13.13 - RollOut
13th edition of the 13th year of SmartDrivingCars eLetter
Elon Musk changes Tesla’s narrative: Jacques Nasser of Ford tried it twenty-five years ago
M. Sena , Sept. 1, “TESLA’S EARNINGS CALL on Thursday, the 24th of July 2025, brought me back on a magic carpet ride to the summer of 2000. Twenty-five years is a rounding error at ten decimal places in Earth time, but for people born in 1947, like Jacques Nasser and your editor, two thirds of our lives reckoned by where we are today was behind us in 2000. Jacques Nasser would turn 53 at the end of that year, and he was at the pinnacle of his career, having been named President and CEO of Ford Motor Company in 1999. Where Nasser, Ford Motor Company, and the rest of the car companies were in the summer of 2000 is where I was taken on that carpet by what I heard from Elon Musk about Tesla in the summer of 2025. What happened to Nasser and Ford after that summer had a major impact on many lives, including my own. What will happen after this summer to Musk and Tesla will have lasting impacts as well….” Read more Hmmmm… Insightful Musings. Enjoy! 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 398 / PodCast 398 - Musk changes Tesla narrative
F. Fishkin, Sept.13, “Elon Musk changes Tesla narrative. And it isn’t a first in the automotive world according to Michael Sena. The consultant and co-author of The Real Case for Driverless Mobility joins Princeton’s Alain Kornhauser and co-host Fred Fishkin for episode 398 of Smart Driving Cars. Plus ..Tesla’s latest master plan, Zoox in Las Vegas, the humans vs. self driving safety debate and more. Tune in and subscribe.
0:00 open
0:57 Elon Musk changes Tesla narrative
9:29 Tesla out with latest master plan- discussion on historical mobility needs
23:50 Energy sources and consumption discussion
28:20 Tesla master plan key is affordability
30:45 Tesla gets okay for robotaxi testing in Nevada while Zoox begins robotaxi testing in Las Vegas
38:19 Debate on whether robotaxis/self driving vehicles are safer than those driven by humans
43:16 Harvard Business School piece asks Why People Blame Self Driving Cars More Than Human Drivers
51:11 Where are Driverless Cars Going in New York City
53:50 From NY Times Taxi Driver Runs Over Man Who Once Escaped Custody on a City Bus- more debate about perception of driverless vehicles
57:30 Colorado plane crash claims life of long time friend and student of Alain’s.
1:00:45 Kelly Funkhouser joins NVIDIA from Consumer Reports
1:01:09 Handy Rides soft launch is underway
September 26-30, 2025
Nashville, Tennessee
Deadly plane crash near Colorado airport
Staff, Sept. 6, The local flight out of Centennial Airport had no distress calls according to the NTSB.….” Read more Hmmmm… Tragic. I’ll miss your devoted friendship,Rob. Celebration of Life Rob Hill’84. Alain
D. Mudge, Sept. 12, “The Transportation Channel is a first-of-its kind digital network for all things transportation. The Channel covers all modes of transportation. Material can be found on The Transportation Channel as well as a broad range of sites including MSM, Bloombergs, Yahoo, etc. The firm generates its own podcasts (most recently as part of the ITS World Congress) and includes podcasts and video prepared by other groups and individuals. By the end of the year, The Transportation Channel expects to have attracted 80 million viewers….” Read more Hmmmm… Check it out. Transportation’s “weather channel”. Alain
Taxi Driver Runs Over Man Who Once Escaped Custody on a City Bus
M. Coleman, Sept. 2 , “The Transportation Channel is a first-of-its kind digital network for all things transportation. The Channel covers all modes of transportation. Material can be found on The Transportation Channel as well as a broad range of sites including MSM, Bloombergs, Yahoo, etc. The firm generates its own podcasts (most recently as part of the ITS World Congress) and includes podcasts and video prepared by other groups and individuals. By the end of the year, The Transportation Channel expects to have attracted 80 million viewers.….” Read more Hmmmm… Is the NY taxi industry going to be fined at least $500K the way Cruise was fined for something infinitely less egregious? We coddle mis-behaving humans while suffocating the life out of automated systems that mis-behave substantially less than their human counterparts? Mossetty was incarcerated @ Riker’s Island instead of receiving treatment at a psychiatric hospital is also a disgrace, The NY Times fails miserably at properly reporting on this tragedy. Alain
Tesla Team, Sept. 1, “… Humans are toolmakers. At Tesla, we make physical products at scale and at a low cost with the goal of making life better for everyone….
Autonomous vehicles have the capacity to dramatically improve the affordability, availability and safety of transportation while reducing pollution, particularly in our increasingly dense global cities….
Making technologically advanced products that are affordable and available at scale is required to build a flourishing and unconstrained society. It serves to further democratize society while raising everyone’s quality of life in the process. The hallmark of meritocracy is creating opportunities that enable each person to use their skills to accomplish whatever they imagine. ….” Read more Hmmmm… I concur. Affordability paves the road to improving everyone’s quality of life especially the most challenged. Alain
NVIDIA hire from LinkedIn post
Staff, Sept. 1, I’m excited to share that I’ve joined NVIDIA as Senior Product Manager, ADAS/AV.
My career has steadily brought me closer to the source of innovation, where I can directly influence the design of safer and smarter vehicles.….” Read more Hmmmm… Congratulations!!!! Alain
Amazon’s Zoox jumps into U.S. robotaxi race with Las Vegas launch
S. Rodriguez, Sept. 10, “Five years after its splashy $1.3 billion acquisition of Zoox, Amazon has officially entered the U.S. robotaxi race, which to date has been dominated by Alphabet’s Waymo.
Zoox’s first public launch kicks off Wednesday on the Las Vegas strip. The company is offering free rides from a few select locations, with plans to expand more broadly across the city in the coming months. Riders will eventually have to pay, but Zoox said it’s waiting on regulatory approval to take that step…..” Read more Hmmmm… Congratulations! You are now the new #2 in the US of A. Alain
Cable gave way before deadly Lisbon funicular crash, initial report finds
J. Klender, Aug 24, “Tesla has made a big change to its Online Design Studio, hoping to encourage car buyers to purchase Full Self-Driving with their vehicles.
Now, when you look at ordering a car on Tesla’s website, the portion of the page that formerly showed a render of Full Self-Driving capabilities has been replaced by a compilation of the suite’s performance in a variety of challenging scenarios.
Tesla recently released a video of a drive from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, a nearly seven-hour trip, under FSD without a single intervention ever needed: See video. ….” Read more Hmmmm… Does this mean that the Duquesne and Monongahela Inclines will need to close in Pittsburgh? Will all ski lift be required to have a driver in each chair cluster? What about “Vision Zero” in Portugal?
Why People Blame Self-Driving Cars More Than Human Drivers
J. De Freitas, Sept. 9, “As carmakers look to expand the market for autonomous vehicles (AVs), they are hitting a psychological speed bump: People blame AVs more for accidents—even when they are not at fault.
Experiments with more than 5,000 respondents across three studies describe a common tendency: People imagine what would have happened if a perfect human driver had been behind the wheel instead of artificial intelligence (AI). This “what if” reaction could extend to AI in other sectors as well, says Harvard Business School Assistant Professor Julian De Freitas, representing a barrier to broader acceptance and expansion of the technology.
“It’s different than when regular systems fail, because AVs are still this unfamiliar and unsettling technology,” says De Freitas, a co-author of the study and director of the Ethical Intelligence Lab at HBS. “And so, when there is an AI failure people fixate on the technology and imagine how things could have turned out differently had a superior driver been present instead.
This makes people more likely to view AV makers as liable, raising their legal and financial risk.”….” Read more Hmmmm… Very interesting! Please also read the full paper: “ Public Perception and Autonomous Vehicle Liability”. Alain
Transit tech firm Via valued at $3.5 billion as shares fall in NYSE debut
R. Rishab, Sept. 12, “Transit technology maker Via Transportation (VIA.N), opens new tab was valued at $3.5 billion on Friday after its shares fell 4.4% in their NYSE debut.
The stock opened at $44, below the $46 offer price.
Via and selling shareholders raised $493 million by selling 10.7 million shares, priced above the marketed range of $40 to $44. …” Read more Hmmmm… Wow! Giving government subsidized rides is profitable? Wow! Alain
HandyRides Update
A. Kornhauser, Sept. 13, “Soft Launch 9/11/25 serving virtual non-emergency health care rides. Starting 9/16/25 affordable housing and affordable nutrition rides are to be added along with rides to Friends & Family (F&F)” Hmmmm… OK! Alain