Tag Archives: Autonomous Driving

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In the race to put self-driving vehicles on the road, General Motors may be ready to take the lead with the new Ultra Cruise system it plans to put on the road by 2023.

Cadillac plans to expand the rollout of Super CruiseTM, the world’s first true hands-free driver assistance feature for the freeway. Super Cruise will be available on all Cadillac models, with the rollout beginning in 2020. After 2020, Super Cruise will make its introduction in other General Motors brands.
GM is currently rolling out its original Super Cruise system on a wide range of products, including Chevy and GMC models, as well as those from Cadillac.

The new system will increase by tenfold the number of miles of roads GM’s Super Cruise system can operate on – and where the current system only can operate on limited-access roadways, Ultra Cruise will cover “every road including city streets, subdivision streets and paved rural roads, in addition to highways,” GM said in a statement announcing the new technology. At launch, Ultra Cruise will operate on 2 million miles of roads, said GM, with a goal of increasing that to 3.4 million.

With Ultra Cruise, GM seems positioned to leapfrog Tesla, the EV automaker that marketed the first “self-driving” system, Autopilot. Despite releasing a new update it refers to as “Full Self-Driving,” Tesla’s technology still requires drivers to keep their hands on the wheel at all times.

“Ultra Cruise is not just a game changer in terms of what it enables ­− a door-to-door hands-free driving experience − but a technological one as well,” said Doug Parks, GM’s executive vice president of Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain.

The race for autonomy

The auto industry is in a race to develop autonomous vehicle technology – with the eventual goal of having vehicles operate without the assistance of a human driver. GM’s San Francisco-based Cruise subsidiary recently won approval from the State of California to test prototype vehicles that don’t even have a steering wheel or other driver controls. But most experts believe that it will be late in the decade before such systems are ready for widespread use.

(Click to expand.)

In the meantime, the focus is on more limited systems that can reduce the role of the driver – though a motorist would still need to be ready to take control in an emergency, or if the vehicle were to travel outside a “geofenced” area.

A number of manufacturers are developing these systems – known in industry parlance as “Level 2 autonomy.” Tesla was first to market with the original Autopilot, GM following with Super Cruise which it is now rolling out on a wide range of vehicle lines.

Both have significant limitations and make various trade-offs. Tesla has dubbed the latest version of Autopilot “Full Self-Driving,” and many owners have been using the system hands-free. Some have been recorded going so far as to jump into the back seat while the vehicle is moving. But the automaker actually stresses that motorists need to maintain at least a loose grip on the wheel.

Tesla v GM

GM claims drivers actually can take hands off the wheel using Super Cruise. But the system is restricted to about 200,000 miles of U.S. and Canadian roads. And the GM system uses a camera to ensure that the driver remains alert and in position to take over quickly, if necessary.

Tesla FSD Simulation
A digital simulation of Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving” system.

Tesla has, until recently, not monitored the driver. But it plans to do so after coming under fire for the lax way in which many drivers use Super Cruise. In fact, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is conducting a probe of Autopilot in the wake of several dozen crashes, a number of those involving Tesla vehicles impacting stationary emergency vehicles.

“The way Tesla is doing it, there always will be error problems,” said Sam Abuelsamid, principal auto analyst with Guidehouse Insights.

Tesla relies on the data gathered by a network of cameras to operate Autopilot. GM, on the other hand, uses radar, as well as ultra high-definition street maps, with Super Cruise. And the Ultra Cruise system will add LIDAR, a 3D laser technology.

“This is a more robust solution,” said Abuelsamid. “They’ve taken a safer approach (even as they) expand tenfold the number of roads they can use Ultra Cruise on.”

No rollout roadmap – yet

The GM system will be able to recognize street signs and traffic signals, as well as pedestrians, bicyclists and animals. And it will be able to handle pretty much any sort of situation that a human driver would normally be required to negotiate, according to GM.

The automaker hasn’t provided a specific roadmap for rolling out Ultra Cruise but it’s expected to follow the same model used for the original Super Cruise system. That would begin with the flagship Cadillac brand and then expand to other GM brands.

Motorists pay additional fees for vehicles equipped with the basic Super Cruise hardware and GM recently announced that it will charge a monthly usage fee, as well. Tesla, Ford and other manufacturers are adopting similar pricing models.

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Lyft has been using the autonomous prototypes in the Las Vegas market.

Lyft Inc. sold its autonomous vehicle technology unit, Level 5, to Toyota Motor Co. for $550 million, following the lead of its rival, Uber Inc.

The company launched Level 5 in 2017 to build a self-driving system for its network of vehicles. The goal, ultimately, was to eliminate the need for drivers. The company grew to nearly 400 employees, but as Lyft continues to lose money overall, it needed to find ways to end its string of quarterly losses.

Not only will it get $550 million from Toyota, it will also stop funneling multiple millions of dollars into a development project with no finish line in sight for a payoff. Lyft gets $200 million immediately and the remaining $350 million will be paid in installments during the next five years.

Uber finalized a similar deal last fall, selling its autonomous vehicle unit called Advanced Technology Group to Aurora led by former Waymo chief Chris Urmson for $400 million.

Immediate financial relief

Lyft has provided 100,000 self-driving rides as part of its autonomous technology development.

The ride-hailing company said selling its Level 5 subsidiary puts it back on the path to profitability. First and foremost, it cuts $100 million of annualized non-GAAP operating expenses on a net basis, Co-founder and President John Zimmer noted in the announcement.

“Assuming the transaction closes within the expected timeframe and the COVID recovery continues, we are confident that we can achieve Adjusted EBITDA profitability in the third quarter of this year,” Zimmer said in a statement.

The company isn’t getting out of the robotaxi business. It’s already partnered with Motional and Waymo to develop self-driving tech and now it will just rely on that partnership to move toward autonomous vehicles. Working with the pair, Lyft’s already provided more than 100,000 self-driving rides in its vehicles in the last three years.

However, Lyft can now focus on what it can do best with autonomous vehicles by offering services such as routing, consumer interface and managing, and maintaining and cleaning partners’ autonomous vehicle fleets, which could mean added revenue, it said.

Uber made a similar choice

Lyft’s deal is similar to Uber’s move last December to sell its Advanced Technology Group, or ATG, to Aurora, the autonomous vehicle technology company founded by Google and Waymo veteran Chris Urmson. The deal came in at $400 million.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi noted after the sale of its ATG unit the company’s path to profitability had been shortened.

AVs were a critical component of the path to profitability by Uber, which now relies on part-time drivers or gig workers to ferry passengers, using its celebrated phone app. Uber invested huge sums in its internal AV project; however, was crippled in 2018 when one of its test vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. It never really recovered.

Uber also ended up with a 26% ownership interest in Aurora on a fully diluted basis, the company said in a filing.

Aurora and Uber agreed to collaborate to launch self-driving vehicles on its ride-hailing and food delivery network. Uber is also working on building out its freight logistics platform but is not operating its own trucks at present.

The completion of the deal caused Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to utter a familiar refrain to Reuters: “This essentially advances our path to profitability.” He said the deal should put the company on track for profitability by the end of this year, largely due to the fact Uber would no longer be investing vast sums of cash into ATG.


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John Krafcik NADA 2018

Waymo CEO John Krafcik is way gone, announcing his departure and the company’s plans to move the current COO and CTO into the role of co-CEO.

Add “former” to the title of Waymo CEO John Krafcik, who announced today he’s left the company.

The former Hyundai Motor America chief spent five years heading up the autonomous vehicle subsidiary of Google, which, according to his farewell on LinkedIn, “was called ‘Chauffeur’ internally.”

Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov, of whom Krafcik said “having seen their brilliance, vision, and commitment in play for years — I assure you they are very well suited for this,” take over as co-CEOs of the Mountain View, Calif.-based AI-focused company. As is often the case with senior executives, Krafcik will stay on in an advisory capacity.

“So now, with the fully autonomous Waymo One ride-hailing service open to all in our launch area of Metro Phoenix, and with the fifth generation of the Waymo Driver being prepared for deployment in ride-hailing and goods delivery, it’s a wonderful opportunity for me to pass the baton to Tekedra and Dmitri as Waymo’s co-CEOs,” he wrote.

Next steps

Waymo co CEO Tekedra Mawakana

Waymo named former COO Tekedra Mawakana as its new co-CEO to replace Krafcik.

Krafcik didn’t offer many details what the future holds, although it could be that he’s uncertain himself. He said he and his wife, Leila, will take a “coupbatical,” which he described as “a refresh period where we look forward to reconnecting with old friends & family, and discovering new parts of the world.

“After that, we’ve got a few ideas for focus and contribution that we’ll flesh out together and share when the time is right. We’ve already relocated to Austin, Texas, and we look forward to seeing some of you there, or on our travels.”

Krafcik once headed up Hyundai’s U.S. operations, helping lead the brand through an image renaissance and a period of rapid growth. He even earned the “Automotive Executive of the Year” in 2013. However, his run there ended in late 2013 after the South Korean automaker declined to renew his contract — despite the accolade.

However, he quickly landed on his feet, taking over as CEO of TrueCar just as the automotive sales and data website was readying to go public. His tenure there was short, however, as he moved on to Waymo, then-Google’s self-driving car project, just a little more than a year later in September 2015.

Dynamic duo

Waymo coCEO Dmitri Dolgov

Waymo CTO Dmitri Dolgov joins Mawakana as co-CEO with Krafcik’s departure.

As for the company, Mawakana and Dolgov now step into new roles. Previously the COO and CTO respectively, they are described as having “complementary skill sets and experiences.” Due to the nature of their roles, they’re already accustomed to working together.

Dolgov, who started in autonomy as part of Stanford’s DARPA Urban Challenge team, joined the company in 2009, when it was still referred to as Google’s self-driving car project. Over time, his influence and responsibility grew. He became CTO late in 2016.

Mawakana, joined­­ Waymo as a policy lead. Prior to joining the company in 2017, she led global policy teams at eBay, AOL, Startec and Yahoo, after beginning her career as Washington, D.C.-based law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP.


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GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra’s been pushing the company’s all-electric future, she offered a peek as some of that at CES 2021.

General Motors Chairman and CEO Mary Barra is fond of saying the automaker is “on a path to an all-electric future,” something she underscored during a virtual CES webinar focusing on not only the automaker’s battery technology but also showing off some of the many battery and autonomous vehicles in development.

Along with models the automaker already has unveiled, like the Chevrolet Bolt EUV and GMC Hummer, several other projects were revealed during the hourlong presentation, including an ultra-luxurious new Cadillac dubbed Celestiq, as well as a flying car concept “designed for the moment when time is of the essence.”

“The key” to just about everything GM has in development is electrification, stressed Barra, who has led a massive shakeup of GM’s traditional approach to the car business since being named CEO in December 2013. Barra recently announced GM will introduce 30 all-electric models by 2025, up from the previous target of 20 by 2023. Meanwhile, spending on EVs and AVs, or autonomous vehicles, will jump to $27 billion by mid-decade.

(GM wants to revolutionize e-commerce with electric droids and vans.)

GM’s Crystal Windham talks about Cadillac’s latest product, the Celestiq, during CES 2021.

The automaker introduced its first long-range all-electric model, the Chevrolet Bolt EV, in 2016 and is set to begin expanding the line-up this year with the stretched Bolt EUV and GMC Hummer pickup. The pace will rapidly accelerate in 2022 when Cadillac’s first battery-electric vehicle, the Lyriq SUV, launches, along with an SUV version of the Hummer and other products.

The Cadillac brand was GM’s first to offer a specific target date, 2030, for going entirely electric, and the new Celestiq will fill a long-opened gap as the luxury division’s new flagship. First shown during a media backgrounder last March as a pure concept exercise, the project was formally confirmed during Tuesday’s CEO keynote.

It’s “a designer’s dream,” said Crystal Windham, Cadillac’s director of interior design. While the Celestiq prototype was shown largely concealed by shadows during the webinar, the version seen by reporters last March bore much in common with the over-the-top Cadillac Sixteen concept of 2003 with what Windham described as “a dramatic presence with a low profile and rear-drive proportions.”

One of the most distinctive features of the Celestiq will be an all-glass roof divided into four quadrants. It will use electroluminescent technology so that each of the exotic sedan’s passengers will be able to change it from transparent to opaque. The instrument panel, meanwhile, will take things a step beyond what is offered in the latest-generation Caddy Escalade, introducing a video screen running pillar to pillar. There will be additional screens for rear seat passengers and additional touchscreens to operate climate and other vehicle controls.

GM didn’t offer an unobscured view of the Celestiq, but instead showed bits and pieces of the luxury EV.

GM officials have been mum about other details but Celestiq will use an all-wheel-drive version of GM’s new Ultium BEV platform and, based on comments made recently by brand boss Steve Carlisle, range of 400 or more miles is likely. Meanwhile, the Ultium platform can deliver up to 1,000 horsepower, though it is not clear if the Cadillac Celestiq will push that high.

During the Barra-led webinar, GM’s battery lab group manager Mei Cai revealed some of the automaker’s plans for the Ultium batteries that will soon start rolling off a new assembly line in Ohio built as part of a joint venture with Korea’s LG Chem.

The new cells will deliver 60% more energy than batteries used in today’s Chevy Bolt and deliver as much as 450 miles per charge, depending upon the vehicle and the size of its pack. They’re also about 40% lower in cost, which would mean something at or below $100 a kilowatt-hour.

(GM rolls out new logo and marketing campaign pitching its corporate transformation.)

In addition to luxury EVs for the road, GM revealed a VTOL flying car.

But GM already is working on second-generation Ultium technology which, said Cai, will yield another 40% reduction in price and double the energy capacity – meaning a range of as much as 600 miles per charge. Last March, GM President Mark Reuss also noted a longer-term goal of reducing charging times to as little as 10 minutes.

Lighter, more energy-dense batteries could prove critical for another project GM revealed during the Barra seminar. While just a concept, for now, it suggests the automaker is ready to join competitors like Hyundai, Toyota and Aston Martin in working on flying cars.

The four-rotor prototype, dubbed the VTOL (vertical-take-off-and-landing), is “designed for the moment when time is of the essence and convenience is everything,” said Michael Simcoe, GM’s vice president of global design.

Even fewer details were revealed about the VTOL than about Celestiq, though Simcoe did note the concept would use a 90 kWh lithium-ion battery pack.

The flying car would be targeted at Cadillac customers, as would another prototype revealed during the webinar, this one a sort of living room on wheels that adopts the sort of toaster-on-wheels shape that we’re seeing with many driverless vehicle concepts.

Michael Simcoe talks about the Cadillac Halo pod concept at CES 2021.

GM’s “provides a societal space for a group of friends or family to spend time together on their way to a destination,” said Simcoe. Like Celestiq, it features an all-glass roof, “but encourages eyes to turn inside to focus on one another.”

Among other things, the high-tech cruiser uses biometric sensors to constantly control interior temperature and humidity, as well as lighting and ambient noise levels, and even introduces aromatics to influence the “well-being” of its passengers.

(CEO Barra wants GM to be dominant global EV maker.)

As with the VTOL flying car, the prototype is envisioned to become part of what Simcoe described as the “Cadillac Halo portfolio.” No details were offered on production plans for either model.

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