‍What You Need to Know Today

Tesla expects its FSD driver-assistance technology will launch in China and Europe early next year, “pending regulatory approval.” Meanwhile, the EV maker’s advanced driver-assist system is set to debut on the Cybertruck later this month.

Related: Elon Musk denies reporting that xAI considered licensing its models to Tesla in order to develop driver-assist software in exchange for a share of future Tesla revenue.

Self-driving company Mobileye is ending development of lidar sensors and will instead focus its R&D resources on computer vision perception. Mobileye’s strategic change-up appears to validate Tesla and others that have spurned lidar in favor of a camera-based approach to autonomous driving. (Relatedly, Intel is reportedly thinking about selling part of its stake in Mobileye.)

A Pennsylvania woman who allegedly killed two people while using Ford’s hands-free BlueCruise system was charged with DUI homicide. Now her defense lawyers are ready to argue that, when activated, the self-driving tech is responsible for all the vehicle’s maneuvers, including the crash.

Waymo is outperforming both Uber and Lyft in customer retention: “Over 33% of Waymo customers returned 13 quarters after their first transaction, leading both Uber and Lyft according to Earnest credit card data.”

Meanwhile Waymo is trying to convince the public that AVs are safe with a new online data hub: “Analysis shows that in Phoenix and San Francisco – the two cities with statistically significant mileages – Waymo cabs have been involved in 84% fewer crashes with airbag deployment, 73% fewer injury-causing crashes and 48% fewer police-report crashes, compared to human drivers.”

As Chinese tech companies look to dominate the future of autonomous driving, one problem they don’t have to deal with is a skeptical public. “In a survey last year by PwC, 85% of Chinese consumers said they were comfortable with autonomous driving that doesn't require human action or supervision compared with 39% of American consumers.”

Monet Technologies, a joint venture of SoftBank and Toyota, announced plans to introduce L2 autonomous driving on public roads in three areas of Tokyo in Q1 2025 in the form of an on-demand app.

Vay, a Berlin-based AV startup that develops teleoperated driving systems, is launching a B2B service to sell its technology directly to automakers and car-sharing services, such as Peugeot and Poppy.

Speaking of teleoperations, the NYT takes a behind-the-scenes look at the human technicians who remotely “take the wheel” when self-driving cars need assistance.

A University of Virginia team won the Indy Autonomous Challenge, averaging more than 171mph.

After nabbing 30,000 pre-orders in the first 48 hours after it launched, XPeng’s MONA M03—a sub-$20,000 EV with basic driver-assistance functions—continues to average more than 2,000 new orders per day. Now Xpeng is stepping up pressure on suppliers to make sure they actually deliver.

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