Nevada Prepares to Remove Robotaxi Fleet Limit
A leading autonomous vehicle company will soon have greater freedom to expand its commercial robotaxi operations in Las Vegas as a state-imposed fleet limit expires. The Nevada Transportation Authority permit currently limits the company to 100 robotaxis, but that restriction is scheduled to expire September 25. The change does not necessarily mean hundreds of additional vehicles will immediately appear on Las Vegas streets, but it gives the company significantly more flexibility to increase its fleet based on demand. The company currently operates purpose-built robotaxis without steering wheels or pedals and recently began charging passengers for rides in Las Vegas. Federal approval allows it to deploy as many as 2,500 of the vehicles annually for the next two years, although state and local requirements still apply. With several other autonomous vehicle and ride-hailing companies also receiving Nevada permits, Las Vegas is quickly becoming one of the country’s most competitive commercial robotaxi markets.
Read more: TechCrunch
Fully Autonomous Vehicle Testing Expands to Pittsburgh
A leading autonomous vehicle company has moved into a new phase of testing in Pittsburgh, with its vehicles now operating fully autonomously on city streets. While a human specialist remains in the driver’s seat during the testing period, the autonomous driving system is controlling the vehicle without human assistance. The company has been mapping and testing in Pittsburgh as it evaluates how its technology performs in the city’s challenging driving environment. Pittsburgh offers a particularly demanding setting for autonomous vehicles because of its steep hills, bridges, narrow streets, complex intersections, and changing weather conditions. The latest testing represents another step toward potentially introducing commercial driverless service in the region. The expansion also reflects the AV industry’s increasing focus on demonstrating that autonomous systems can operate reliably in cities with more complex geography and weather than many early deployment markets.
Read more: TribLive
Driverless 18-Wheelers Prepare for North Texas Expansion
Autonomous trucking companies are preparing to expand fully driverless freight operations on North Texas highways. Volvo Autonomous Solutions currently operates autonomous-equipped trucks from a facility in Palmer, Texas, with human monitors still behind the wheel, but the company plans to begin fully driverless operations in the state early next year. The trucks use cameras, radar, lidar, and redundant systems for critical functions such as steering and braking. Company officials argue that autonomous trucking could help address capacity and driver shortages while allowing freight to operate without the driving-hour limitations that apply to human truck drivers. Safety advocates continue to raise questions about how the technology will respond to construction zones, lane closures, disabled vehicles, and other unexpected highway conditions. The company ultimately plans to expand the fleet to as many as 300 trucks toward the end of next year, making Texas an important market for the continued commercialization of autonomous freight.
Read more: CBS Texas
Autonomous Vehicles Could Reshape Crash Testing
The emergence of purpose-built autonomous vehicles is forcing regulators and safety researchers to reconsider how vehicles are crash-tested and how passengers should be positioned inside them. Traditional crash tests generally assume that occupants will sit upright and face forward, but vehicles without steering wheels or pedals create opportunities for passengers to recline, work, sleep, or sit in unconventional positions. Research has found that significantly reclined passengers can face different and potentially more serious injury risks because seatbelts and airbags were primarily designed for traditional seating positions. Safety researchers are developing more advanced crash-test dummies capable of evaluating injuries at different seating angles, but these newer testing methods are not yet standard in the United States. Federal regulators have begun examining how existing safety standards may need to evolve as purpose-built autonomous vehicles enter commercial service. The issue demonstrates that autonomous vehicle regulation will increasingly extend beyond whether the technology can drive safely to how vehicle interiors protect passengers when no traditional driver is present.
Read more: WIRED
Autonomous Racing Expands to Major International Tracks
Autonomous racing is expanding onto some of the world’s best-known racetracks as researchers use motorsports to push self-driving technology to its limits. The Indy Autonomous Challenge recently brought driverless race cars to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in California, where university teams competed using autonomous systems they developed themselves. Days later, another autonomous racing competition was held at Italy’s Imola Circuit, marking the Abu Dhabi Autonomous Racing League’s first event outside the Middle East. These competitions require autonomous systems to make rapid decisions involving braking, acceleration, passing, and vehicle positioning at speeds far beyond normal road driving. Researchers view racing as a demanding environment for improving artificial intelligence, sensors, and vehicle-control systems that could eventually influence consumer and commercial autonomous vehicles. As the technology improves, organizers are also confronting a different question: whether motorsports built around artificial intelligence rather than human drivers can attract a significant fan base.
Read more: Fox News
Lucid and Bolt Plan Large-Scale European Autonomous Fleet
Lucid and European mobility platform Bolt have announced a partnership aimed at developing and deploying autonomous transportation services across Europe. Bolt plans to deploy at least 25,000 fully autonomous vehicles based on Lucid’s upcoming midsize vehicle platform across multiple European cities and countries. Bolt will help establish vehicle requirements, safety standards, rider-experience features, fleet infrastructure, and relationships with cities, while Lucid will provide its software-defined vehicle technology. The companies also plan to work with autonomous driving technology partners and European regulators as the program develops. Bolt intends to own and operate the vehicles and has set a broader goal of having 100,000 autonomous vehicles on its platform by 2035. The scale of the proposed deployment demonstrates how autonomous mobility competition is increasingly expanding beyond the United States and into major European markets.
Read more: Lucid Group
