Industry

Prohibiting drivers from using handheld devices leads to lower traffic fatalities, according to an analysis of NHTSA data by driver education company Zutobi. Zutobi ranked states by a “distracted driving severity score” based on state population, the number of distracted driving-related fatalities in 2020 and the percentage of fatalities due to distraction. New Mexico ranked

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Automotive sensor startup Compound Eye has unveiled a VIDAS development kit, allowing automakers and suppliers to test the system that creates lidarlike imaging for less cost. Compound Eye designed VIDAS, which stands for visual inertial distributed aperture system, to work with the cameras automakers are adding to light vehicles with advanced

Ford Motor Co. is increasing the starting price of the F-150 Lightning electric pickup $6,000 to $8,500 across all trims because of rising material costs as it reopens order banks for current reservation holders. The entry-level Pro trim gets the biggest percentage price hike, up about 17 percent to $48,769, including a $1,795 shipping fee.

General Motors has accelerated development of its electric vehicles to get them to the market faster. Scaling production to improve EV profits comes next. “A vehicle is coming to market much, much sooner than it otherwise would. That’s a good thing,” CFO Paul Jacobson said Tuesday at the J.P. Morgan Auto Conference. “Unfortunately, the production

WASHINGTON – Two members of the U.S. House of Representatives are launching a bipartisan effort to help revive legislative efforts to boost self-driving vehicles. Representatives Robert Latta, a Republican, and Debbie Dingell, a Democrat, told Reuters in a joint interview they are unveiling the bipartisan Congressional Autonomous Vehicle Caucus to help educate fellow lawmakers on

Mobile games and real-time 3D platform developer Unity Technologies will power the infotainment domain of the new Mercedes-Benz operating system. The infotainment domain is an essential component of the German automaker’s plan to broaden its digital offerings. Mercedes’ current infotainment platform, MBUX, was co-developed by Daimler and Luxoft, a unit of DXC Technology. The new

DETROIT — General Motors plans to double its hands-free driving network to cover 400,000 miles in the U.S. and Canada starting later this year. Super Cruise, GM’s hands-free driver assist technology, soon will be available on 400,000 miles of interstates and non-divided highways — typically state and federal routes — across the U.S. and Canada.

Uber Freight outlined a broad vision of how robotic trucking will work, noting human drivers will continue to play a significant but changing role in cargo hauling. The division said in a Thursday blog post and accompanying white paper that autonomous trucking represents a solution to the persistent professional driver shortage and other supply chain

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Greg Brannon’s message to the auto industry is probably not what many technology suppliers want to hear these days. It’s that the industry’s race to fully automated driving is misguided, and most consumers don’t want it. Brannon, director of automotive engineering and industry relations for the membership-based driver services organization AAA,

Lyft Inc. saw an earnings record and increased revenue in the second quarter amid news that the ride-hailing company laid off approximately 60 employees because of the discontinuation of its first party rental service. The San Francisco-based company said in its second-quarter earnings report Thursday that revenue rose 30 percent to $990.7 million, but income

Volkswagen of America has detailed its U.S.-produced versions of the 2023 ID4 compact crossover, which will come standard with a smaller 62-kilowatt-hour battery pack and start at $38,790, including shipping and excluding any federal or other tax credits. With its smaller battery, the base model rear-wheel-drive crossover will now come with a manufacturer-estimated 208 miles

Self-driving tech startup Aurora Innovation‘s second-quarter loss widened more than sixfold as it logged a large impairment charge and continued to ramp up spending on autonomous heavy-duty trucks and robotaxis. The Pittsburgh company said its net loss widened to $1.2 billion from $182 million in the same period a year earlier. The loss included a

DETROIT — General Motors plans to double its hands-free driving network to cover 400,000 miles in the U.S. and Canada starting later this year. Super Cruise, GM’s hands-free driver assist technology, soon will be available on 400,000 miles of divided highways — or interstates and non-divided highways, typically state and federal routes — across the

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Advanced driver-assistance systems are commonly seen as the building blocks of fully self-driving vehicles. However, industry executives increasingly consider advanced driver-assist and autonomous capabilities separate systems evolving at different speeds to serve different markets. “They use a lot of the same sensors, but the difference is that on the Level 2

Israeli startup REE Automotive and commercial vehicle builder J.B. Poindexter & Co. launched live demonstrations of their Proxima proof-of-concept electric delivery van last week. It is the first fully drive-by-wire walk-in van, the companies said. The demonstrations are a significant milestone for REE, whose electric chassis and drive-by-wire technology underpin the van. The body was

Hyundai Motor Group has mastered the highways and byways on land and has even founded a company to make electric air vehicles that will take to the sky. Now, Hyundai and Kia aim to slip the surly bonds of Earth. The South Korean automakers said last week that they’ll collaborate with a group of research

With one conspicuous omission, everything and everyone that moves on San Francisco’s streets fall under the purview of Jeffrey Tumlin. The director of transportation for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is responsible for the city’s municipal railway, traffic engineering, bicycle and pedestrian safety, taxi regulations, accessibility and more. Yet Tumlin is a bystander with

Volkswagen Group’s China unit, exploring concepts for future mobility services, unveiled a prototype of a full electric and automated drone at its headquarters in Beijing.  The prototype, capable of vertical take-off and landing, has an X-shaped wing with a span of 10.6 meters. It features eight rotors for vertical lift and two propellers for horizontal