Latest news with #ToyotaHighlanders
Miami Herald
5 hours ago
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
Driverless disruption: Tech titans gird for robotaxi wars with new factory and territories
As three key players vie for dominance, the race to put driverless taxis on roads across the country is heating up. Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, already offers paid autonomous rides in a handful of cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles. Amazon's robotaxi effort, known as Zoox, opened a new production facility in the Bay Area this week. The company has been testing its unique pill-shaped vehicles in California and Nevada since 2023. Meanwhile, in Austin, Texas, Elon Musk just started testing driverless Teslas with the hopes of launching a commercial service soon. Musk unveiled a prototype for Tesla's Cybercab late last year, touting his vision for an autonomous future and "an age of abundance." The arrival of self-driving tech could eventually affect society as much as the internet and smartphones did years ago, some experts predict. With Waymo leading the way and Tesla and Zoox trying to catch up quickly, a new status quo could be on the horizon, said Karl Brauer, an analyst with "Tesla has tried to catch up, and Zoox is a more recent competitor that's hoping to be a serious player," he said. "Waymo has been slow and steady and, as a result, is winning the race." According to some industry insiders, the U.S. is about 15 years from seeing widespread use of robotaxis, Brauer said. While Waymo taxis have become a common sight in the cities where they operate, weather conditions and charging infrastructure still limit their expansion. On Wednesday, Waymo expanded its service area in Los Angeles County, where its vehicles now roam an area of more than 120 square miles. The company also increased its service area in San Francisco, expanding access to suburbs and Silicon Valley. Days after Waymo's announcement, Zoox opened a 220,000-square-foot facility in Hayward, Calif., that the company says will be able to produce 10,000 robotaxis per year. Zoox is preparing to launch its public ride-hailing service in Las Vegas and San Francisco this year. Unlike Waymo vehicles, which are retrofitted Jaguars, Zoox is developing a purpose-built taxi with no steering wheel or gas pedals. Zoox also has a manufacturing plant in Fremont, Calif., where the company develops its test fleets of retrofitted Toyota Highlanders. Tesla has a manufacturing facility in Fremont as well. Musk has promised for years to deliver autonomous vehicles and a robust ride-hailing service. Lawmakers in Austin requested this week that he delay the rollout of his service in the city. Tesla, Zoox and Waymo are the three remaining major U.S. companies in what was once a more crowded field, Brauer said. General Motors' autonomous taxi company Cruise suspended operations in 2023 after one of its vehicles struck and dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco. Last year, Uber and Cruise announced a partnership that could put Cruise vehicles back on the road. A company called Argo AI, backed by Ford and Volkswagen, was also developing driverless technology until it shut down in 2022. The continued expansion of robotaxis depends on safe and successful testing, Brauer said. There have been several incidents related to Tesla's Full Self-Drive mode, a technology currently available but still in development. Waymo has issued recalls of some of its vehicles on multiple occasions. "If there's a tragic result for any of these three companies during the testing and development process, it would likely slow down the entire industry," Brauer said. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Los Angeles Times
21 hours ago
- Automotive
- Los Angeles Times
Driverless disruption: Tech titans gird for robotaxi wars with new factory and territories
As three key players vie for dominance, the race to put driverless taxis on roads across the country is heating up. Waymo, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, already offers paid autonomous rides in a handful of cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles. Amazon's robotaxi effort, known as Zoox, opened a new production facility in the Bay Area this week. The company has been testing its unique pill-shaped vehicles in California and Nevada since 2023. Meanwhile, in Austin, Texas, Elon Musk just started testing driverless Teslas with the hopes of launching a commercial service soon. Musk unveiled a prototype for Tesla's Cybercab late last year, touting his vision for an autonomous future and 'an age of abundance.' The arrival of self-driving tech could eventually affect society as much as the internet and smartphones did years ago, some experts predict. With Waymo leading the way and Tesla and Zoox trying to catch up quickly, a new status quo could be on the horizon, said Karl Brauer, an analyst with 'Tesla has tried to catch up, and Zoox is a more recent competitor that's hoping to be a serious player,' he said. 'Waymo has been slow and steady and, as a result, is winning the race.' According to some industry insiders, the U.S. is about 15 years from seeing widespread use of robotaxis, Brauer said. While Waymo taxis have become a common sight in the cities where they operate, weather conditions and charging infrastructure still limit their expansion. On Wednesday, Waymo expanded its service area in Los Angeles County, where its vehicles now roam an area of more than 120 square miles. The company also increased its service area in San Francisco, expanding access to suburbs and Silicon Valley. Days after Waymo's announcement, Zoox opened a 220,000-square-foot facility in Hayward, Calif., that the company says will be able to produce 10,000 robotaxis per year. Zoox is preparing to launch its public ride-hailing service in Las Vegas and San Francisco this year. Unlike Waymo vehicles, which are retrofitted Jaguars, Zoox is developing a purpose-built taxi with no steering wheel or gas pedals. Zoox also has a manufacturing plant in Fremont, Calif., where the company develops its test fleets of retrofitted Toyota Highlanders. Tesla has a manufacturing facility in Fremont as well. Musk has promised for years to deliver autonomous vehicles and a robust ride-hailing service. Lawmakers in Austin requested this week that he delay the rollout of his service in the city. Tesla, Zoox and Waymo are the three remaining major U.S. companies in what was once a more crowded field, Brauer said. General Motors' autonomous taxi company Cruise suspended operations in 2023 after one of its vehicles struck and dragged a pedestrian in San Francisco. Last year, Uber and Cruise announced a partnership that could put Cruise vehicles back on the road. A company called Argo AI, backed by Ford and Volkswagen, was also developing driverless technology until it shut down in 2022. The continued expansion of robotaxis depends on safe and successful testing, Brauer said. There have been several incidents related to Tesla's Full Self-Drive mode, a technology currently available but still in development. Waymo has issued recalls of some of its vehicles on multiple occasions. 'If there's a tragic result for any of these three companies during the testing and development process, it would likely slow down the entire industry,' Brauer said.
San Francisco Chronicle
2 days ago
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
Zoox is opening a Bay Area factory to build and train its robotaxis
A Silicon Valley robotaxi company that's angling to compete with Waymo opened a second East Bay factory on Wednesday, aiming to jolt production and pave the way for passenger service in San Francisco and other cities. Zoox, known for its buggy-shaped robotaxis and self-driving modified Toyota Highlanders, has for months been testing its vehicles in the wilderness of San Francisco traffic. The Amazon-owned company has reached an inflection point with its new manufacturing plant in Hayward, which will supply fleets 'at scale' for a commercial launch. While Waymo has built a business by installing its software into retrofitted vehicles that are manufactured by traditional automotive companies — the Waymo robotaxis that have become ubiquitous on San Francisco streets are electric Jaguar I-Pace crossover SUVs — Zoox is vying to be the first company to manufacture robotaxis in-house for commercial use. In addition to the Hayward factory, Zoox runs a small plant in Fremont. Workers there mostly assemble the Toyota testing fleet, along with the cameras and sensors that allow self-driving cars to navigate a complex environment. By contrast, the sprawling facility will encompass 220,000 square feet and serve a variety of functions. Among them: robotaxi engineering, parts storage, shipping, hardware and software integration. Vehicles will glide off the production line and roll through a series of testing stations, including a simulated rain storm, a dynamometer to measure force and torque at speeds up to 75 miles per hour, a light tunnel to check for scratches and an outdoor track to check 'pick-up and drop-off behaviors,' on a sample road with a bumpy stretch. Once Zoox starts offering rides to the public, the company anticipates a spike in demand for vehicles, and a need to rapidly accelerate production. With the new factory, Zoox will have flexibility to respond to market conditions.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Yahoo
Dark web drug bust nets thousands of pills, $400K Ferrari
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) say they've dismantled a drug marketplace that operated on the dark web, seizing 27 kilograms of illegal drugs, thousands of dollars in cash and other items including a $400,000 Ferrari. Calling the intelligence-led investigation a first of its kind, OPP launched Project BIONIC in November. The operation was "aimed at dismantling an operation that used a dark web marketplace to ship a high volume of drugs" to numerous locations across Canada, according to an OPP news release issued Tuesday. On March 10, officers from the OPP's organized crime enforcement bureau arrested two suspects at a Canada Post outlet in Ottawa and seized 86 packages "containing various drugs ready to be shipped to addresses across Canada." The same day, officers from various OPP units carried out search warrants at three homes and one vehicle in Ottawa, seizing various amounts of suspected fentanyl, methamphetamine, MDMA, heroin, cocaine and other drugs in various forms. OPP estimate the street value of the seized drugs at $2.5 million. Officers also seized a handgun with an extended magazine, about $95,000 in cash, electronic devices including reprogrammable key fobs, and a 2018 Ferrari 488 Spider "valued at more than $400,000." 2nd raid nets 11 stolen vehicles A subsequent raid on March 27 yielded 11 stolen vehicles including Toyota Highlanders, Sequoias and Tundras, as well as a Lexus RX. OPP estimate the total value of the vehicles at $730,000. Four suspects, all from Ottawa and all in their 20s or early 30s, are facing a combined 85 criminal and drug charges including trafficking, possession and firearm offences. OPP describe the dark web as "a hidden portion of the internet … [that] requires special software to access," and say dark web marketplaces "enable the exchange of various illicit items, including stolen credentials, drugs and hacking tools." In the news release, OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique praised the operation for exposing "the alarming volume of dangerous drugs being sold through dark web marketplaces, with packages shipped across the country." The arrests "show that law enforcement can track and stop even the most complex online trafficking operations," and the investigation "plainly demonstrates the connections between drug trafficking and other crimes, such auto theft and illegal firearms," Carrique said. Alongside Project BIONIC, OPP announced the separate Project GOLDEN Tuesday. That southwest Ontario investigation, according to police, took 11 months, brought in a haul including 38 kilograms of suspected fentanyl and led to 140 charges against 15 people.
San Francisco Chronicle
13-05-2025
- Automotive
- San Francisco Chronicle
A Zoox and an e-bike collided in S.F. Here's what it says about robotaxi safety
The light turned green at a busy intersection in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood, where Bryant, Division and 11th streets conjoin at acute angles — and traffic becomes an omnidirectional snarl. What happened next was captured, probably in stark detail, by multiple cameras on a Zoox robotaxi. The company is not required to publicly share its footage, and has declined to do so. A spokesperson said Zoox supplied video to regulators. But in a report filed to the Department of Motor Vehicles, Zoox gave a clinical description of the crash on April 4: A driverless taxi collided with a Bay Wheels e-bike whose rider had swerved into the car's path. The Zoox sustained fender damage while the cyclist rode away. Nobody called police. Though apparently minor, the SoMa fender-bender came at an inflection point for Zoox, an autonomous vehicle company owned by Amazon. Widely recognized as the No. 2 player behind Waymo, Zoox is testing its buggy-shaped robotaxis and retrofitted Toyota Highlanders in the wilderness of downtown traffic, and preparing to launch passenger service. It's also endured some growing pains. Four days after the e-bike jolt, another unoccupied Zoox vehicle collided with a passenger car in Las Vegas. Again, no one emerged with injuries, but the company opted to pause operations in Vegas for several days and recall 270 vehicles for a software update. Such episodes could become more commonplace as self-driving cars flood the roads, treating cities like San Francisco not only as markets, but as laboratories. While the makers of these vehicles contend that a machine programmed to follow traffic laws is safer than an erratic human driver, the crash research is less conclusive. The stakes for these companies are high: Waymo, the most established among them, is rapidly expanding commercial service as Zoox test-runs its carriages in several cities. As they integrate into the transportation system, robotaxis are drawing excitement and delight. At the same time, they're clashing with other road users. Last year a self-driving Waymo car struck and injured a bicyclist in San Francisco's Potrero Hill neighborhood, provoking anger from district Supervisor Shamann Walton. He questioned whether any car operated by artificial intelligence could quickly react to traffic chaos. Representatives of Waymo said an oncoming truck had occluded the Waymo vehicle's view of the cyclist. A review of California DMV reports for March and April suggests that so far, most of these incidents have not caused injuries, and have resulted in minimal damage. Still, they raise a vexing question for the average San Franciscan: Should I be worried a robot car might hit me? The notion has incited a spirited debate among experts. William Riggs, a professor of engineering and management at the University of San Francisco who studies autonomous vehicles, is so confident in the technology that he doubts they pose much danger to other drivers or cyclists — even the ones who violate traffic laws. 'You probably have a greater chance of being struck by lightning' than by a robotaxi, Riggs said. Other researchers are less certain. Scott Moura, a UC Berkeley professor of civil and environmental engineering, said past studies have shown a similar 'crashes-per-million miles' rate between self-driving cars and humans, though data also suggests that AV companies are learning from their experiences, and swiftly course-correcting. In California, AVs are held to a higher standard than human drivers, with a requirement to report any collision that results in injury, death or property damage to the Department of Motor Vehicles and, in some instances, to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Yet since the companies write those reports, they are by definition one-sided and could omit details. The most notorious example is the crash of Oct. 2, 2023, in which a robotaxi operated by General Motors' Cruise struck a jaywalking pedestrian. Although initiated by a hit-and-run driver, the incident led to Cruise's suspension, largely because the company withheld video from state investigators. When pressed about the April 4 collision with the cyclist in SoMa, staff at Zoox point back to their report to the DMV. It portrays two vehicles navigating a complex, unpredictable road space with crosswalks and traffic signals on all sides. The scene unfolded shortly after 9:30 a.m., the fade-out of a Friday morning rush hour. According to Zoox, an e-bike rider had started crossing before the change in signal. Pedaling south down 11th Street, the rider zipped ahead of the robotaxi, which had no driver at the time. Both vehicles had nearly crossed the intersection when the cyclist abruptly turned left. Sensing the maneuver, the robotaxi 'braked hard,' yet a collision 'was unavoidable,' Zoox staff wrote in their incident summary. The cyclist struck the self-driving car's right fender and body, causing minor damage. As the Zoox pulled over on Bryant Street, the cyclist rode to the sidewalk, briefly stopped, and then rolled away. By slowing down and stopping, the Zoox demonstrated its ability to drive defensively, and likely preempted a more serious accident, according to a company spokesperson. 'Autonomous vehicles have the capability to see farther and understand the speed and trajectory of those sharing the road, which is especially important when interacting with vulnerable road users,' the spokesperson wrote in a statement. It continued: 'Safety is foundational at Zoox, and we are continuously learning from our testing across markets to improve the overall safety of roadways.' Whether the Zoox performed worse or better than a human driver in this instance is unclear, said Matthew Raifman, a transportation safety researcher at UC Berkeley's Safe Transportation and Research Education Center. 'There are scenarios where an AV might see (a cyclist) that a human wouldn't see, because they have 360 degree views,' Raifman said. Even so, he noted, an AV doesn't have a human's intuition or ability to anticipate behavior. For all of its perspectives and sensors, a robot car might not understand how a cyclist moves through space. 'I think that's where there's a heuristic process that human drivers have. Maybe a computer can replicate that perception and understanding, but it's also possible that a human driver would have eye contact with the cyclist, or detect something in that cyclist that was indicative they were going to turn instead of go straight.' Or alternatively, perhaps the robotaxis could over time become more perceptive than humans, Raifman said. What if, for instance, a network of them are passing through that intersection every day, collecting data, and sharing it with all of the other robotaxis in a company's fleet? Steven Shladover, a research engineer at UC Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies, had a more cut-and-dry reading of the incident. 'It sounds like this was probably the fault of the cyclist,' he said, surmising that a human motorist wouldn't have been able to avoid the collision either. Every expert who spoke with the Chronicle acknowledged the basic math of exposure: More autonomous vehicles traveling more miles means more opportunities to crash. Yet the companies are making a case that their fleets will eventually make the roads safer. After all, a robot won't drive while intoxicated, or start texting friends at a stop light, or get distracted and fail to yield to a pedestrian. Robotaxis 'are getting safer over time as the companies gain more experience with driving in traffic,' Shladover said. 'But that's a long, slow process.'
