Driving is getting very expensive
Since American cities struggle so mightily to build high-quality public transit, now would be a great time for Big Tech to deliver the ultra-affordable zero-emission robotaxis we’ve been promised. For many Americans, driving is getting intolerably expensive. Robotaxis are at various stages of adoption across the world (Uber is moving toward them in Germany) but to what extent they will be cheaper than human-driven cars depends on drivng down the underlying hardware costs, as Waymo is trying to do, and whether Tesla’s bet on “camera-only” autonomy works out. Because nobody seems excited about the most effective way to make transportation more affordable is the simplest: build more housing near jobs and services.
What you need to know
Americans are dropping out of the car market: It’s never been more expensive to buy, fuel and maintain a new car in the U.S., which explains why an estimated 1 million Americans have left the market, trying to make do with older vehicles. In other words, if possible, now would be a great time for super-cheap autonomous electric robotaxis!
Waymo’s way ahead in Texas: New data from the Texas Department of Transportation suggest that Waymo is the only robotaxi service in the Lone Star State that is doing substantial business. The Alphabet-owned company has 577 autonomous vehicles registered with the state, compared to Tesla’s 42. It’s now been a year since Tesla debuted its autonomous ride-hailing project in Austin and six months since Elon Musk said there would be “millions” of Tesla robotaxis operating around the country. Why has such a historically bold company been so hesitant to expand? To some, it is evidence that Tesla’s cheaper camera-only autonomy technology is simply not ready for prime time — and might never be.
Revel and Voltera merge: Revel and Voltera, both up-and-coming EV charging providers, say the new company will focus on dense urban markets where they expect there to be significant demand for fast charging from autonomous ride-hail operators and other commercial fleets. Revel, you may recall, actually started out as an electric moped-sharing service and for a few years operated an electric taxi service in New York. It eventually shed those businesses to focus on charging infrastructure.
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Uber finds another Munich robotaxi partner: Uber is teaming up with Israeli autonomous tech developer Autobrains to deploy robotaxis in Munich, pending regulatory approval. The ride-hail giant also announced late last year that it would begin autonomous testing with Momenta, a Chinese AV tech firm. The E.U. has taken a very slow approach to robotaxis; the only active service is in Zagreb, Croatia, operated by Croatia’s Verne and China’s Pony.ai.
What we’re reading
The financial advantage of transit-oriented development: A study published by Pew Charitable Trusts estimates the infrastructure costs of building new homes in areas near “existing jobs, stores and transit” compared to building them on the outskirts of cities. The study concludes that the former comes with an average savings of $21,000.
When does it make financial sense to switch to an EV? NPR looks at the math.
