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I will be taking over the newsletter this week since your usual host is off the grid. NHTSA reported on advanced driver assistance systems.
In June of last year, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration issued a Standing General Order requiring all automotive manufacturers to report the most serious crashes that involved Level 2 ADAS, even though some functions are automated. This week, the findings of that order came out, and it looks like it won't bode well for the company.
70% of the crashes were caused byTesla's electric vehicles. There were at least three crashes with serious injuries and five deaths. Only a small number of crashes were reported by other manufacturers.
Mark Harris reported that the ADAS is more complicated than just the numbers would suggest. There are more ADAS-equippedTeslas on the road than other vehicles, which makes them more likely to be involved in accidents. Nissan's ProPilot and GM's SuperCruise are limited to highways and can't be used in the city.
The NHTSA ordered manufacturers to report all incidents they knew about. Most automakers rely on consumer complaints, law enforcement contacts or media articles to get their crash numbers, butTesla knows exactly which vehicles used autopilot when they crashed because its cars are connected and automatically report vehicle data when a crash happens
We are not saying that the ADAS is safe. It is difficult to know how dangerous a car is compared to other cars.
There are bound to be some data-collecting nuances that could result in potentially misleading findings. Learnings from this report can lead to better data collection in the future.
Email me at rebecca.techcrunch@gmail.com to let me know what you think or have a suggestion.
There is a discussion about the cost of e- bikes. The average cost for a pedal bike in the U.S. is $753 while the average cost for an e-bike is over $2,500. The average selling price of a cargo e-bike is $5,000. It is hard to give up the convenience of driving when you can buy a cheap used car.
There is a way to solve that. The tax credit of up to $900 for the purchase of an e-bike was not included in the spending bill that passed the House. If states want to keep to their climate goals, they should seriously consider incentives to encourage people to buy e- bikes.
There is a shout out to the cheaper e- bikes. I don't know if it's the latest to land in my inbox. The Lectric eBikes are available in the price range of $799 and $999. Last month, Electrek wrote an article. It is a simple solution for commuters or leisure riders. The weight of the lite is only 46 pounds. The 2.0 has more than one basket.
Is scooters right for you? Consumer Reports is looking into the matter.
Even the cheapest of e- bikes/scooters won't make people ride if they don't feel safe. If cycling were safer, bikes would be more popular than cars.
Voi outlined a vision of what cities would look like if they reduced car dependency and converted car-centered streets into space that could be used by pedestrians, cyclists, scooter riders and public transit. Cities Made for Living is a project designed to help city planners integrate shared mobility and some of the images are beautiful. The streets made only for the parking of cars were turned into tree lined havens with plenty of seating and bike lanes.
Other news...
Lime is driving an electric vehicle in Cakifornia.
The new version of the V2X device is designed to alert riders to potential crashes.
As people return to the office, shared micromobility is seeing an increase in Ridership.
Honda has begun development of a three-wheeled scooter that will be on sale in Japan and Europe by the end of the year.
The SWITCH/MTN is an electric mountain bike from Harley- Davidson.
VanMoof allows owners to rent out their e- bikes for an extra income.
The e-cargo bike rentals will be added to the app.
Micromobility America, a conference where people like me can nerd out hard on all things related to bikes, scooters, mopeds and other lightweight electric vehicles, is coming to the Bay Area. You can register your interest
Joby Aviation, a startup that has already built and gotten vehicles off the ground, has been taking up much of the urban air mobility news. The e VTOL market is far from saturation.
Overair secured a large funding round from Hanwha Systems, part of the South Korean conglomerate Hanwha Group.
It won't be the first to get certification for its aircraft, but Overair wants to build the quietest e VTOL. The funding will be used to further develop the prototype, called Butterfly, that it will use for testing.
There were other deals that caught my attention.
The EV charging infrastructure solutions company is going to be acquired by Blink Charging. More than 150,000 EV driver members will be added to the network.
A startup building payment infrastructure for parking facilities raised $167 million in a Series B round.
The platform raised $2.5 million in seed funding.
Statiq raised a $25.7 million Series A in a round led by Shell.
Wind Catching Systems is a developer of floating offshore wind technology.
Electric Last Mile Solutions is one of the EV SPACs and is filing for Chapter 11.
It is not a good deal for the company, but it is worth noting that they have agreed to pay at least $80 million to resolve claims that they skewed emissions and fuel economy data. The sales revenue in the first quarter of the year was 8.04 billion.
The results of SAIC Mobility and Momenta's trial were shared with us. The study found that people love the robotaxis, but it was the popularity of Xiao Ke that caught my attention.
The assistant can open and close car windows and adjust the air conditioning. The song reservation function was used more than 5,000 times. It takes about 52 song reservations per day. Jay Chou, king of Mandopop, was the unanimous choice of users.
There is a joint venture between Sony and Honda to produce electric vehicles. The company's name will be Sony Honda Mobility Inc.
A small EV is being developed by the Korean company.
Rivian is putting off the delivery of its R1S SUV for a second time. The EV startup is integrating the app into its cars, which is similar to how old-school radio works.
The dual-chemistry battery pack created by Our Next Energy will be used in the iX prototype by the end of the year. According to the two companies, ONE's battery will double the vehicle's range.
Ford is taking a break. A malfunction that could cause the vehicle to stop mid-drive is the reason for the recall. The Mach-E costs have gone up due to battery material supply issues and other setbacks. Ford doesn't expect to make a profit on the EV, but it isn't saying if it will raise its prices.
There is no explanation as to why the prices have just been raised byTesla. The Model X is going up in value.
The Global Technical Center in Michigan will get $81 million to build the car.
The first look at the Chevy Blazer EV was revealed.
The first electric car by the company will be produced by the year 2025.
The Polestar 5 prototype will be shown at the Festival of Speed in June.
A Massachusetts court has rejected a bid by app-based gig companies to put forward a ballot proposal that would allow them to define gig workers as independent contractors, not employees.
A $25 million settlement has been reached to resolve shareholder claims that the company hid safety concerns before it went public.
The Reserve at Airports feature will be expanded in time for the summer. Users at 39 airports in the U.S. can book rides to the airport 30 days in advance, have their car wait up to 60 minutes, and get 10% cash back if they reserve in time.
In a small town in California, Amazon is going to start delivering drones.
Ohio State University will be the first college to use sidewalk deliveryrobots.
Waymap built an app that helps the visually impaired. The startup just finished a trial with Washington, D.C.'s metro and will expand this year.
The event will take place on June 22 at 11:30 a.m. Walker Drewett, founder of NuBrakes, tells us about how he built his startup.
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