Five-seater, all-electric and jet-powered air taxi makes its first test flight in Munich, Germany.
Lilium, the Munich-based startup developing a revolutionary on-demand air taxi service has unveiled its five-seater, all-electric air taxi prototype. In an announcement last week, the German startup said that its jet-powered air taxi has just completed its maiden flight.
More »The Michigan factory will be the first of its kind to build vehicles capable of Level 4 autonomy.
Over a month after launching the first-ever commercial autonomous ride-hailing service, Alphabet’s self-driving vehicle company, Waymo, said this week that it is planning o build a new manufacturing plant. The company said in a blog post that the facility will be located in Michigan and that it will be the first of its kind to build vehicles of Level 4 autonomy, in which the vehicle drives itself, but only with limits on where. It seems Waymo hopes the new facility should help the company build its lead in this growing industry. This will be the world’s first factory 100%-dedicated to the mass production of L4 autonomous vehicles,” said from the company.
More »Finland’s state-owned ferry operator Finferries and engineering giant Rolls-Royce have demonstrated the first fully autonomous ferry in the world. The operation was conducted in the Turku archipelago between Parainen and Nauvo, in Finland. The return journey was carried out over remote control.
The 53.8m double-ended car ferry, named Falco, includes several Rolls-Royce Ship Intelligence technologies to navigate autonomously.
The ferry is equipped with a range of advanced sensors. They are used to build a detailed picture of Falco’s surroundings in real-time.
More »
Tesla Model Y prototype has been approved by Elon Musk, and its production will start in 2020.
Elon Musk had approved the production of a prototype of the Model Y and the company is targeting 2020, Tesla CEO said during the automaker’s third-quarter earnings call a few days ago. The CEO only said they had made significant progress on the Model Y and didn’t give any further details. Musk has previously teased a March 2019 reveal of the SUV. More »
Google’s Waymo gets permission for human-free driving tests in the Golden State.
Waymo, the self-driving unit of Google parent Alphabet, has won approval from California to begin the first tests of fully driverless cars without human safety drivers at the wheel as a backup on state roads. The company is the first to receive a driverless permit in the Golden State. The company has been granted the permission amid an increase in skepticism about the real-world readiness of self-driving technology.
Waymo’s permit includes day and night testing on city streets, rural roads, and highways with speed limits of up to 65 mph. The company claims its vehicles can safely handle fog and light rain, and testing in those conditions is included in the permit. Waymo plans to gradually begin driverless testing on public roads in a limited territory and, over time, gradually expand the area. More »
Alphabet’s self-driving cars are reportedly annoying their neighbors in Arizona, where Waymo has been testing its vehicles for the last year.
More than a dozen locals told they hated the cars, which often struggle to cross a T-intersection near the company’s office.
One woman said that she almost hit one of the company’s minivans because it suddenly stopped while trying to make a right turn, while another man said that he gets so frustrated waiting for the cars to cross the intersection that he has illegally driven around them.
According to CNBC.
Waymo and Walmart have launched a pilot program to ferry customers to the store.
Walmart is partnering with Waymo, a self-driving technology company and formerly known as Google’s self-driving car project to take the online grocery delivery to a new level: they will shuttle consumers to and from stores in self-driving cars.
Waymo is starting the program this week and customers will be able to use its self-driving car service to pick up groceries at Walmart stores. More »
The Summon parking feature is now available in Model 3, according to a tweet from Tesla,
After months of waiting, Model 3 gets the Summon parking feature, which has been available on the other Teslas for a while.
The feature allows the car to park autonomously in tight spaces where the doors can’t be opened and without anyone in the car, which is a huge help when you have a tiny garage or need to park next to a wall. If programmed, the Summon parking feature can even operate the garage door as it parks, or when it is called out of its parking spot by the owner. More »
Kroger is testing using driverless vehicles to deliver groceries, the supermarket chain announced last week.
Kroger, the giant supermarket chain based in Cincinnati, is partnering with autonomous car company Nuro to launch a test of grocery delivery by driverless vehicles.
Nuro is a Silicon Valley tech company that has developed a small, self-driving vehicle specifically for delivery. Customers in the pilot program will be able to place their delivery orders through Kroger’s ordering system ClickList and Nuro’s application.
Kroger has made a series of investments over the past few months to expand its digital and online delivery business. The company bought meal kit company Home Chef and announced its plans to work with British online grocer Ocado in order to build automated warehouses throughout the U.S. It also bought meal kit company Home Chef. More »