Avis Budget Group has been working with automakers to complete its goal of a fleet comprised solely of connected vehicles. In March, Avis and Toyota deployed 10,000 connected vehicles and in October, Avis and Ford deployed 35,000. “Connected cars allow Avis customers to manage their entire rental through our app, including locking and unlocking car… Continue reading Avis Highlights Benefits of Connected Vehicles
Tag: Mobility
And Uber is going with . . . Bird (looks like)
Five months ago, the Bay Area-based electric scooter rental company Lime joined forces with the ride-hailing giant Uber, which both invested in the company as part of a $335 million round and said it was going to promote Lime in its mobile app. It’s looking now like that may have been a mistake for Lime. Though… Continue reading And Uber is going with . . . Bird (looks like)
Barra stands firm on GM austerity plans in DC meetings
Barra stands firm on GM austerity plans in DC meetingsWashington — General Motors Co. Chairman Mary Barra stood firm on plans to idle five plants, lay off 6,000 salaried employees and imperil the jobs of 3,300 hourly workers as she met Wednesday with Ohio's U.S. senators and several of Michigan's newly elected U.S. members.
Speaking with reporters after a closed-door meeting with Barra at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman said the GM chief committed to trying to expedite negotiations with the United Auto Workers union on the future of the company's recented “unallocated” plants, including the Lordstown Assembly plant in northeast Ohio. But they said Barra did not reverse course on the decisions as they would have preferred.
“Both of us want to be sure that both the company and the UAW expedite that as much as possible and get to a decision to provide some potential certainty,” said Portman, a Republican. “She agreed that's a potential opportunity. Also, she has said to us that she is going to keep an open mind, but she does not want to raise expectations.”
Brown, a Democrat who is being mentioned as a potential presidential candidate, said of the Lordstown plant: “Are they going to bring an electric vehicle? Are they going to retool their plant and maybe look at one of their SUVs moving into this plant? They can do that. They've been the beneficiary of a tax bill that has produced some dollars for them to reinvest. Some of it is stock buybacks, but a lot of it can go to reinvesting in this plant.”
Lawmakers are furious at GM for moving to cease production next year at Lordstown, at its Detroit-Hamtramck and Warren Transmission plants in Michigan, at Oshawa Assembly in Ontario and at Baltimore Operations in Maryland. Work will stop next year at predetermined dates, but plants will not officially close. The future of those facilities will be determined during 2019 negotiations with the United Auto Workers union.
The company is planning to lay off nearly 6,000 salaried workers next year after a buyout program last month only had 2,250 takers, according to a memo sent to employees by CEO Mary Barra and obtained by The Detroit News. The salaried buyouts and the layoffs together will affect 8,000 North American employees and a number of global executives, none of whom are part of the senior leadership team.
Barra on Wednesday at the same press conference defended the decisions as a response to market conditions that have resulted of a shifting U.S. consumer preferences that have made sedans tough to sell.
“We are in an industry that is transforming faster than I've ever seen in my 38 year career,” she said. “What we are trying to is make sure that General Motors is strong and that we're in a leadership position with technologies like electrification and autonomous vehicles and connectivity, because that's what customers want. That's where industry is going.”
Barra deflected criticism of GM's decision that invokes the company's receipt of nearly $50 billion in federal assistance in the 2008 and 2009 auto bailouts, which the company notes has repaid.
“Since 2009, we have invested $22 billion in the United States, and in the last couple of years we've invested several more billions of dollars and we'll continue to do that,” Barra said.
“We will be forever grateful for the assistance that the U.S. government provided General Motors, and we're trying to make sure we're good corporate citizens and continue to provide jobs and and provide vehicles and transportation that consumers want in this country,” she continued. “That's what I think is the most responsible thing that we can do to thank the American taxpayers for what they did for us.”
Barra also met Wednesday with incoming U.S. representatives from Michigan. Rashida Tlaib, Haley Stevens, Elissa Slotkin and Andy Levin, all Democrat, will be in Boston for training and can't attend the Barra's meeting on Thursday with Michigan lawmakers in person. Michigan's congressional delegation will meet with her at 2 p.m.
Tlaib said in a statement after the meeting: “From the 1,300 homes, churches, and shops in Poletown that were seized and bulldozed to build the Detroit-Hamtramck plant, to the $51 billion public bailout that lost hardworking taxpayers more than $11 billion, we have paid a terribly steep price to placate and keep GM afloat.
“Now, as we fight to rebuild our regional economy and create living-wage jobs, GM is repaying our sacrifice and investment by slashing thousands of jobs and closing the plant an entire neighborhood was torn down to build,” Tlaib continued. “I’ll always stand in solidarity with workers and for what’s right and this is simply wrong. GM's announcement reaffirms my commitment to demanding binding community benefits agreements whenever a wealthy corporation is lining up for public subsidies.”
klaing@detroitnews.com
(202) 662-8735
Twitter: @Keith_Laing
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Neuron Mobility raises $3.7M to bring e-scooters to Southeast Asia’s cities
Despite the rise in electric scooters in the U.S., you’d be forgiven for thinking that Asia — the region where bike-sharing foreshadowed the rise of e-scooters — has been left off the party. But e-scooters have quietly been in the region for some time and now they are beginning to ramp up. Singapore-based Neuron Mobility is… Continue reading Neuron Mobility raises $3.7M to bring e-scooters to Southeast Asia’s cities
Volkswagen Will Launch Its Last Gas-Powered Cars in 2026
Goodbye Gas-Guzzlers One of the world’s largest carmakers is going all-in on electric vehicles. According to a Reuters story, Volkswagen’s strategy chief, Michael Jost, told attendees at the Handelsblatt automotive summit conference on Tuesday that the company will launch its last generation of gas-powered cars in 2026. After that, he said, it will focus on EVs.… Continue reading Volkswagen Will Launch Its Last Gas-Powered Cars in 2026
Ford’s Venezuela unit offers buyouts as output dwindles -sources
CARACAS (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co (F.N) is offering buy-outs to staff at its moribund plant in Venezuela to reduce its payroll, two union leaders said, as the U.S. automaker seeks to streamline its money-losing South America operations. FILE PHOTO: The corporate logo of Ford is seen on a billboard at the facilities of the… Continue reading Ford’s Venezuela unit offers buyouts as output dwindles -sources
Google’s robotic spinoff launches ride-hailing service
Google’s robotic spinoff launches ride-hailing serviceSan Francisco – Google’s self-driving car spinoff is finally ready to try to profit from its nearly decade-old technology.
Waymo is introducing a small-scale ride-hailing service in the Phoenix area that will include a human behind the wheel in case the robotic vehicles malfunction.
The service debuting Wednesday marks a significant milestone for Waymo, a company that began as a secretive project within Google in 2009. Since then, its cars have robotically logged more 10 million miles on public roads in 25 cities in California, Arizona, Washington, Michigan and Georgia while getting into only a few accidents – mostly fender benders.
The company is initially operating the new service cautiously, underscoring the challenges still facing its autonomous vehicles as they navigate around vehicles with human drivers that don’t always follow the same rules as robots.
The service, dubbed Waymo One, at first will only be available to a couple hundred riders, all of whom had already been participating in a free pilot program that began in April 2017. It will be confined to a roughly 100-square-mile area in and around Phoenix, including the neighboring cities of Chandler, Tempe, Mesa, and Gilbert.
Although Waymo has been driving passengers without any humans behind the wheel in its free pilot program, it decided to be less daring with the new commercial service.
“Self-driving technology is new to many, so we’re proceeding carefully with the comfort and convenience of our riders in mind,” Waymo CEO John Krafcik wrote in Wednesday blog post heralding the arrival of the new service.
The ride-hailing service is launching in the same area where a car using robotic technology from ride-hailing service Uber hit and killed a pedestrian crossing a darkened street in Tempe, Arizona seven months ago. That fatal collision attracted worldwide attention that cast a pall over the entire self-driving car industry as more people began to publicly question the safety of the vehicles.
“I suspect the Uber fatality has caused Waymo to slow down its pace a bit” and use human safety drivers in its ride-hailing service,” said Navigant Research analyst Sam Abuelsamid. “If people keep dying, there will be a bigger backlash against these vehicles.”
The Uber robotic car had a human safety driver behind the wheel, but that wasn’t enough to prevent its lethal accident in March.
Waymo’s self-driving vehicles are still susceptible to glitches, as an Associated Press reporter experienced during a mid-October ride in an autonomous minivan alongside Krafcik near company’s Mountain View, California, headquarters.
The minivan performed smoothly, even stopping for a jaywalker, before abruptly pulling to the right side of the road. Ahead was a left-turning FedEx delivery truck. In a digital message to the two human backup drivers, the van said it “detected an issue” and it would connect to a rider support agent. Rider support didn’t respond, so they switched to manual mode and returned to Waymo headquarters.
At that time, Krafcik conceded to the AP that Waymo’s self-driving vehicles were still encountering occasional problems negotiating left-hand turns at complicated intersections.
“I think the things that humans have challenges with, we’re challenged with as well,” Krafcik said. “So sometimes unprotected lefts are super challenging for a human, sometimes they’re super challenging for us.”
Waymo eventually plans to open its new ride-hailing app to all comers in the Phoenix area, although it won’t say when. It also wants to expand its service to other cities, but isn’t saying where. When that happens, it could pose a threat to Uber and the second most popular U.S. ride-hailing service, Lyft, especially since it should be able charge lower prices without the need to share revenue with a human driver in control at all times.
General Motors also is gearing up to begin offering a ride-hailing service through its Cruise subsidiary under the management of a new CEO, Dan Ammann, who has been the Detroit automaker’s No. 2 executive. Cruise plans to start its ride-hailing service at some point next year in at least one U.S. city. Another self-driving car company, Drive.ai, has been giving short-distance rides to all comers within Frisco, Texas and Arlington, Texas since the summer.
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AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this story.
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Waymo starts commercial ride-share service
Geoff Robins | AFP | Getty Images
John Krafcik, CEO of Waymo speaks at a press conference at the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Michigan, January 8, 2017.
After months of testing and millions of miles developing self-driving vehicle technology, Waymo has officially launched the country's first commercial autonomous ride-share service.
The company's Waymo One program will give customers rides in self-driving vehicles 24 hours a day. Initially, the service will be limited to cities surrounding Phoenix, including Tempe, Mesa and Chandler.
While there may be many potential customers who want to ride in an autonomous vehicle, the Waymo One service will initially be offered to a limited number of people. Those customers will include hundreds of people in the Phoenix area who were test users of the Waymo self-driving vehicle fleet that has been in development since April 2017.
“Self-driving technology is new to many, so we're proceeding carefully with the comfort and convenience of our riders in mind,” said Waymo CEO John Krafcik. One example of Waymo taking a cautious approach rolling out its ride-share service is the company's use of safety drivers to supervise the rides, at least initially. In addition, the company's app and consoles in the Waymo One vehicles will allow riders to instantly connect with support agents who can assist riders with questions.
Alphabet's Waymo One marks the start of the race by automakers, tech companies and other firms to launch autonomous ride-share services. General Motors subsidiary Cruise plans to launch a similar service using self-driving vehicles next year.
What's driving the competition? The pursuit of greater profits. Studies of have shown the biggest cost for ride-share operations is the expense of paying a driver. General Motors estimates it costs ride -share companies more than $3 per mile in San Francisco. However, GM believes that cost could drop to roughly $1 per mile by 2025 with driverless vehicles in ride-share fleets.
Waymo has said it expects the cost to consumers for using Waymo One to be competitive with Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing services.
Waymo launches self-driving car service Waymo One
Waymo, the former Google self-driving project owned by parent company Alphabet, is launching a commercial robotaxi service in the Phoenix area dubbed Waymo One. This milestone, for the company and nascent self-driving technology industry, comes with caveats. The Waymo One self-driving car service, and accompanying app, won’t be available to just anyone. And for now,… Continue reading Waymo launches self-driving car service Waymo One
Communauto “arrives in Ville (Marie)” with its electric car-electric vehicles
Montreal, May 12, 2017– Communauto, a car-sharing pioneer in North America, will move forward with the City of Montreal’s pilot project. This after receiving confirmation that its users will have access to a sufficient number of spaces to release their electric vehicle in Ville-Marie.
In total, approximately 115 on-street parking distributed in about fifty drop-off points will be made available to electric vehicles car-sharing drivers.
Communauto‘s fleet of vehicles already has 120 electric vehicles. Of those, 85 have been labelled Auto-mobile (free-floating without reservation). This makes it the second-largest self-service electric vehicle fleet in the Americas.
Communauto is electric !
“Communauto has always taken the risk of innovating. This is what we are committed to doing by electrifying a portion of our fleet. By combining our offers, with and without reservations, our users enjoy the best of both worlds, said Benoit Robert, CEO of Communauto. For this reason, Communauto’s overall offer will also be increased.
An increased offer
Over the next few weeks, approximately 300 new cars will be brought into service in Canada (Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa, Halifax) and in France. Two-hundred of these vehicles (hybrid engines) are destined for the Quebec market. In the province, the offer will increase from 1,750 to nearly 2,000 vehicles.
From this number, 75 vehicles are destined for the free floating without reservation service, Auto-mobile, which will total 630 vehicles. These additions will maintain the abundance of supply despite the expansion of the serving territory. As such, additions in the borough of Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension (City of Circus Arts).
This addition will make it possible to maintain the abundance of the offer despite the extension of the service area with the addition of the Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension borough of the Saint-Michel sector.
Communauto also wishes to develop the Ahuntsic and Saint-Laurent boroughs.
Close to 500 stations
The 145 other vehicles put into service will be used to improve the offer with reservation. This offer is now deployed in a dense network of nearly 500 stations located in the heart of the neighborhoods. Communauto continues to focus on developing its traditional offering. The opening of nearly twenty new stations in the cities of Montreal, Quebec City, Longueuil, Laval, Gatineau and Sherbrooke is proof of this.
Coming new stations
Montreal: Côte-St-Luc, Cartierville, Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Île-des-Sœurs, Hochelaga and Montreal-Nord .
South Shore: Brossard (Mail Champlain) and Longueuil (OMHL).
North Shore: Laval (two stations) one of which will be part of the Urbania real estate development project.
Quebec City: St-Sauveur neighborhoods, Vieux-Limoilou, St-Roch, Montcalm and Vanier.
Gatineau: Hull island.
Eastern Townships : Sherbrooke, in the Fleurimont and Jacques-Cartier sectors.
Highlights of Communauto’s 2017 Development Plan
Development of the offer without reservation Auto-mobile:
• The total number of Auto-mobile is increased to 630 of which 85 (14%) are 100% electric
• Opening of 50 exclusive drop-off points for electric cars in Ville-Marie borough in Montreal
Development of the offer with reservation:
• Communauto is continuing to build on its traditional offer with reservations, with the opening of nearly 20 stations to reach its subscribers in Montreal, Quebec City, Sherbrooke, Gatineau, Brossard and Longueuil
In total :
• 300 vehicles added including 275 in Canada and 220 in Quebec
• For its entire range, in Quebec, Communauto’s fleet went from 1750 to nearly 2000 vehicles, 120 of which were 100% electric and 1,300 hybrid engines. 72% of the park will now be hybrid or 100% electric