| Automated parking key to developing AV trust, suppliers say |
MUNICH — Two of the world's largest suppliers say automated valet parking could become a major tool in helping build trust among a public wary of autonomous driving technology.
Suppliers Robert Bosch and Continental, along with other suppliers such as Valeo, and automakers including BMW and Mercedes-Benz in September participated in a joint driverless parking project at the Munich auto show. The project demonstrated how sensors in a parking garage can work with onboard sensors to automatically park the vehicle and later return it to its owner.
"I don't know how many people you've met who really like going into a parking garage," said Markus Heyn, a member of the board of management at Bosch. "It's typically not a thing where people would really like to go in there. You'd rather drop off the vehicle and somebody else take care of it, and when I come back, hopefully the car is brought back to me. That's the whole idea."
Garages equipped for self-parking, should they become more commonplace, could become one of the first places the average person interacts with a fully automated driving system of some sort. And at a time when most consumers are skittish about self-driving vehicles, they could prove to be critical to building trust in advanced driving technology.
— John Irwin
What you need to know
Bite of Big Apple: Waymo will start mapping New York City Far from the car-friendly confines of its metro Phoenix operating hub, self-driving tech company Waymo will soon begin operations in the most densely populated city in the U.S. The company said Wednesday that it will start mapping the streets of New York City this week. Starting with five of its Chrysler Pacifica minivans, Waymo's vehicles will learn Manhattan's roads, primarily south of Central Park. At least for the foreseeable future, the driving will happen strictly in manual mode. New York has restrictive permitting and rules that govern self-driving operations, and a state law requires drivers to keep a hand on the steering wheel.
Autonomous delivery startup Nuro raises $600 million; valuation set at $8.6 billion Autonomous delivery-vehicle maker Nuro raised $600 million in its latest funding round, the Silicon Valley-based startup said Tuesday, bringing on board Alphabet Inc.'s Google as an investor. The funding round, led by Tiger Global Management, lifted Nuro's valuation to $8.6 billion from $5 billion, according to a person close to the deal. Toyota Motor Corp.'s Woven Capital, SoftBank Group Corp.'s Vision Fund 1 and Kroger Co. were among other investors.
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Roundup
With $1.1 billion raised to date, including $400 million from Toyota, autonomous driving company Pony.ai has, somewhat quietly, established itself as a global contender.
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Tech industry veteran has a mandate to keep Toyota on top as vehicles become more like computers.
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Brain food
"The residual values of ICE vehicles have not yet been impacted by competition from EVs. This will likely change over the next few years," RVI Group Senior Vice President Wei Fan writes.
Last mile
Hertz is not the first to offer rental Teslas: Ryan Levenson has rented his Teslas for three years as part of a Bay Area startup on the Turo car-sharing platform.
