Ever since 2016, when the first Autopilot crashes were reported, Tesla has been claiming that its Level 2 ADAS is safer than a human driver. Noah Goodall is a traffic safety researcher who has published some of the only peer-reviewed work on Tesla's safety claims, and he joins the show to discuss his work on this and other important road safety topics.
It's been more than a year since we spoke with Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak Robotics and Google Self-Driving Car program veteran, and a lot has changed in the world of autonomous trucking since then. Don joins the show for a wide-ranging discussion of the state of play in self-driving trucks, and how Kodiak has thrived through sectorwide challenges.
It's a make or break summer for robotaxis, as GM cancels Cruise's Origin, Waymo's new Zeekr-supplied model hits the streets, and Tesla delays the reveal of its alleged robotaxi. Alex, Kirsten and Ed gather to digest all the latest news in the latest discussion episode, joined discreetly at times by friend of the show former Rivian strategy boss Patrick Hunt.
After many discussions about the divide between Level 4 robotaxis/trucks and "AI first" general solutions for automotive use cases, The Autonocast finally welcomes one of the leaders in the latter approach to the show. Alex Kendall is the founder and CEO of the UK-based startup Wayve, which just raised a billion dollars to continue developing its unique approach to driving automation. He joins the gang to discuss Wayve's technology, go to market strategy, safety philosophy, and much more.
Ted Ryan spent more than 20 years as an archivist for Coca-Cola, and is currently the brand manager for archives and heritage at Ford, giving him unique insights into the history of fueling in the US. With EV charging emerging as one of the major challenges to adoption, the gang sat down with Ted to find out what lessons we might learn from history. Turns out there are a lot, you don't want to miss this episode!
With Kirsten taking a well-deserved vacation, Alex and Ed run wild, discussing a wide variety of recent news. From Ed's recent OpEd on Tesla in the Washington Post to GM's new cash injection into Cruise, and from "AI first" automated trucking company Waabi's new funding round to questions around transparency in China's AV development, and much more, the lads have their hands full this week.
Former fighter pilot and NHTSA consultant, now professor at George Mason University, the one and only Missy Cummings returns to The Autonocast to discuss the latest issues in driver assistance and autonomous driving safety, including her work at the auto safety regulator.
From Elon Musk's decision to fire the entire Supercharging team as part of Tesla's "pivot to self-driving," to recent fundraising rounds by Motional and Wayve, the entire mobility tech space is caught between the hard work of growing up and doubling down on the AI hype fundraising game. Not everyone can be choosing wisely.
Electrification and automation collide in this week's episode, as the gang sits down with Crijn Bouman, EV charging veteran and founder of the automated charger company ROCSYS. From the early days of EV charging, to robotaxi service strategies, to the rise of the North American Charging Standard, this conversation spans a wide variety of fascinating topics.