Teslarati – Tesla analyst shares pessimistic view of robotaxi fleet
Teslarati reports on how a Tesla analyst doesn't believe in the hype of the Tesla robotaxi fleet since most Tesla owners would not want to share their vehicles in the first place.
Robotaxi.news
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Robotaxi.news
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
News
The news media has expended considerable effort researching and publishing information about the robotaxi business. This channel highlights some of the important articles.
Read MoreTeslarati – Tesla analyst shares pessimistic view of robotaxi fleet
MissionLocal – Waymo rolls toward San Francisco Airport. A showdown is brewing.
Mission Local reports on how Waymo is trying to inch towards providing service at SF Airport, which would provide a huge financial bonus to the company.
Washington Post – Robot taxi riders in San Francisco targeted with a new form of harassment
Washington Post reports how robotaxis not having a human driver leads to a large number of scary situations. Apparently their metric of crashes per mile driven is simply not adequate.
TheVerge – NHTSA finally releases new rules for self-driving cars — but there’s a twist
TheVerge reports on how the Federal Government is proposing changing standards for autonomous vehicles, but that they expect a great deal of safety related data in return. At the same time, Tesla is trying to avoid having to provide the government with crash data since they have so many crashes.
NBC Bay Area – Waymo’s robotaxis surpass 25 million miles, but are they safer than humans?
NBC Bay Area reports on yet another misleading study by Waymo on how their vehicles improve safety, when they simply do not.
Reuters – Exclusive: Trump transition recommends scrapping car-crash reporting requirement opposed by Tesla
Reuters reports on how the Trump transition team is trying to eliminate the requirement for Tesla to provide data on just how dangerous their "self-driving" system actually is.
TechCrunch – Cruise employees ‘blindsided’ by GM’s plan to end robotaxi program
TechCrunch reports that the Cruise employees didn't realize that there was no way that GM was going to continue to burn more money on the doomed project. The key thing is that Waymo employees currently believe that they will always be supported by the parent company. Well, it just doesn't work that way.
TheVerge – The end of Cruise is the beginning of a risky new phase for autonomous vehicles
TheVerge provides the most in depth coverage of the fall of Cruise. A robotaxi business is currently too expensive and complicated to succeed with financially. The article also appropriately points out that urban transportation advocates see the only true safety solution is fewer cars, not automated ones.
Fortune – With General Motors pulling the plug on Cruise, every American automaker except Tesla has called it quits on robotaxis
Fortune reports on how GM pulling the plug on Cruise shows just how hard it is for automakers to succeed with robotaxis. Tesla stockholders should take note.
Business Insider – Why GM pulled the plug on Cruise after spending $10 billion on robotaxis
Business Insider reports on how GM is shutting down the Cruise division. But their main point is that the robotaxi business is simply a bad business financially.
elektrek – Tesla loses its head of Autopilot HW engineering to Amazon’s self-driving effort
elektrek announces that Tesla is losing yet another critical long-term employee. This time it is the head of Autopilot and FSD HW engineering. Why would the head of AV hardware leave Tesla when they are supposedly lsoon to make billions of dollars off of their robotaxi business???
WSJ – General Motors Scraps Cruise Robotaxi Program
Wall Street Journal reports that, as predicted, Cruise has crashed. It is being shut down. And GM will focus more on development of advanced driver assistance systems, putting autonomy on the back burner.
Reuters – Tesla aims to launch robotaxi with teleoperator backup, Deutsche Bank says
Reuters reports that Tesla has come to the realization that FSD won't actually be adequate for robotaxis and that teleoperation will be needed. Tesla also explains that originally the robotaxis would be owned by Tesla, not by individuals as described earlier.
Barrons – Tesla Stock Rises as New Cybercab Details Emerge
Barrons falsely reports that Tesla robotaxis will be much cheaper because they will have half the parts. But the stock market loves the story!
TechCrunch – Waymo outsources fleet operations to African fintech Moove in Phoenix and, soon, Miami
TechCrunch reports that Waymo is starting to outsource operations of their robotaxis to an African fintech company in order to save on costs.
