Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024

12.9 - March dispatcer

February 24, 2024Newsletter archive →

M. Sena, March 2024, "THE BOOK, THE REAL CASE FOR DRIVERLESS MOBILITY, sums up everything its two authors have been doing and thinking about professionally for the past 55 years. Alain L. Kornhauser and I were fortunate enough to find a publisher, ELSEVIER, who let us put our thoughts into print. Now the work begins to put the words into action. There were many contributors to this book. All of those readers of THE DISPATCHER who have sent me their comments over the past eleven years have helped me to formulate my own thoughts. The articles they sent, I read. I clicked on the URLs they passed on. Many of these readers were clients I have had during my forty years of consulting, and we have continued the journey together when the assignments ended. Participants in the SmartDrivingCars Summits organized by Alain for the past seven years have all been involved in one way or another in preparing the groundwork, planting the seeds, and nurturing the growing ideas included in the book.

It turns out that our book was released at the same time as both WAYMO and CRUISE, two companies at the forefront of driverless technology, experienced setbacks in San Francisco. The latest, the torching of a WAYMO vehicle stuck in traffic with no driver or passenger, highlighted the fact that many people see them as playthings for the rich, serving no purpose for the common man or woman. WAYMO chose to have its vehicles in the same city that blocked their private buses carrying their employees from affordable housing in the city to their premises in Silicon Valley. They should have understood the importance of everyone seeing value in what they were doing. This is our point. You and I don't need driverless vehicles because we have a car or two (or three) at our disposal. The only thing a driverless car has that cars with drivers have is something they don't have: the cost of the driver. It's not a riddle; it's not rocket science; it's basic economics. Driverless cars are not for the wealthy, or even the moderately well off. They are for those who need rides but cannot afford them. That is the message in our book, and that is why it is timely.…."

Just Published!!! Go to Amazon.com… You can still be first on your block to have one J.

https://www.amazon.com/Real-Case-Driverless-Mobility-Vehicles/dp/0443236852/ref=sr_1_1

SmartDrivingCars
ZoomCast 360 /
PodCast 360 w/ the co-authors of The Real Case for Driverless Mobility

F. Fishkin, Feb. 29, "What were the motivations for The Real Case for Driverless Mobility? On episode 360 of Smart Driving Cars, co-author Michael Sena joins the other co-author, Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin. Plus ...from The Dispatcher...car dealers send another letter to the White House on the EV issue...and more. Tune in and subscribe!

0:00 open
0:38 reasons for new book-The Real Case for Driverless Mobility
9:29 Car dealers have sent another letter to the White House
15:48 Letter from Michael Wells about The Economist and Chinese EVs
30:38 The Musings section of The Dispatcher- What else can we put in our tanks?

M. Labrie, Feb. 16, "Generative AI and software-defined computing are transforming the automotive landscape — making the journey behind the wheel safer, smarter and more enjoyable.

Dozens of automakers and NVIDIA DRIVE ecosystem partners will be demonstrating their developments in mobility, along with showcasing their next-gen vehicles at GTC, the conference for the era of AI, running from March 18-21 in San Jose, Calif., and online. These include the Mercedes-Benz Concept CLA Class, the new Volvo EX90, Polestar 3, WeRide Robobus, Nuro R3 autonomous delivery vehicle and more.

Explore myriad sessions to learn about the latest developments in mobility — from highly automated and autonomous driving, generative AI and large language models to simulation, safety, design and manufacturing.

Featured sessions include: …."
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T. Curtis, March 1, "Dear Daniel C. Smith:

Pursuant to Decision (D.) 20-11-046, as modified by D.21-05-017, and Resolution TL-19136, the Consumer Protection and Enforcement Division (CPED) of the California Public Utilities Commission approves Waymo LLC's (Waymo) Advice Letter 0002. Waymo's updated Passenger Safety Plan (PSP), submitted in connection with its expanded operational design domain (ODD) for deployment approved by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), is approved. A status certificate is attached for your records. ….

Sincerely, Terra Curtis…

Advice Letter Subject: Waymo-0002, Requesting approval of Waymo's updated Passenger Safety Plan in connection with Waymo's expanded deployment ODD

Division Assigned: Consumer Protection and Enforcement

Date Filed: 01-19-2024

Disposition: Approved Effective Date: 03-01-2024…

Attachment 1: Staff Review and Disposition…

Disposition of Waymo's Advice Letter …

CPED finds that Waymo has complied with the requirements of the Deployment Decision. Its updated PSP is complete relative to the requirements described in the Deployment Decision and is reasonable for its planned service. Therefore, CPED approves Waymo's updated PSP and authorizes expansion of Waymo's Driverless Deployment service to the areas of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Peninsula it has requested. Waymo may begin fared driverless passenger service operations in the specified areas of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Peninsula, effective today."
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A. Kornhauser, Feb. 28, "Slides used in presentation made @ Alexander Hamilton U.S. Customs House, 1 Bowling Green, NYC; NYSATE Section 10 Conference."

…."
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K. Pyle, Feb. 21, "Giving people rides who need rides is the message of the book, The Real Case for Driverless Mobility. That is, there is a large segment of the population that cannot engage in, as the book co-author, Alain Kornhauser, calls it, "A do-it-yourself approach to transportation."

Kornhauser argues that the opportunity for companies promoting driverless mobility is to serve this segment. In doing so, it will improve the quality of life for those who cannot drive themselves for reasons of age, affordability, skills, or other reasons."
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D. Shepardson, March 1, "The United States is opening an investigation into whether Chinese vehicle imports pose national security risks and could impose restrictions due to concerns about "connected" car technology, the White House said on Thursday.

The U.S. Commerce Department probe is needed because vehicles "collect large amounts of sensitive data on their drivers and passengers (and) regularly use their cameras and sensors to record detailed information on U.S. infrastructure," the White House said.

As vehicles could "be piloted or disabled remotely" the probe will also look at autonomous vehicles.

"China's policies could flood our market with its vehicles, posing risks to our national security," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "I'm not going to let that happen on my watch."

White House officials told reporters it was too early to say what action might be taken and said there was no decision on a potential ban or restrictions on connected Chinese vehicles…."
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S. Doll Feb. 29, XPeng Motors announced a massive milestone for its XPeng navigation guided pilot (XNGP) ADAS feature that enables self-driving in several scenarios. XNGP is now available unlimitedly on all roads, everywhere in China. That's only part of it; XPeng also shared plans to expand the self-driving tech to other markets.

XPeng Motors ($XPEV) currently operates as one of China's big hitters in EVs. Part of the company's appeal is its innovation and advanced technology, including out-of-the-box ideas like genuine flying cars…."
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G. Bensinger, Feb. 29, "General Motors' (GM.N), opens new tab Cruise saw its internal share price cut by more than half from a quarter ago as the fallout from an October accident continues to weigh on the self-driving car company.

Cruise employees were told the share price had been estimated by a third party at $11.80, according to an email viewed by Reuters. That's down from a prior estimate of $24.27 just one quarter ago.

"We cannot ignore that this estimate is significantly lower than we've seen before and that there are real life impacts for each of us," wrote Craig Glidden, chief administrative officer for Cruise, in the email.…."
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M. Oi, Feb. 27, "Apple has reportedly cancelled its plans to build electric vehicles (EV) a decade after the iPhone maker was rumoured to be working on the project.

The firm has never publicly acknowledged the project, which involves around two thousand people.

Many employees from the project will be moved to the iPhone maker's artificial intelligence (AI) division, according to Bloomberg News.…."
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