Everyone needs to get around. How we do it will change more over the next decade than it has in the last century. Legacy automakers, like Ford and GM, are scrambling to become technology-savvy companies, and the tech industry is trying to cash in on the change. New players, like Rivian and Tesla, are disrupting the industry and sometimes stumbling. We look at how self-driving hardware and software make the automobile better or, in some cases, deeply flawed. We cut through the hype and empty promises to tell you what's really happening and what we think is coming. Verge Transportation cares about all moving machines and the place they have in the future.
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California governor vetoes a bill requiring humans in autonomous big rigs
State legislators passed a bill restricting self-driving heavy-duty trucks in California, but it won’t get the governor’s signature.
This retractable cable can help make the iPhone USB-C transition easier
If you share a vehicle with someone who is still using a Lightning iPhone, but you have a shiny new iPhone 15 with USB-C, you’ll want one of these.
The hotel chain announced a new deal with EV Connect to install branded electric vehicle charging stations at its hotels in the US and Canada.
Renting or traveling with an EV will be an easier choice if you know there’s somewhere to charge it, and Marriott may also need to compete with Hilton, which just announced a new charging deal with Tesla.
I’ll admit that I’ve been curious to see the inside of one of these, and Marques Brownlee did a full tour on his Auto Focus channel. It looks like, well, a delivery van, but clearly a very highly-engineered one. (He shot the video on the iPhone 15 Pro, if you are curious about how video footage looks from that phone.)
In new US EV charging news, the automaker will adopt Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) port in its next-generation EVs starting in 2025. Current and future I-Pace customers will also get adapters to use the 12,000-plus Tesla Superchargers beforehand, but there’s no timeframe for availability.
Jaguar is joining the likes of Ford, GM, Rivian, Volvo, Polestar, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, Fisker, and Honda on essentially the same deal to get on Tesla’s winning connector.
The electric automaker is reportedly in talks to build a new manufacturing facility in the oil-rich nation, according to Wall Street Journal. But any deal would need to overcome a lot of hurdles, including Elon Musk’s contentious relationship with the Saudis (they declined to take Tesla private back in 2018) and the country’s majority stake in rival EV maker Lucid Motors. Much of the talks seem to center on Saudi Arabia’s desire for Tesla’s help securing more cobalt from Africa, which has been linked to human rights abuses. All in all, a tangled mess of foreign relations, late stage capitalism, and bruised billionaire egos!
[The Wall Street Journal]
A simultaneous strike at Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler’s parent company, Stellantis, has never happened, until now. The UAW is demanding pay increases, shorter working days, and stronger pensions. The US automakers claim they can’t transition to EVs and compete with the likes of Tesla, and its cheaper non-union workforce, due to high labor costs.
You can read what’s at stake at the link below.
CEO Jim Farley and executive chairman Bill Ford both showed up to the negotiating table with UAW earlier this week in an effort to avert a strike, the company said in a statement. (UAW President Shawn Fain was a no-show, Ford says.) Ford wants to be seen as pulling out all the stops. But it’s also true that Ford employs the most UAW members of all the “Big Three” automakers, leaving the company uniquely exposed to the economic fallout from a strike.
“If there is a strike, it’s not because Ford didn’t make a great offer,” Farley said. “We have and that’s what we can control.”
The deadline to reach a deal is tonight at 11:59PM. Tick tick tick.
Autonomous Cars
California governor vetoes a bill requiring humans in autonomous big rigs
Waymo begins testing the waters for a robotaxi service in Los Angeles
Cruise unveils a wheelchair-accessible robotaxi, with plans to launch in 2024
Cruise ‘just days away’ from approval to mass-produce Origin robotaxis without steering wheels
The FAA is extending its Remote ID requirement by six months. That means drone operators will have until March 16th, 2024, to add a module to their drones that broadcasts the device’s identity, location, and other information to agencies like the FAA and local law enforcement.
The FAA previously set a compliance date of September 16th, 2023. It notes that operators who don’t comply before the deadline could “face fines and suspension or revocation of pilot certificates.”
Ride-sharing
Uber Eats will start accepting food stamps for grocery delivery in 2024
Lyft now lets drivers prioritize matches with women and nonbinary riders
The Uber for tasks might just be Uber
Uber is reportedly working on an AI chatbot for its food delivery app.
Car and Driver noticed that the blue oval emblem found on the new 2024 Ford F-150 has been redesigned. The slightly larger white script and removal of the outer chrome ring are subtle changes, but significant when placed on America’s bestselling vehicle since, well, forever.
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Dashcam footage of a pre-production model shows a plastic wheel cover being flung into busy highway traffic. Concerning for a company plagued by initial quality issues and the first production Cybertruck deliveries expected any day now.
GM is recalling 9,423 chargers that came with the Chevy Bolt EUV to repair a glitch in the software (Recall number: N232407300). The charger might not stop the flow of electrons when the ground connection is lost, possibly causing a brief shock when unplugging.
Chevy has plenty of time to make sure the next Bolt comes with better chargers.
Apple’s new software is widgets all the way down
Samsung’s new ploy to get kids off iPhones is a MrBeast sponsorship
The iPhone 15 Pro is teaching me to embrace digital zoom
The Google Pixel 8’s latest leak shows off big AI camera updates
NASA collected a sample from an asteroid for the first time — here’s why it matters