Welcome to the Ride AI Newsletter, your weekly digest of important events and new developments at the intersection of technology and transportation.

Here’s What You Need to Know Today

Robotaxi companies face many challenges, not the least of which is cost: the current versions of automated taxis cost significantly more to operate than regular taxis. Factors include the manufacturing cost of these high-tech vehicles, their need of constant human supervision, and slow adoption rates.

Which leads us to autonomous vehicle manufacturer Motional, who is losing capital support from primary backer Aptiv, who created Motional in a joint venture with Hyundai. From Aptiv CEO Kevin Clark: “The costs related to delivering the tech principally, in and around hardware, really makes it challenging from an adoption standpoint in the mobility on-demand market.”

GM is also scaling back, cutting funding by $1B USD for their robotaxi unit Cruise. The company declares it is still committed to Cruise, planning to relaunch after reviewing and improving their internal processes and safety mechanisms.

Thankfully, there is still light at the end of the robotaxi tunnel, with Waymo applying to bring their AV services to Los Angeles. The startup - which spun out from Google in 2016 - already offers self-driving taxi services in San Francisco and Phoenix, and plans to launch soon in Austin.

Apple is also leaning more into autonomous vehicles, with over 450,000 miles (~725,000 km) of test driving recorded in 2023. That’s a threefold increase from 2024, a remarkable jump for a company that has so far tread very cautiously in the AV space.

Speaking of Apple: The Vision Pro augmented reality headset has landed, and it’s giving people everywhere a “vision” of the more connected world that’s coming for all of us. Videos of Tesla drivers using the new headset while driving have caused outrage and sparked an official government warning… but it won’t be long before this kind of thing will be not only safe to do, but commonplace.

Automakers are hoping that SDVs (Software Defined Vehicles) can help cure overcapacity woes as global new car sales have stagnated around 80 million units. Sony and Honda’s joint EV venture Afeela is targeting leases of up to 10 years, relying on software updates that will improve performance and add new features.

Traffic management system manufacturer NoTraffic raised $50M USD in a Series B funding round led by M&G Investments. Their traffic signal platform uses artificial intelligence to optimize the flow of all vehicle sizes and pedestrians, and the company is planning to expand into new global markets.

“It’s 2024, where’s my flying car?” Closer than you might think. Volocopter is preparing to launch its eVTOL services this summer, starting with VoloCity air taxis which have already seen over 2,000 test flights in major cities around the world.

Chinese EV startup XPeng has Tesla in its crosshairs as it brings its self-driving software to the global market. Comparable to Tesla’s FSD (Full Self Driving) software, Xpeng’s XNGP system - already used in China - is capable of both highway and urban driving, self-parking, and other advanced driver assistance features.

V2X, or vehicle-to-everything communication, is becoming increasingly important as a way to protect the most vulnerable road users, namely pedestrians and cyclists. Says Bosch CEO Claus Fleischer: “Cyclists need a digital safety shield around them to become individually visible based on communication between bicycles, infrastructure and cars.”

As our vehicles become increasingly autonomous, the concept of “Roboethics” becomes increasingly important. As an example, how should AVs prioritize the safety of vehicle occupants vs that of pedestrians? This excellent writeup from the Economic Times Auto explores this dilemma and discusses how different governments are approaching it.

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