For much of the last few years, autonomous robotaxis were simply presumed to be a technological problem whose economics would be easily competitive. Now, with human-driven ridehailing still struggling to turn a profit, more and more companies are realizing that the robotaxi business won't necessarily be an easy one. Perhaps the best view of the robotaxi's economic challenge comes from Ashley Nunes, a Harvard researcher whose study of autonomous taxi economics in San Francisco revealed that the massive margins once anticipated will be tough to deliver on, and that maximizing utilization will be the key to a viable business. Nunes joins the show to explain his research, explore the underlying assumptions and discuss the business case challenges ahead for autonomous ride hailing.

Joshua Schachter is well-known in the mobility tech world as a savvy angel and venture capitalist, but not everyone knows that he (more specifically, his "Self-Racing Cars" event) played a major role in making The Autonocast happen. On today's episode, we discuss the mobility tech investing environment, how Joshua analyzes potential investments and how Self-Racing Cars came to be the AV sector's punk rock event. For more information on how to attend this year's Self Racing Cars, check out selfracingcars.com.

Teleoperation used to be seen as the autonomous drive sector's dirty little secret, the kind of capability that stoked suspicion about the readiness of the technology. Ironically, as AVs get closer and closer to maturity the need for teleoperation capabilities is becoming increasingly normalized as a fundamental part of the stack. At this year's CES, Ed spoke with the leadership of Phantom Auto, a leader in the teleoperation and remote guidance space, to find out how their business is evolving.

Fresh off the heels of tumultuous hype cycles in both shared electric scooters and autonomous vehicles, the idea of "riderless scooters" can seem like the immaculate hypeball. But, as today's episode shows, the ability to move shared scooters remotely is actually a meaningful potential solution to the operational challenges facing shared scooter companies. Dmitry Shevelenko of the scooter teleoperations company Tortoise joins the crew to explain the economic and technological opportunity underlying his vision of riderless scooters.

David Estrada has been on the cutting edge of new mobility tech regulation for years, handling legal and government affairs duties at companies like the Google Chauffeur project, Lyft, Bird and now the autonomous delivery company Nuro. Estrada joins the show this week to discuss his history in the space, where autonomous drive regulation is headed and his latest achievement: an FMVSS waiver for Nuro's R2 delivery bot.

During a recent trip to the Bay Area, Ed got a ride in a Zoox development vehicle and came away surprisingly impressed with its autonomous driving capabilities in a tough domain. Immediately following the ride he recorded a conversation with Zoox CTO Jesse Levinson about the challenges of developing an AV in San Francisco, the technology that enables his stack's impressive performance and his improvisational piano skills. Alex and Kirsten also grill Ed about his Zoox ride and the gang discusses the challenges Zoox faces despite all its technical prowess.

If you know anything about autonomous drive technology, you probably know the name Chris Urmson. From Carnegie Mellon's DARPA Grand and Urban Challenge teams to head of Google's Chauffeur program (now Waymo) and now as co-founder and CEO of Aurora, Urmson has been in the thick of AV development since its earliest days. He joins The Autonocast for the first time, recorded live as the annual CES party gathered steam, to discuss what he's learned at the forefront of this new technology and where he sees it going.

Cruise's mysterious "Beyond The Car" event turns out to have been the reveal of its first dedicated robotaxi, the Origin. Both Ed and Kirsten were on hand for the reveal, and share their impressions and analysis of the first production-intent autonomous mobility device by a major Level 4 AV developer. Alex provides the critical perspective (disclosure: he works for a competitor), prompting a lively debate about AV strategy, positioning and communication.

As Aptiv's President of Autonomous Mobility, Karl Iagnemma now finds himself at the head of a massive $4 billion joint venture with Hyundai Motor Company. The former NuTonomy founder is one of the quiet heroes of self-driving, having spearheaded the first AV deployment in Singapore and led Aptiv into an industry-leading position. Joining the show from the Autonocast suite prior to their CES 2020 party, Iagnemma discusses everything from AV development to his turn as an author and novelist.