Vueron Newsletter
No. 176
2025.02.04
AV company enters Europe with Zurich airport launch | ||
Autonomous Driving | Here’s How Honda’s Self-Driving AI Partner Plans to One-Up Tesla | |
Self-driving | At CES 2025, Uber teams up with Nvidia to scale autonomous driving faster | |
Aeva rallies after unveiling new LiDAR products at CES | ||
Torc Establishes Autonomous Truck Hub in Dallas Area |
1. AV company enters Europe with Zurich airport launch
- TZurich Airport will launch WeRide’s first commercial autonomous bus shuttle in Europe during the first quarter of 2025.
- The shuttle, designed to accommodate nine passengers, will serve airport employees along a route between the employee entrance and maintenance area.
- The initial phase will include a safety driver, transitioning to remote monitoring over time.
- WeRide’s Robotaxi previously conducted route mapping at Zurich Airport to prepare for autonomous operations.
- The shuttle meets Zurich Airport’s legal, safety, and data protection requirements, addressing challenges posed by the location’s complex environment and climate.
- Flughafen Zürich AG collaborates with airports in Brussels and Amsterdam, which are also testing autonomous vehicle technologies.
- This deployment follows a successful service in Paris, where WeRide’s Robobus operated during the French Open.
- WeRide is partnering with Swiss Transit Lab to ensure smooth operation of the shuttle service.
Zurich Airport partners with WeRide to deploy a commercial autonomous shuttle, showcasing advanced technology and operational readiness in challenging conditions.
2. Here’s How Honda’s Self-Driving AI Partner Plans to One-Up Tesla
- Honda announced plans to bring Level 3 self-driving EVs to the U.S., building on its earlier launch of a Level 3 system in Japan in 2021.
- The company is partnering with Helm.AI for AI-based simulation training, enabling efficient and safe virtual fleet training to tackle complex driving scenarios.
- Honda is developing a high-performance, power-efficient AI chip in collaboration with Renesas Electronics, with production by TSMC, aiming for 2,000 TOPS and 20 TOPS/W.
- The AI system seeks to enable hands-free, eyes-off driving, allowing passengers to engage in secondary tasks even in complex situations.
- Tesla’s closed ecosystem and real-world data training present challenges for competitors like Honda, though Tesla may license its self-driving software in the future.
- Federal and state-level regulations remain obstacles for autonomous vehicle deployment in the U.S., with potential regulatory changes under the incoming Trump administration.
- Proposed federal changes include increasing test vehicle limits to 100,000 annually and potentially removing the requirement to report autonomous vehicle crashes, sparking safety concerns.
3. At CES 2025, Uber teams up with Nvidia to scale autonomous driving faster
- Uber will use Nvidia’s Cosmos simulation tool and DGX Cloud AI platform to support the development of autonomous vehicle (AV) technology, announced at CES 2025.
- Cosmos generates physics-based videos for simulating realistic driving environments, while DGX Cloud provides AI infrastructure for training and deploying AV models.
- Uber has partnered with 14 AV companies, including Waymo for robotaxis and Aurora Innovation for trucking, leveraging its vast ride-hail and delivery data.
- Uber no longer develops its own AV technology, adopting an asset-light approach by collaborating with AV companies.
- Uber’s history with AV development includes the controversial acquisition of Otto, a fatal AV testing accident in 2018, and the eventual sale of Uber ATG to Aurora Innovation in 2020.
- Uber is focusing on connecting riders with human or robot drivers, with AV deployments starting in Austin and Atlanta with Waymo in 2025.
- CEO Dara Khosrowshahi emphasized that Nvidia’s tools will help accelerate the timeline for safe and scalable AV deployment.
- Uber aims to lay a strong foundation for AV expansion, including infrastructure, mapping, and investment in new city launches.
Uber partners with Nvidia to accelerate autonomous vehicle development using Cosmos simulation and DGX Cloud AI platforms.
4. Aeva rallies after unveiling new LiDAR products at CES
Aeva Technologies debuts the Atlas Ultra 4D LiDAR sensor at CES, offering superior performance for SAE Level 3 and 4 autonomous vehicles.
5. Torc Establishes Autonomous Truck Hub in Dallas Area
- Torc, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG, has signed a lease for a 17-acre facility in Hillwood’s AllianceTexas development to serve as its autonomous truck hub in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
- The facility will support autonomous testing efforts, customer freight pilots, and future commercialization, with the product launch targeted for 2027.
- The site will include a customer experience center, offices, fleet management control centers, and other resources critical for the next phase of autonomous trucking.
- Strategically located along Interstate 35, the hub benefits from proximity to the major freight corridor between Dallas and Laredo, the largest economic port of entry in the U.S.
- Torc’s CEO Peter Vaughan Schmidt emphasized the hub as a key milestone for operational expansion, enhancing capabilities and advancing autonomous technology adoption in logistics.
- The new hub aligns with Torc’s successful validation of driverless autonomous trucks on multi-lane, closed-course, highway-speed environments.
- Torc plans to occupy the facility early in 2025, with construction completed in the first half of the year, meeting autonomous vehicle operational standards.
- In addition to its Texas expansion, Torc is growing its workforce in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with plans to hire over 100 positions in the coming months.
Torc establishes a new autonomous truck hub in Texas, advancing testing, commercialization, and logistics innovation along a key U.S. freight corridor.
*Contents above are the opinion of ChatGPT, not an individual nor company