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose) could portend hearings or legislation on autonomous vehicles after the Legislature reconvenes in January.
“All of us in public service would like to intervene and prevent things from happening and not have tragedy dictate an acceleration of remedies. But if we don’t hurry that’s what’s going to happen,” Cortese said in an interview.
He said California’s structure of having two agencies tasked with regulating driverless cars is problematic.
“I believe we need a single executive agency that deals with autonomous vehicles much like the FAA deals with air travel, commercial and private,” Cortese said. “We don’t have the infrastructure set up to monitor what’s going on or hold people accountable.”
Newsom defended the state’s oversight during his conversation with reporters outside the Shanghai Tesla plant.
“The DMV has built a whole new shop in terms of organizing around making sure people are safe,” he said. “But autonomy is the future.”
An electric Jaguar I-Pace car outfitted with Waymo full self-driving technology drives through Santa Monica on Feb. 21.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
The DMV launched an investigation in 2021 into whether Tesla falsely markets its autonomous technology. The company brands it as “full self-driving” but California does not regulate Teslas as autonomous vehicles, so the company doesn’t have to report crash data to the state. The DMV’s investigation has yielded no public results in more than 2½ years, to the frustration of some state lawmakers.
The governor also clashed with lawmakers over autonomous vehicles earlier this year when he vetoed a bill to require human safety drivers in self-driving big-rig trucks — a measure that sailed through the Legislature with bipartisan support. Newsom said the bill was unnecessary because of the state’s existing system for regulating the evolving technology.
“DMV continuously monitors the testing and operations of autonomous vehicles on California roads and has the authority to suspend or revoke permits as necessary to protect the public’s safety,” he wrote in the veto message.
Peter Finn, a vice president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which sponsored the bill to require human drivers on autonomous trucks, said the union will keep pushing because both safety and jobs are at stake.
“We’re not backing away from this fight. We’re going to double down in terms of pursuing fair and responsible guardrails to this technology,” he said.
He called Newsom “completely out of touch with California residents” on the issue of autonomous vehicles.
There’s no sign that Newsom’s zeal for automotive innovation will subside. In addition to touring the Shanghai Tesla factory, while in China Newsom test drove a hybrid SUV made by Chinese manufacturer BYD. He took his hands off the wheel and waved to reporters as the car went into automated mode and rotated in a full 360-degree turn.
“This is another leap of the technology. Next level,” Newsom marveled from behind the wheel of the vehicle, which played the Eagles’ song “Hotel California” on the sound system when he turned it on.
Gov. Gavin Newsom test drives an SUV with autonomous features made by BYD during a visit to Shenzhen, China, on Oct. 24.
(Laurel Rosenhall / Los Angeles Times)
The governor said he first experienced driverless technology many years ago during a visit to Google with company founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Four years ago, at the Sears Point raceway in Sonoma County, Newsom said he rode in an “Audi going 160 miles an hour with no one in the driver’s seat.”
Newsom also expressed excitement about aviation innovation underway in California. Drone-like electric planes are being tested across the state by Silicon Valley tech companies pitching the vision of clean, quiet flying taxis to get people off clogged freeways. Two companies, Archer and Joby, plan to launch with pilots while a company called Wisk is developing an autonomous air taxi.
Joby reported hiring a Sacramento lobbying firm for the first time in July, and one of its lobbyists, Michael Picker, is a former president of the Public Utilities Commission, which regulates taxis and rideshare companies.
Asked if he had safety concerns with autonomous technology, the governor echoed industry talking points that human drivers who can get drunk or sleepy behind the wheel are more dangerous than driverless cars.
“I think we’re gonna look back in 20 to 30 years and go, why were we allowed to drive? And allow 30-plus-thousand Americans to die every single year in accidents?” Newsom said. “There’s a precision with the technology, but it has to be worked through. I just think it’s mesmerizing, the change that’s about to come.”
Times staff writer Anabel Sosa contributed to this report.
Teksbotics and Alshrouq Express has started a pilot of last-mile autonomous delivery in the King Abdullah University of Science and Technologies (KAUST). The project objective is to design and build a cost effective autonomous delivery vehicle for the last-mile delivery for e-commerce delivery with the support of National Digital Unit (NDU) of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Press Release –
May 18, 2022
HONG KONG, May 18, 2022 (Newswire.com)
– Teksbotics is a Hong Kong-based autonomous driving solution provider. The company assists its customers to automate their transportation, delivery and patrol jobs. In this project, Teksbotics is partnering with its Saudi Logistic Partner – Alshrouq Express, which is one of the best last-mile delivery companies serving Amazon.com and Noon.com.
In this pilot project, a purpose-built last-mile delivery vehicle (UNO Commuter) was designed and developed by Teksbotics in accordance with requirements collected in Saudi Arabia. The autonomous vehicle is equipped with mechanical lidars, semi solid state lidars, camera, dGPS and on-board driving control unit. It provides the daily last-mile delivery services from the KAUST’s campus mail room to the KAUST Island Residence Area.
“This project will permit us to better understand how residents respond to the autonomous deliveries and what will be the user experience and acceptance,” Ahmad Khanfar, Alshrouq Express CEO, said in a statement. “We look forward to seeing how autonomous delivery can work along with Alshrouq to satisfy our company and our customers’ needs.”
Teksboticsis a Hong Kong-based autonomous driving solution provider. The company assists its customers to automate their transportation, delivery and patrol jobs by using self-driving and AI technologies.
Calgary becomes the first city in the world to offer autonomous parking payment option
Press Release –
Oct 13, 2016
Calgary, Alberta, October 13, 2016 (Newswire.com)
– As of this month, motorists in Calgary are the first in the world to be able to pay for their parking using a fully autonomous payment service powered by PayBySky technology.
PayBySky uses a small in-vehicle device called a ‘Skymeter’ to pinpoint a vehicle’s exact location so it can then make an automatic parking payment on your behalf using Calgary Parking Authority’s ParkPlus account.
“The Skymeter removes the hassle and headache of paying for parking. With the Skymeter, all you need to do is park your vehicle, walk away and let the system pay for your parking.”
Roger DHollander, President
“The Skymeter removes the hassle and headache of paying for parking,” says PayBySky President Roger D’Hollander. “With the Skymeter, all you need to do is park your vehicle, walk away and let the system pay for your parking.” PayBySky also includes handy additional features such as a trip log book, real time vehicle location and driving behaviour analysis, which are especially useful for company owned vehicles.
PayBySky’s technology works with Calgary’s ParkPlus System to remove the need for cash, credit cards or mobile phones to make a parking payment. All a customer needs for ultimate freedom is to install a Skymeter in their vehicle.
“Calgary is recognized as a world leader in technology, and in keeping with that tradition, we are excited to extend PayBySky convenience to our ParkPlus account holders,” said Calgary Parking Authority General Manager Mike Derbyshire. “The combination of these two systems moves us one step closer to the future of self-driving and autonomous vehicles and we want to make sure that our technology is ready for that reality.”
Calgary based Constant Fire Protection Systems was the first customer to use PayBySky. Rob Anderson, President commented, “This innovative service aligns with our strategy to use progressive technology to increase productivity in all aspects of our business.”
Information about how to obtain a Skymeter can be found at www.paybysky.com.
About PayBySky
PayBySky, based in London, Ontario specializes in payment systems for cars and trucks. We supply financial-grade GPS (FGPS) metering for parking payment, usage-based insurance, high-occupancy/tolling, and road-use charging such as automated toll payments for rental fleets and infrastructure-free HOT lanes. Our patented systems incorporate smart meters, intelligent software, and telecommunications to lower driving costs, improve automotive safety and address urban congestion. We help save money, frustration and overhead as we reduce infrastructure costs, improve road safety and reduce emissions.
About CPA
The Calgary Parking Authority is a proud partner of The City of Calgary and is committed to managing publicly-owned on- and off-street parking facilities on The City’s behalf. In addition, we manage the municipal parking enforcement program and provide parking advisory services.
