13.11 - Finally
11th edition of the 13th year of SmartDrivingCars eLetter
Revel is shutting down its Model Y-powered ride-hailing, which was basically Tesla Robotaxi
F. Lambert, Aug 12, “Revel announced that it is shutting down its ride-hailing service in New York, which was powered by modified Tesla Model Y vehicles….
Revel started with a ride-sharing fleet of electric scooters, but in 2021, it expanded into a ride-hailing fleet of Tesla Model Y vehicles in New York.
It’s essentially the same as the service Tesla recently launched in the Bay Areaof California, which it called “Robotaxi.”…
Over the last few years, Revel has entered the charging business. Initially, it was primarily to charge its own expanding fleet of electric vehicles, but it gradually expanded into large public charging stations….
Over the last few years, Revel has entered the charging business. Initially, it was primarily to charge its own expanding fleet of electric vehicles, but it gradually expanded into large public charging stations….
This week, Revel is shutting down its ride-hailing fleet to focus on its charging business….” Read more Hmmmm… How challenging must the conventional ride business be to be behind electric charging? I guess they didn’t drink the Kool Aid future version. Oh well, details must matter. Alain
The Real Case for Driverless Mobility
Narrated by Fred Fishkin, Available now
Published in 2024 (but still relevant)!!! Go to Amazon.com…
SmartDrivingCars ZoomCast 396 / PodCast 396 Revel folds Model Y ride Hailing, Tesla Robotaxis, Waymo & more
F. Fishkin, Aug. 14, “Revel shuts down Model Y ride hailing service in NYC, while Tesla and Waymo aim to start services in the city. A move for Adam Jonas at Morgan Stanley, GM wants to sell self driving cars to consumers and more! Tune into episode 396 of Smart Driving Cars with Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin.
- 0:00 open
- 0:30 Revel shuts down Model Y ride hailing
- 5:04 Waymo and Tesla look to bring robotaxis to NYC
- 7:36 CNBC reports Tesla analyst Adam Jonas moving to new role at Morgan Stanley
- 11:35 Tesla willing to pay up to 33.66 an hopur for robotaxi test operators in NYC
- 14:40 CNBC says Tesla Robotaxi scores permit for ride hailing service in Texas
- 18:14 GM plans to bring back self driving car project to sell vehicles to consumers
- 27:05 Edmunds piece asking is Model Y FSD tech really worth 8 thousand dollars
- 30:33 The Street report on Tesla lawsuit settlement history before 243 million dollar suit
- 33:00 The Street also reports that Tesla robotaxi pulls ahead of Waymo in SF
- 38:40 Very brief update on Handyrides effort
September 26-30, 2025
Nashville, Tennessee
Noted Tesla analyst Adam Jonas moving into new role at Morgan Stanley
L. Han, Aug. 4, “Noted Morgan Stanley auto research analyst Adam Jonas will be stepping into a new role at the firm.
Save for a brief stint as a researcher at a European competitor, Jonas has been with Morgan Stanley (and predecessor firm Dean Witter) since graduating from college, eventually working his way up to leading the bank’s coverage of the automobile industry. With this latest move, Jonas will now focus on a wider artificial intelligence theme.
“After nearly 30 years covering autos, I am pursuing an exciting opportunity within Morgan Stanley’s research department focusing on physical/embodied AI (AVs, eVTOLs, space, humanoid robots, etc) leveraging the ideas and relationships from my talented research colleagues across public and private companies,” Jonas said, according to an internal staff memo obtained by CNBC.
Jonas gained notoriety across Wall Street for being a longtime Tesla bull. Early on, he laid out a broader vision for the electric vehicle company that encompassed autonomous robotaxis to justify Tesla’s high valuation. ….” Read more Hmmmm… Adam: congratulations! So well deserved. Even more fun!! Alain
A. Tecotzky, July 5, “As Tesla lays the groundwork to expand its robotaxi service to more US cities, recent job listings indicate that it’s hiring autonomous vehicle operators in the Big Apple to help it do so.
Tesla is hiring prototype vehicle operators in Queens, New York, to operate engineering cars with “autonomous driving systems” and collect driving data, according to a job listing on the company’s website titled “Vehicle Operator, Autopilot.”…
It’s not just driving a car — those who get the gig will need to operate recording devices, debug software as needed, collect and analyze audio and camera data, and give detailed feedback. The ideal applicant has to have good English communication skills, be “tech-savvy with experience managing tools for data collection and troubleshooting with advanced PC skills,” and be familiar with autonomous driving systems.….” Read more Hmmmm… Wow! Does tesla really think they can find people that good in NYC for only $33.66/hour? Do they know what the banks pay for similar skills and attitudes? Alain
Tesla Robotaxi scores permit to run ride-hailing service in Texas
L. Kolodny, Aug. 8, “Tesla has been granted a permit to run a ride-hailing business in Texas, allowing the electric vehicle maker to compete against companies including Uber and Lyft.
Tesla Robotaxi LLC is licensed to operate a “transportation network company” until August 6, 2026, according to a listing on the website of the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, or TDLR. The permit was issued this week.. ….” Read more Hmmmm… Now Uber is in trouble. Can Waymo survive? Alain
GM Plans to Resurrect Self-Driving Car Project With a Twist
C. Carlson, Aug 11, “General Motors (GM) has begun reigniting its defunct self-driving Cruise business by approaching some of the subsidiary’s former employees for recruitment. However, the automaker is said to be pivoting from Cruise’s original mission of creating a robotaxi into manufacturing autonomous cars for personal use, Bloomberg reports. The Cruise revival would begin with GM developing a vehicle with hands-free, eyes-free driving with a human in the driver’s seat. Next, Cruise would create a car capable of operating without a human behind the wheel. Former Tesla Autopilot chief Sterling Anderson, now GM’s Executive Vice President of Global Product and Chief Product Officer, detailed Cruise’s updated roadmap during a meeting on August 6, according to those familiar with the matter. ….” Read more Hmmmm… Talk about an impossible mission… turning around a 100+ year old company focused on making a horribly challenging task (driving) into a tolerable, even enjoyable activity into one that will say, we won’t let you do that anymore. Plus, starting with stale technology with no comments or memory. Yipes! Good luck catching up, let alone leap frogging anyone. The world hasn’t stood still at what it was on October 2, 2023. Alain
Is Our Tesla Model Y’s Full Self-Driving Tech Really Worth $8,000?
B Romans, Aug. 13, “After more than 4,000 miles in our One-Year Road Test fleet, our team has commented favorably about our 2026 Tesla Model Y’s range (327 miles on a full charge in the Edmunds EV Range Test), expansive cargo space, comfortable ride quality, and quick and smooth acceleration. But there’s one thing that’s received a mixed reception: Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (Supervised) feature.
Full Self-Driving (Supervised), henceforth abbreviated as FSD, is a special drive mode that, put simply, allows the car to (mostly) drive itself. Our Model Y, being a loaded-up Launch Series, came with it as standard. Otherwise, FSD is an $8,000 option for the current Model Y lineup. I recently took a 500-mile road trip and thought it would be interesting to drive half of it with FSD activated and half without to better learn its advantages and disadvantages. ….
” There is no doubt that FSD has value. In situations when little brain power is required, then FSD is pretty cool. This is usually on an open freeway with little traffic or a jammed-up highway with traffic crawling along at 5 mph. In both cases, I can rely on FSD to handle the driving while I stretch, grab a stack from the center console, or just relax a little.
Is that worth $8,000, though? As it is now, no. I’m cool with Autopilot. But I could change my mind in the future if Full Self-Driving becomes Unsupervised, meaning Tesla no longer requires the driver to be paying attention. That would be good, but I also would want to be confident that I could trust the car to drive correctly 100% of the time.” Read more Hmmmm… Driving correctly 100% of the time is an unattainable hurdle that not even a Fromula1 driver or any human (except the current reader, of course, lol) can achieve. When can we begin to have a real conversation about how good is good enough, given that currently, IMO, >90% of crashes involve human mis-behavior? Alain
Tesla’s history of settling Autopilot claims before $243 million lawsuit
T. Owusu, Aug. 13, “Tesla (TSLA) just suffered one of its biggest defeats in court, and the lawyer representing the plaintiffs in the case has a lot to say.
Earlier this month, a Florida jury ruled that the family of Naibel Benavides and crash survivor Dillon Angulo were entitled to an award that could total as much as $243 million after George McGee crashed his Tesla into a vehicle they were standing outside of in 2019.
McGee testified that he had Autopilot engaged when he killed the 22-year-old Benavides in Key Largo, but his eyes were off the road while he looked for the cellphone he had dropped.
While Tesla argued that data showed McGee had his foot on the accelerator, overriding Autopilot, in the moments before his vehicle crashed at over 60 mph, the jury found Tesla 33% responsible for the crash. …“ Read more Hmmmm… It is what it is. Alain
Tesla Robotaxi pulls ahead of Waymo in San Francisco
T. Owusu, Aug. 4, “Tesla (TSLA) may have started the robotaxi race running behind Waymo, but it has taken the lead in the pair’s hometown of San Francisco.
Silicon Valley, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, is the home of Tesla, Waymo, and Waymo’s parent company, Alphabet.
After years of beta testing in the city, Waymo finally made Waymo One (think Uber, but for autonomous vehicles) available to the public in June 2024.
Waymo had nearly 300,000 signups at launch, which has only grown since.
As of July 2025, Waymo One is available 24/7 to customers in Los Angeles, Phoenix, as well as the San Francisco Bay Area. Waymo partners with Uber in Austin and Atlanta.
Waymo also says it has plans to expand to Miami and Washington, D.C., in 2026. It has been testing in Miami since December.
Waymo’s current fleet features over San Franciscans can hail Robotaxis through the app, but just like the service in Austin, but there is a human “safety monitor” in the driver’s seat making sure everything is working properly. 1,500 vehicles spread across its four current host cities, but by next year, it expects to more than double its fleet with more than 2,000 new additions…
San Franciscans can hail Robotaxis through the app, but just like the service in Austin, but there is a human “safety monitor” in the driver’s seat making sure everything is working properly…
But while Tesla is behind in some areas, it’s starting life in the Bay Area with a huge advantage over Waymo.
A user on X (the former Twitter) and Tesla enthusiast @JoeTegtmeyer posted a map with the Tesla Robotaxi’s coverage area overlaid on Waymo’s. It doesn’t take a cartographer to see which company has the advantage. ….” Read more Hmmmm… Poor Waymo, they can’t get a break. Here they are, way out in front, yet this author takes something that lacks the most fundamental qualification to be on the same page and rates it superior. What??? This is like comparing an apple to a rock. Poor Waymo. It can’t get any respect. Alain
HandyRides Update
A. Kornhauser, Aug. 14, Signing Service Agreements. We now have our 4 anchor clients. Hmmmm… OK! Alain