The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA)—on behalf of the Australian Government—has awarded Australian startup Applied Electric Vehicles Pty Ltd (AEV) $2 million in funding to develop an autonomous electric vehicle (EV) that will utilize a solar photovoltaic (PV) roof and lithium ion battery system.
ARENA’s funding will go towards solving energy related challenges such as selecting the most appropriate solar PV technology for the solar roof, and optimizing the mass, energy efficiency, solar gain and safety of the vehicle.
Mobility
Mobility
British Airways tests fully autonomous, electric mobility devices at New York's JFK Airport
As part of its journey to become the airline of choice for customers with both hidden and visible disabilities, British Airways recently became the first airline to trial fully autonomous, electric mobility devices in North America.
TuSimple expands autonomous service routes for UPS from Arizona to Texas
TuSimple has announced that it has not only expanded service for current customer UPS to 20 trips per week, but it has also added another route between Phoenix, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas.
Through this engagement, 10 runs per week are on the established route between Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona, while the other 10 runs are on the new route.
Boston Dynamics, OTTO Motors showcase the role of robots in warehouse automation
Boston Dynamics has collaborated with industrial autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) developer OTTO Motors to demonstrate the future of warehouse automation.
A video released on Tuesday, March 3, shows Handle, which is Boston Dynamics’s logistics robot, picking boxes and building pallets on top of OTTO AMRs in a distribution center testbed.
Last year, the Handle robot completed proof of concept trials with customers in their warehouses. Boston Dynamics and OTTO Motors are working together to further automate the logistics space.
GreenPower Motor Company, Perrone Robotics partner to build fully autonomous electric transit vehicles
GreenPower Motor Company Inc. is partnering with Perrone Robotics Inc. (PRI) to build fully autonomous electric transit vehicles based on GreenPower’s EV Star shuttle platform.
A designer, manufacturer and distributor of a diverse line of electric powered buses for the transit, shuttle, tourist and school sectors, Greenpower was founded a decade ago with the intent to bring the “most compelling” zero-emissions buses to the market.
Waymo raises $2.25 billion in first external investment round
Waymo raised $2.25 billion in its first external investment round.
The investment round was led by Silver Lake, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Mubadala Investment Company. Additional investors included Magna International, Andreessen Horowitz, AutoNation and Alphabet.
“Waymo is the proven leader in self-driving technology, is the only autonomous vehicle company with a public ride-hailing service, and is successfully scaling its fully driverless experience,” says Egon Durban, co-CEO, Silver Lake, and nominee for Waymo's Operating Board.
“We’re deeply aligned with Waymo’s commitment to making our roads safer, and look forward to working together to help advance and scale the Waymo Driver in the U.S. and beyond.”
City of Fremont, California, Pony.ai launch autonomous vehicle pilot program for city employees
On Monday, Feb. 24, the City of Fremont, California and Pony.ai launched a pilot program that uses Pony.ai’s shared, on-demand, autonomous last-mile service to provide rides for a group of City employees.
Participating employees will be transported from Fremont’s Amtrak/ACE Station to City Hall and City of Fremont Development Services Center via Pony.ai’s autonomous vehicles, which have a safety operator present in each vehicle to ensure safe and smooth navigation of complex road scenarios.
Each vehicle is equipped with Pony.ai’s full-stack autonomous driving technology, which serves as the “brains” of the vehicle. The technology is also expected to serve as a building block to the future Smart City, the entities say.
Pony.ai raises $400 million from Toyota to advance development of autonomous driving tech
Autonomous driving company Pony.ai has raised $400 million from Toyota Motor Corporation, which will be used to advance the companies’ joint efforts in autonomous driving technology development and mobility service deployment. The new funding totals $462 million and puts Pony.ai’s valuation at just over $3 billion.
An extension of a business partnership that Pony.ai and Toyota established in 2019, the latest strategic investment will expand the partnership’s scope of collaboration, as the companies will not only co-develop autonomous driving technology, but they will also look beyond the vehicle itself to explore further possibilities on mobility services.
Robotic Research to begin testing fully autonomous shuttles without onboard attendants
Starting in the second quarter of 2020, Robotic Research LLC will begin testing fully autonomous low-speed shuttles that are totally unmanned.
Daimler Trucks, Torc Robotics expanding testing of automated truck technology to new public routes in the U.S.
After completing initial mapping of additional routes, Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics have announced plans to expand their testing of automated truck technology to new public routes in the U.S.
