Category Archives: Uncategorized

Meet Stoke Space, a well-funded Seattle startup building reusable rockets to compete with SpaceX. Bonjour reusable rocket competition. Tech Crunch

Jet fuel prices have more than doubled this year. An economic argument that sustainable jet fuel offers more price stability is garnering attention. The EU announced that it is looking for alternative jet fuel supplies. Corporate Knights

Some say a negotiated targeted liability bill, SB 623 enacted in California, is a model bill to address recurring liability concerns of ride share companies. SB 623 addresses “medical liens, recoverable medical expenses, and litigation-related costs—issues frequently raised in product liability, transportation, and personal injury litigation.” Lexology

“National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator Jonathan Morrison issued a directive Wednesday to autonomous vehicle (AV) developers, stating that it is unacceptable for their vehicles to interfere with first responders or law enforcement.” Tech Crunch

”Thor’s first electric vehicle is going to rental fleets rather than dealerships, and Winnebago’s eRV2 has been in field testing since 2023 without reaching consumers. That gap has drawn a wave of startups, and Evotrex is racing to fill it first.” Evotrex will offer its first hybrid RV travel trailers in 2027. Tech Crunch

Aurora has 91 autonomous driving trucks on Texas roads. “ Big rig competitors Kodiak AI and Waabi have 33 and 13 self-driving trucks, respectively. Gatik AI, a startup that focuses on self-driving mid-sized trucks, has 64 vehicles in its fleet.” Tech Crunch

Texas law requires companies testing or deploying AVs to disclose how many vehicles are in their fleets and safety information. Waymo has the most AVs on Texas roads at 577. Avride has 317, and Nuro has 47. Tesla has 42, a number that will make Douglas Adams readers giggle. Tech Crunch

Remember how we talked about robotaxis starting to drive on freeways?  Like human drivers, robotaxis also have reactions to construction.  “Waymo halted robotaxi operations on freeways in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Miami as it works to improve performance in construction zones.” Tech Crunch Mobility

“Waymo paused operations in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, and San Antoniobecause its robotaxis are struggling to deal with heavy rain and flooded roads — and specifically knowing when not to enter them. “ Tech Crunch Mobility

Last month we talked about “Waymo and Waze announced a pilot program to share pothole data with local governments. “ Fleet management company Samsara proposes using AI to rank the pothole’s problems. Samsara has been collecting visual road data for a decade on a fleet larger than Waymo and Waze. Samsara is contracting with cities to share […]