Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Are robotaxis the future? Or instead, the past?
Robotaxis are not just limited by weak technology. They unfortunately also don’t make any business sense…
Business Insider covers a report from HSBC that shows that the potential market for driverless taxis was "widely overestimated". Indeed, it isn't about the robotaxi technology (or the lack of it for Tesla). the problem is that the robotaxi companies are not going to be able to make a profit.
The Times reports on the current Tesla trial where the jury will determine who was driving the fatal Tesla, the robot or the human
Bloomberg UK reports on testimony by Missy Cummings in the Tesla fatality lawsuit
NY Times reports on how finally Tesla is being dragged into court due to a deadly crash that occurred through use of its so called Autopilot system.
SF Chronicle reports that somehow Cruise still had 101 Bay Area employees to lay off
Seeking Alpha reports on how Tesla's FSD rollout was a failure. The stock value will surely soon reflect on this.
electrek reports on how a a person who purchased Full Self Driving got their money back because Tesla was never able to deliver. Full Self Driving simply doesn't actually exist.
electrek reports on how Tesla has an incredibly weak rollout of their "robotaxi" system, with a backup person onboard plus a human teleoperator. Yet their stock rises due to delusional fanboys like Dan Ives.
electrek reports that Zoox has created a dedicated factory in Hayward California for manufacturing their custom vehicles. Not only are they trying to develop self driving, but they are doing their own manufacturing, which will be incredibly cost inefficient.
electrek reports on a truly shoddy and misleading reports on Tesla vs Waymo and self driving robotaxis
Business Insider reports that Waymo robotaxis are actually more expensive to use than Uber or Lyft. This does not bode well for the future of robotaxis as a profitable business venture, once the novelty wears off.
TheStreet published an article on June 11th on how the Tesla robotaxi system was going to start on the 12th, and that this is a make or break moment. But of course, Tesla wasn't able to start their system on the 12th since they don't have a viable system in the first place.
A lawsuit has been filed by a cyclist in San Francisco who was seriously injured by two (yes, two!) Waymo robotaxis. This demonstrates why Waymo should not be allowed on the transit only portions of Market Street. They simply are not safe with respect to bicyclists.
Forbes reports that Waymo is losing money hand over fist, and if they are separated from Alphabet/Google due to the anti-trust ruling, then their viability is very questionable. And the Forbes article makes a compelling argument of why this could happen.
Dallas Morning News reports that Aurora has had to add backup drivers for their autonomous trucks due to safety concerns. Appears that autonomous trucks are not going to live up to their cost saving hype given that they need both a driver and really expensive technology.
