Why Lyft investor Autotech Ventures won’t touch scooter companies – Business Insider

Autotech Ventures, a San Francisco-based firm with a portfolio valued at nearly $200 million, has made investments in almost every segment of the red-hot transportation space. The fund invested in Lyft three years before its initial public offering this year and has other bets in everything from electric-vehicle charging networks, self-driving-car sensors, and apps that… Continue reading Why Lyft investor Autotech Ventures won’t touch scooter companies – Business Insider

Alphabet’s self-driving car company tests free Wi-Fi and music to entice riders – CNBC

Students use the Waymo driverless vehicles to get to school. Source: Waymo Waymo is rolling out amenities to entice riders to use its self-driving taxis, creating a potential route to profitability in a money-losing industry. The Alphabet subsidiary is testing complimentary Wi-Fi in its robotaxis in greater Phoenix, where hundreds of the company’s identical, driverless… Continue reading Alphabet’s self-driving car company tests free Wi-Fi and music to entice riders – CNBC

Ridecell expands funding round for autonomous ride-hailing platform to $60 million – VentureBeat

Car-sharing, ride-sharing, and ride-hailing companies have something in common: They rely on fairly sophisticated backends to keep fleets up and running on time. Ridecell, which offers one such software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, has attracted the attention of investors like LG and Sony. The San Francisco startup today announced an extension of the $28 million Series B round… Continue reading Ridecell expands funding round for autonomous ride-hailing platform to $60 million – VentureBeat

Uber rival Bolt has closed another tranche of funding at a $1B+ valuation

Uber and Lyft going public may have put closer public scrutiny on the economics of ridesharing, but it hasn’t had a chilling effect on the level of competition in the space. In the latest development, TechCrunch has learned and confirmed that Bolt, the Estonian ride-sharing, scooter and food delivery company that operates across Europe —… Continue reading Uber rival Bolt has closed another tranche of funding at a $1B+ valuation

FOCUS-Waymo tests Wi-Fi in driverless taxis hoping perks can route it past rivals

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Waymo is rolling out amenities to entice riders to use its self-driving taxis, creating a potential route to profitability in a money-losing industry. A Jaguar I-PACE self-driving car is pictured during its unveiling by Waymo in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., March 27, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid The Alphabet… Continue reading FOCUS-Waymo tests Wi-Fi in driverless taxis hoping perks can route it past rivals

Ola gets a taxi license in London and plans to launch services in September

London is one of the world’s biggest markets for consumers that travel using ride-hailing services. Is it now also becoming one of the most crowded when it comes to the companies offering the transportation, too? Today, India’s Ola confirmed that it is the latest of the wave of app-based ride-hailing providers to receive a license… Continue reading Ola gets a taxi license in London and plans to launch services in September

Hyundai Motor America Reports June 2019 Sales

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif., July 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Hyundai Motor America reported June sales of 64,202 units, a 2% increase in comparison with June 2018 and the eleventh straight month of increasing total sales on a comparative monthly basis. Hyundai’s sales gains were the result of another standout month for SUV sales and the start… Continue reading Hyundai Motor America Reports June 2019 Sales

Waymo makes autonomous vehicles available to Lyft riders

VIDEO5:2505:25Self-driving Waymo minivans are now available on Lyft in ArizonaSquawk BoxWaymo, a subsidiary of Google-parent Alphabet which is developing autonomous vehicles and related services, has officially expanded its reach and is now making some of its self-driving minivans available for customers of ride-share firm Lyft.
The rides are restricted to a small area just outside of Phoenix, Arizona, where Waymo has been testing self-driving vehicles and has started its own autonomous ride-share service called Waymo One.
Waymo's limited partnership with Lyft is the latest example of the company branching out to work with more companies as it develops autonomous vehicles and services. Earlier this month, Waymo struck a deal with Nissan and Renault to build self-driving vehicles for those automakers.
By partnering with Lyft, Waymo CEO John Krafcik believes the relationship gives both companies “the opportunity to collect valuable feedback.” For Waymo it will be able to better gauge how the public interacts with a self-driving vehicle. Until now, those getting rides in Waymo vehicles in the Phoenix area have been pre-screened and accepted into the Waymo early rider program.
Waymo's steady expansion comes as competitors are making their own plans to roll autonomous ride-share services. Later this year, General Motors subsidiary Cruise, is expected to unveil an autonomous ride-share service in a small area in or near San Francisco.
Uber, which dominates the ride-share industry in the U.S., is also working on its own fleet of self-driving vehicles. Earlier this month, Eric Meyhofer, the head of Uber's Advanced Technologies Group, told CNBC his company is working to deploy self-driving cars without safety drivers in limited areas. But he said Uber wants to be in “the good graces of public trust and regulatory trust” before deciding when to roll out Uber vehicles without someone behind the wheel.
Michelle Krebs, an analyst for Autotrader, believes widespread deployment of self-driving vehicles, whether in a ride-share program or elsewhere, is still years from happening.
VIDEO6:1806:18Tesla could surprise to the upside with autonomous driving: AnalystTrading Nation “Nobody knows the right answers technically, and certainly, nobody knows the right answer for building a business model,” she said. “So I think there is going to be a lot of partnering up, changing partners, and figuring out strategies before this settles out, and I think that's a way down the road.”
For now, Waymo is making just a handful of its vehicles available in the Phoenix area and eventually, up to 10 Waymo self-driving minivans will be eligible for Lyft rides. The service will be limited to those Lyft customers planning to start and complete a ride within the geofenced area where Waymo vehicles have been operating.
When Lyft customers in certain suburbs of Phoenix call up the app on the phone and look for a ride, they will be offered the chance to be shuttled in a Waymo autonomous-drive minivan or a traditional Lyft vehicle with a human driver. The Waymo minivans in the Lyft program will all have a safety driver behind the wheel.

Lyft expands bike rentals to Washington DC

Sponsored Links ASSOCIATED PRESS Lyft has expanded beyond traditional rideshare and into other areas like car rentals and transport to and from events. Now, it is updating its app to provide bike-sharing services in the Washington, DC area through Capital Bikeshare, joining New York and San Francisco in offering both cycles and cars from a… Continue reading Lyft expands bike rentals to Washington DC

Five Japanese automakers to invest 2% each in SoftBank-Toyota self-driving car venture

Five Japanese automakers including Suzuki Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp on Friday said they would each invest 2% in the on-demand, self-driving car service venture set up by SoftBank Corp and Toyota Motor Corp. Suzuki, Mazda, Subaru Corp, Isuzu Motors Ltd and Toyota‘s compact car unit Daihatsu will each invest 57.1 million yen ($530,620) in the venture – dubbed Monet – in return for a… Continue reading Five Japanese automakers to invest 2% each in SoftBank-Toyota self-driving car venture