Notable news and other tidbits
ADAS
DeepRoute.ai unveiled its Driver 3.0 solution, its commercial ADAS solution. There are two versions available for automakers to purchase: The D-PRO, with hardware costs at $2,000, includes HD map-free operation and features like valet park assist and point-to-point navigation. D-AIR, which costs $1,000, focuses on HD map-free driver assistance like automatic cruise control and lane centering.
Tesla started rolling out an update to its Full Self Driving (FSD) software — specifically Full Self-Driving Beta v11.3.3 — that provides a major update to the software stack. It’s and addresses a recall notice posted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Autonomous vehicles
Baidu Apollo has been granted permits to provide fully driverless ride-hailing service in Beijing’s Yizhuang Economic Development Zone. The company was also granted approval to test its robotaxis on public roads in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area.
Cruise, the self-driving unit under General Motors, has applied for permission to test its autonomous vehicles across all of California, not just San Francisco.
Waymo released a safety case for autonomous vehicles that it wants the rest of the AV industry to use as a blueprint of sorts.
A lawsuit was filed against Transdev Alternative Services, the contractor firm that supplies workers to Waymo. The former employee said in the lawsuit she suffered “cruel and appalling treatment” working for Waymo via Transdev in San Francisco. Waymo is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
Electric vehicles, charging & batteries
7-Eleven has unveiled 7Charge, its new EV charging network and app in the U.S., and coming soon to Canada.
Albemarle Corporation announced plans to develop a $1 billion lithium hydroxide processing facility in Chester County, South Carolina.
Ford took the wraps off the Explorer EV. The €45,000 model, which is headed to the European market, shares little with the internal combustion vehicle that carries the same name. The Explorer EV is smaller, features an entirely new design in and out, and has a starting price nearly €10,000 higher.
Hyundai Motor Group released a video showing off an EV charging robot it developed that communicates with an electric vehicle and automatically opens the charging port and plugs in.
LG Energy Solution said it will invest $5.5 billion to build a battery cell manufacturing plant ear Phoenix, quadruple its planned investment. The plant is expected to start making batteries for EVs in 2025 and for energy storage systems the next year.
Ram showed dealers an all-electric midsize pickup concept that was similar to the 1500 Revolution concept that Stellantis brand rolled out at CES in January.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll found 34% of Americans would consider buying an electric vehicle for their next model, while 31% said no.
Tesla offered customers who own Model S and Model X vehicles equipped with the yoke steering wheel an option to order a traditional round one. And you’ll never guess what happened. Yup, it’s already sold out.
Future of flight
Archer Aviation and United Airlines announced plans to launch the first air taxi route in Chicago, between O’Hare International Airport and Vertiport Chicago. This is the second ever commercial electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) route to be approved. Archer and United Airlines announced the first route in November.
In-car tech and security
Ferrari confirmed it was hit by a ransomware attack that exposed customers’ personal information, including names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers. Based on its investigation so far, Ferrari said no payment information or details of Ferrari cars owned or ordered had been stolen, though it’s not clear if the carmaker has the technical ability, such as logs, to detect data exfiltration.
Hivemapper, the startup that puts dashcams on ride-hail and delivery vehicles to map the world, is getting a little closer to its goal of toppling the B2B mapping empire that Google has built.
Luminar Technologies CFO Tom Fennimore defended the company took issue with arguments made in a bearish note by Goldman analyst Mark Delaney.
Nvidia announced at its annual GPU Technology Conference, few automotive-related updates. BMW has expanded its use of Nvidia Omniverse, the company’s metaverse platform that allows automakers to build and test virtually, and is now operating its first fully digital factory. BYD also expanded its use of Nvidia’s system-on-a-chip Drive Orin to a broader range of its EVs.
People
FLYR Labs appointed John Tzioufas as its new Chief Revenue Officer. He will oversee all global sales, sales engineering, sales operations, and account management for FLYR Labs.
Ford has hired John Dion will join the company as chief transformation officer on April 3, reporting to Ford CEO Jim Farley. Dion, who previously worked at ESAB Corp. and Danaher Corp., will oversee global deployment of methodologies and tools based on lean manufacturing and related concepts, according to Ford.
Joby Aviation has announced former FAA administrator Michael Huerta as its latest appointment to its board of directors.
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