Breaking News Emails Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings. SUBSCRIBE Nov. 2, 2018 / 6:46 PM GMT By Alyssa Newcomb Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk said his company “probably would not” take money from Saudi Arabia right now amid the fallout of the attempted… Continue reading Elon Musk ‘probably would not’ take money from Saudis after Khashoggi murder
Tag: Uber
A Principled Approach to Safety
A Principled Approach to Safety Written by: Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO At Uber, we believe that technology has the power to ignite opportunity by setting the world in motion. This is why we introduced the original Uber service in 2010. Today, you can get a ride using the Uber app in more than 600 cities across 65… Continue reading A Principled Approach to Safety
Uber and Lyft unveiled new subscription plans. But are they really worth the money?
On Tuesday, Uber rolled out Ride Pass, a subscription plan in which customers pay $14.99 monthly (or $24.99 in Los Angeles) to avoid surge pricing. The plan, which Uber is marketing as “an affordable option people can use for their everyday transportation needs,” is only available in Los Angeles, Austin, Orlando, Denver, and Miami for… Continue reading Uber and Lyft unveiled new subscription plans. But are they really worth the money?
Ole Harms to talk about Moia’s mobility bet at Disrupt Berlin
Volkswagen Group wants to reinvent itself in the age of connected and electric vehicles. And it starts with Volkswagen’s Moia, a brand new mobility brand with services and vehicles built for the cities of tomorrow. That’s why I’m excited to announce that Moia CEO Ole Harms is joining us at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin. Volkswagen has… Continue reading Ole Harms to talk about Moia’s mobility bet at Disrupt Berlin
Lime hires its first chief business officer amid push into car-sharing
After four months “on the beach,” per his LinkedIn profile, Uber’s former global head of business and corporate development has a new gig. Lime has hired David Richter (pictured) as its first-ever chief business officer and interim chief financial officer. Based in San Francisco, Richter will be overseeing the bike- and e-scooter-sharing startup’s business operations.… Continue reading Lime hires its first chief business officer amid push into car-sharing
Europe’s most popular ride-hailing service is launching e-scooters
Mytaxi, the Daimler-owned Uber competitor, announced today it would launch an electric scooter pilot in Southern Europe later this year, with a full international roll-out planned for 2019. Daimler initially took a 15 percent stake in Hamburg-based mytaxi in 2012, adding the company to its portfolio of ridesharing businesses that also includes Chauffeur Privé, Careem, Flinc, car2go and… Continue reading Europe’s most popular ride-hailing service is launching e-scooters
US Department of Transportation: It needs better readings
To boost confidence in safety, the US Department of Transportation believes it would need better readings. In the US, they are planning new ones Guidelines for autonomous driving and you want Vehicles without steering wheel allow. One sets especially on the voluntary the industry. But since then fatal accident in March This year, when an… Continue reading US Department of Transportation: It needs better readings
General Motors bets €4.3bn on the long road to safe driverless taxi
By Heather Somerville It’s one of the biggest bets going in the world of cars: Since May, General Motors (GM) and its Cruise self-driving car unit have landed €4.35bn in investment commitments from Japan’s SoftBank and Honda Motor to develop a robot taxi service that could safely navigate the city streets of San Francisco by… Continue reading General Motors bets €4.3bn on the long road to safe driverless taxi
Tesla ‘obviously’ plans to take on Uber and Lyft, says CEO Elon Musk
Tesla just posted a big earnings beat — Here's what three experts say investors should know
2 Hours Ago | 02:05
On a third-quarter earnings call, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company “obviously” plans to jump into ride-hailing in the era of self-driving cars.
“Tesla will operate its own ride-hailing services and compete directly with Uber and Lyft, obviously.” Musk said.
Tesla's platform, which is not yet operational, will give customers the ability to “offer their car, add or subtract to the fleet at will,” Musk said. Tesla plans to run a company-owned fleet of autonomous vehicles to pick up passengers wherever or whenever there are not enough customer cars to be lent out, he said comparing this service to the peer-to-peer lodgings business of Airbnb.
Tesla, along with the rest of the automotive industry, is racing to develop true self-driving capabilities for its vehicles that go well beyond the company's current Autopilot offering.
Today's Autopilot is a “driver assistance” system that can handle some driving tasks but requires drivers to keep their hands on the wheel at all times. In the second quarter of 2018, Tesla announced that it was developing its own chips to increase the capability of the computer that enables Autopilot features in its vehicles.
Tesla sells a “full self-driving” option to customers who are willing to pay now and wait– but the option is “off-menu,” not listed on the car company's website.
While full self-driving tech is still in development, Tesla's newest Autopilot Navigate features will enable drivers to automatically change lanes, handle forks in the road and take highway exits along a planned route, according to Tesla VP of Engineering Stuart Bowers who spoke on the third-quarter earnings call alongside Musk.
Both Uber and Lyft are expected to go public, potentially next year.
WATCH:
How Zoox plans to take on Uber and Lyft with its self-driving car
Start-up Zoox is working on making the roads safer with self-driving cars
12 Hours Ago | 06:11
Uber to bank London surcharge toward electric vehicles for its drivers
Follow Bengt
Add to circle
Uber electric car
Uber announced Tuesday that it will levy a surcharge for its ride-hailing passengers in London. The goal: to get 20,000 drivers to go all-electric by the end of 2021, on the way to make every car using its ride-hailing app an electric vehicle in the smog- and congestion-prone city by 2025.
The surcharge, which is part of the company’s clean-air strategy announced in 2017, will go into effect in early 2019. It’s potentially as much an environmental image move as it is a response to ever-tightening rules governing the vehicle types that can pass through central London.
DON’T MISS: Uber urges Portland drivers to lease electric cars
Beginning early next year, Uber will charge riders about 19 cents (15 pence) extra per mile. That money will go directly into a piggy bank for the support of drivers looking to upgrade to an electric vehicle.
Uber app
Based on the average London trip, that will amount to an extra 58 cents per trip. And through that surcharge Uber hopes to raise $260 million (200 million pounds) over several years.
Uber is offering a significant amount of upgrade money. Every driver will be eligible for assistance in moving to an EV, but the level of assistance will be based on how many miles they’ve driven on the app. It’s anticipating that will add up to about $3,900 (3,000 pounds) for two years of driving—40 hours a week—or $5,800 (4,500 pounds) for three years.
CHECK OUT: London's $27 entry charge for pre-2016 diesel cars to start April 2019
The program complements Uber’s own diesel-scrappage scheme that aims to get 1,000 pre-Euro 4 diesel models—older, dirtier ones—off London streets and highways.
So far in the U.S., Uber’s strategies to electrify have been a bit different. Through a pilot program it calls EV Champions, it’s paying drivers up to $20 per week for driving electric—and giving riders a feel-good alert. Whether it will incentivize electric vehicles more or less effectively than the London program remains to be seen.