Lyft partners with May Mobility, Mobileye to bring autonomous vehicles to the app (Tech Crunch, November 6, 2024)

Lyft is making a big push into the autonomous vehicle market, partnering with several companies to build a network of self-driving cars. They’ve signed a deal with May Mobility to launch autonomous vehicles on the Lyft app in Atlanta starting in 2025. Lyft is also partnering with Mobileye, allowing vehicles equipped with Mobileye’s self-driving technology to be integrated into the Lyft platform. Additionally, Lyft has partnered with Nexar to use dashcam data to improve autonomous vehicle technology development. These partnerships build on Lyft’s previous experiences with autonomous vehicles, including its collaboration with Motional and Argo AI. This strategy aims to help Lyft catch up with Uber, which has already partnered with several companies in the autonomous vehicle industry.

Elon Musk says its ‘pointless’ to build a human-driven $25,000 Tesla (Fast Company, November 5, 2024)

During an earnings call last month, Elon Musk indicated that Tesla has backed out of its plans for the long-promised $25,000 electric vehicle, stating that building an affording electric vehicle is “pointless” without fully autonomous technology. As recently as January of 2024, Musk confirmed rumors of Tesla’s new affordable EV arriving in 2025, and called it the beginning of a “growth wave” for the company.

However, Tesla appears to be shifting focus to autonomous technology and producing its robotaxi, the “Cybercab.” “It is my understanding that the original plan was to make the more-affordable vehicle on a new platform. I think Tesla realized they were late to making an affordable vehicle versus their Chinese-EV peers. . . So, they changed their strategy rather than make a large investment to produce a new vehicle,” stated Seth Goldstein, a Morningstar Research Services analyst.

Waymo is now valued at a staggering $45 billion (Electrek, November 1, 2024)

Alphabet’s Waymo received $5. 6 billion in funding, now valued at $45 billion. With investors like Google, it plans to expand robotaxi service in major cities. Despite setbacks, financial support from Alphabet fuels Waymo’s success. The company is growing rapidly, with plans to enter new markets and expand autonomous operations. Existing investors include Andreessen Horowitz and T. Rowe Price. Tesla poses potential competition in the self-driving sector.  Currently, Tesla offers ride-hailing services with safety drivers for its Bay Area employees.

Toyota pushes back electric vehicle production plans in America (Detroit Free Press, October 7, 2024)

Toyota has long been cautious about the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, and the current EV market slowdown seems to validate its skepticism. However, despite the slump, the global auto industry continues to shift toward electrification, and all manufacturers, including Toyota, will ultimately need to adjust – albeit at a slower pace than originally anticipated.

Though there were reports of Toyota’s three-row EV SUV launching by the end of 2025, production has been delayed until at least 2026. Meanwhile, Lexus has canceled its plans for a new electric vehicle as EV sales continue to decline in the U.S. Despite the downturn, Toyota remains committed to producing 1.5 million EVs annually by the end of 2026, with plans to introduce seven new EV models to the U.S. market.

Google’s Waymo Chooses Hyundai Ioniq 5 for Autonomous Driving Fleet (MSN, October 6, 2024)

Hyundai and Waymo partner to integrate autonomous driving technology into Hyundai vehicles, starting with the sixth generation Waymo Driver in the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Vehicles will be produced at Hyundai’s Georgia factory with autonomous pre-installation, ensuring they are ready for self-driving technology. Waymo plans to add the Ioniq 5 to its Waymo One fleet by 2025, expanding its operations in select U. S. regions. This collaboration allows Hyundai to enter the autonomous vehicle sector while growing Waymo’s fleet, previously supplied by Chrysler and Jaguar. The latest Waymo Driver features advanced hardware and software for enhanced detection capabilities in various conditions.

 Autonomous vehicles could render personal auto insurance obsolete by 2044, new report finds (CBT News, October 4, 2024)

A new Morningstar report suggests that self-driving cars might significantly diminish the need for personal auto insurance within 20 years. By 2044, if AVs are widely adopted, liability could shift from drivers to manufacturers, transitioning insurance to product liability. Full adoption of Level 4 or 5 autonomy, where cars drive without human intervention, could make personal insurance obsolete by 2060. Currently, most vehicles have Level 2 automation requiring driver assistance. Companies like Waymo and Cruise are pioneering Level 4 capabilities with region-specific robotaxis. Morningstar projects that AVs could reach 80% market penetration within 7 to 18 years, depending on adoption speed. Insurance may remain unaffected until Level 4 autonomy prevails, but a 10% AV penetration rate by 2035 could begin reshaping the industry, potentially eliminating some insurers by 2043 as AV penetration grows.

Questions about the safety of Tesla’s ‘Full Self-Driving’ system are growing (The Associated Press, August 28, 2024)

William Stein, a technology analyst at Truist Securities, has tried the latest version of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system several times over the last few months at the invitation of Elon Musk. He reported that his most recent test drive left him feeling unsafe after the vehicle made several illegal maneuvers, and it left his 16-year-old son, who joined him during the drive, “terrified.”

Tesla’s FSD software, now called “Full Self-Driving (Supervised),” uses artificial intelligence to control steering and pedals. Stein reported that the ride felt more human than previous rides, but that the vehicle “made a left turn from a through lane while running a red light,” during a drive that lasted less than 10 miles. Stein told Tesla investors that the system does not “appear to approach robotaxi capabilities,” as the carmaker is expected to unveil a new robotaxi in the next few months. Tesla has not responded to messages seeking a comment after Stein’s report.

Tesla can challenge Louisiana direct sales ban, US appeal court rules (Reuters, August 26, 2024)

In a 2-1 decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived Tesla’s lawsuit challenging Louisiana’s prohibition on direct vehicle sales to consumers. The court reversed an earlier dismissal of Tesla’s constitutional due process claim and vacated the dismissal of its antitrust claim, though it upheld the dismissal of Tesla’s equal protection claim. Tesla filed the lawsuit in August 2022 against members of the Louisiana Motor Vehicle Commission and the Louisiana Automobile Dealers Association, alleging these groups exploited their control to eliminate Tesla from the market due to its direct sales model. Tesla claimed that since 2017, Louisiana unlawfully banned direct sales and limited leasing and servicing of its cars. Judge Jerry Smith noted Tesla sufficiently alleged “plausible actual bias” from the commission via internal communications. The case now returns to U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance, who initially dismissed it.

US closes one of 2 probes into behavior of GM Cruise autonomous vehicles after recall (ABC News, August 22, 2024)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has announced that it is closing one of two investigations into the performance of GM’s Cruise robotaxis after the carmaker agreed to a recall. The investigation began in December of 2022 with over 7,000 reports of hard braking and complete stops by the autonomous vehicles. Cruise finally agreed to recall all of its robotaxis for the braking concerns and has fixed the problem through a software update. “In view of the recall action taken by Cruise and ODI’s (NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation) analysis of available data, including data presented by Cruise demonstrating a reduced occurrence of hard braking incidents after the software updates, ODI is closing this preliminary evaluation,” NHTSA stated.

However, NHTSA continues to investigate the Cruise vehicles after reports of the robotaxis encroaching on pedestrians in roadways and crosswalks, including the October 2023 incident involving a Cruise robotaxi dragging a pedestrian in San Francisco.

Texas is suing GM for tracking drivers’ data – but these other car companies do the same thing (Fast Company, August 20, 2024)

The battle for data privacy is extending into vehicles, as highlighted by a lawsuit from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton against General Motors for allegedly selling driver data without consent. GM reportedly gathered data from 1.8 million Texan drivers since 2015 via services like OnStar Smart Driver, which it recently discontinued. However, this data was allegedly sold to third parties, influencing insurance rates negatively. GM states it is reviewing the complaint and aims to protect consumer privacy. Mozilla and a New York Times investigation have criticized the auto industry’s widespread data-sharing practices, with 84% of surveyed brands engaging in such activities. Similar concerns prompted senators Ron Wyden and Ed Markey to investigate auto data practices, finding companies like Honda and Hyundai shared driver data for minimal compensation. This growing scrutiny suggests a shift in consumer treatment, as carmakers increasingly monetize collected data, raising ethical concerns over privacy violations.

Former Tesla Supercharging head to help Uber with EV transition (Teslarati, August 20, 2024)

Former Tesla Senior Director of the Supercharger program, Rebecca Tinucci, has joined the Uber team as Uber’s Global Head of Sustainability in an effort to help the company in its shift to electric vehicles. “After many conversations with great people about my next steps, I was still struggling on where to land and how to be truly impactful,” stated Tinucci on LinkedIn.

Tinucci was let go from Tesla, along with a large part of the Supercharger team, as a part of the Tesla layoffs this spring. Last year Tinucci pushed for the auto industry’s mass adoption of Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS), and she oversaw the development of the V4 Supercharging software. Despite the inclusion on the Time Magazine 100 Climate List last year, Tinucci was not re-hired by Tesla. Instead, she is now focusing on helping Uber “advance clean energy efforts” with the development of its EVs and robotaxis.

Sen. Dave Cortese looks to reintroduce legislation allowing cities to regulate robotaxis (Mountain View Voice, August 16, 2024)

Waymo recently expanded its service ride area in the bay area to include Daly City, Broadmoor, and Colma.  As local governments do not have any say in how or where robotaxis operate, this expansion is causing concern among some city officials.

California Senator Dave Cortese from San Jose is trying to pass legislation to allow larger cities and counties to limit the number of robotaxis on the road, set maximum fare amounts, and introduce fines for moving violations and traffic obstructions.  The bill, SB 915 received strong opposition from the autonomous vehicle industry as well as local chamber of commerce organizations.  Cortese pulled the bill from consideration after it has passed in the Senate due to proposed amendments that would take away the original intent of the bill, stripping all parts about local regulations.  He plans to reintroduce similar legislation in 2025.

Tesla reports profit drop on price cuts, lower vehicle sales (France 24, July 24, 2024)

Tesla reported a significant second-quarter drop in profits after aggressive price cuts on vehicles and steep expenses for reorganization of the company after laying off 10% of its staff earlier this year. The carmaker reported profits of $1.5 billion in the second quarter of 2024, a 45% drop from last year. Despite the dramatic drop in sales, Tesla feels optimistic about its plans to begin production of its more affordable Tesla models in early 2025. The company also expects its Cybertruck vehicle to stay on track for profitability by the end of 2024.

As we recently reported, Tesla has also postponed its robotaxi event that was scheduled for August, which “allowed [Tesla] to improve the robotaxi as well as add in a couple of other things for the product unveil,” stated Elon Musk after moving the event to October.

It seems that despite a poor Q2, the automaker remains “overly optimistic” about its future and the likelihood of fully autonomous robotaxis, Musk adding that he “would be shocked if we cannot do it next year.”

GM indefinitely delays Cruise Origin autonomous vehicle (CNBC, July 23, 2024)

General Motors has indefinitely delayed production of its Origin autonomous vehicle as it navigates difficulties with its self-driving unit, Cruise. Instead, the focus will shift to using the next-generation Chevrolet Bolt for developing autonomous technology. This decision, outlined by GM CEO Mary Barra, is aimed at reducing costs and mitigating regulatory issues linked to the vehicle’s lack of manual controls. The production halt follows a November incident where a Cruise robotaxi in San Francisco dragged a pedestrian, prompting a suspension of driverless operations and a $600 million setback in GM’s second-quarter earnings. Former Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt expressed disappointment, noting GM’s history of losing technological leads. A third-party review found that regulatory oversights contributed to the San Francisco accident. Cruise, with major investors such as Honda, Microsoft, and Walmart, is now resuming supervised driving in other cities but has not yet relaunched in San Francisco.

British motorists overwhelmingly reject self-driving and AI vehicles despite road safety benefits (GB News, July 19, 2024)

A recent survey conducted in Brittan shows that the public is not ready for self-driving vehicles on the road.  Only 37% of those polled support autonomous vehicle technology.  Not surprising, adults between the ages of 18-44 were more in favor of the technology vs those over 45.  When asked what bad habits could be cut out by self-driving vehicles, being impatient, distracted and exceeding the speed limit topped the list of answers. 

Simon Staton, client management director for Venson Automotive Solutions said, “While many company car drivers may shy away from switching to autonomous as soon as they become legal, acceptance will grow rapidly, and many will be keen to explore the options.”

California needs a million EV charging stations – but that’s ‘unlikely’ and ‘unrealistic’ (KPBS, July 16, 2024)

With state projections expecting to reach 7 million electric vehicles on California roads by the end of 2030 – 10 times more electric vehicles than at the end of last year – California will have to build an unprecedented number of public charging stations to meet demands. To reach a target of 2.1 million chargers in 2035, the state will have to create 129,000 new stations every year for the next seven years, which is more than 7 times the current pace.

“It is very unlikely that we hit our goals, and to be completely frank, the EV goals are a noble aspiration, but unrealistic,” stated Bruce Cain, a Stanford professor and co-author of a policy briefing on California’s electric vehicle charging issues. California will need billions of dollars for power grid upgrades to connect the chargers, as well as ensuring public chargers are available in rural and less-affluent areas of the state.

“The infrastructure is continuing to be rolled out at a rapid pace,” said Liane Randolph, board chair of the California Air Resources Board. “It doesn’t all have to be perfect instantly. It’s a process. And it’s a process that’s continuing to move.”

Musk signals delays to robotaxi unveiling for key design change (Reuters, July 15, 2024)

Elon Musk announced earlier this year that Tesla would be unveiling its fully autonomous robotaxi on August 8th, but a recent response to a post about the event signals otherwise.  “Requested what I think is an important design change to the front, and extra time allows us to show off a few other things,” Musk said on X. No date has been announced by the automaker as to when we can expect a launch.  Musk has given minimal details about the robotaxis other than some would be owned and operated by Tesla and some would be owned by individuals and rented out on Tesla’s network.  Time will tell if Musk debuts his robotaxi this year or if it will be delayed like many of his other promised releases.

Autonomous Vehicles Face Real-World Challenges: A Look at Baidu’s Recent Incident in China (Power Nation, July 9, 2024)

In Wuhan, China, a Baidu-operated autonomous vehicle recently hit a pedestrian crossing against a red light. When the light turned green, the car moved and only made minor contact with the pedestrian, who was hospitalized but not seriously injured. Social media reactions in China mainly blamed the pedestrian for crossing against the signal, with news outlets echoing this sentiment. The incident underscores a key challenge for autonomous vehicles: dealing with unpredictable human actions. Despite extensive research and testing, autonomous cars still struggle in such scenarios. Baidu’s Apollo Go service, with a significant fleet in Wuhan, continues to refine this technology. On a broader scale, there are consumer concerns about the safety of self-driving cars. A Forbes Advisor survey revealed that 93% of Americans are wary of these vehicles, primarily due to safety and technology malfunction worries.

BMW is the first car manufacturer to receive approval for the combination of Level 2 and Level 3 autonomous driving (Automotive World, June 25, 2024)

BMW has received approval for a combination Level 2 driving assistance system and a Level 3 system in the same vehicle.  The new BMW 7 series is exclusively available in Germany. 

Features of Level 2 BMW Highway Assistant allow drivers to enjoy taking their hands off the wheel for longer periods at up to seeps of 81 mph.  The sedan can make lane changes without the driver having to hold the wheel with the Active Lane Change Assistant.  The driver can initiate a lane change by simply looking in the exterior mirror to confirm it.

In Level 3 BMW Personal Pilot, the driver can take their hands of the wheel and temporarily turn their attention off the road in certain conditions to other activities like reading, writing, making calls, working, or streaming videos.  When activated, BMW Personal Pilot is capable of completely taking over the driving in specific situations like traffic jams at speeds up to 37 mph.

As with any automated driving system, the driver should be ready to take control of the car at a moment’s notice. 

Tesla (TSLA) is expected to have tough quarter for deliveries again (Electrek, June 24, 2024)

Tesla is anticipated to face another challenging quarter for electric vehicle deliveries as estimates decline. The previous quarter saw a significant struggle with 386,810 deliveries—a 20% drop from the previous quarter and an 8.5% decrease year-over-year. Production issues, including ramp-ups at the Fremont factory and supply chain disruptions at Gigafactory Berlin, impacted output. However, demand concerns persist as these issues don’t fully account for the 46,000-vehicle gap between production and deliveries. Wall Street projects 450,000 deliveries this quarter, down from 466,000 last year, with expectations likely to decrease further. Europe has shown significant underperformance, being 60,000 units behind its record year pace. Despite these challenges, Tesla’s prospects in China are improving due to new incentives, while the outlook in the US is less clear but potentially boosted by federal tax credits for certain models.

Not quite ready for autonomous taxis? Teledriving could be a bridge (Tech Xplore, June 20, 2024)

Teledriving, where remote drivers operate vehicles via video feeds, presents a viable alternative to driverless taxis, enhancing ride-sharing efficiency and affordability. A University of Michigan study published in Management Science underscores teledriving’s potential. Companies like Halo.Car and Vay are already utilizing this technology. Teledriving allows quick vehicle dispatch to high-demand areas without requiring drivers to be physically present. This method can reduce idle times and the number of required drivers by 30-40%.

Teledriving could also transfer vehicle ownership costs to ride-share companies, making driving more inclusive and improving safety, particularly for women. Enhanced safety stems from separating drivers and riders, reducing risks of in-vehicle assaults. The study’s computer modeling shows teledriving can shorten wait times and reduce congestion. As full autonomy faces safety challenges, teledriving offers a practical bridge towards it, enhancing service accessibility and quality.

Generative AI could power the next wave of self-driving cars (Axios, June 18, 2024)

The future of self-driving cars may rely on advancements being made in artificial intelligence in order to accelerate the development of AVs in a more capital-efficient manner. Many believe that AV development is stuck, as many automakers struggle to advance the technology needed for self-driving vehicles while maintaining profits. Many investors are calling the next phase of autonomous vehicle development, “AV 2.0.” Companies, such as Nvidia and Waabi, are creating self-driving systems for vehicles using AI as a tool to make “human” decisions safely and correctly from intuitive learning.

“Learning-based AVs can be taught driving skills more quickly, but the black-box nature of machine learning-based behavior makes it more difficult to validate safety,” states Phil Koopman, associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University and AV safety expert. “Even if you drive a billion miles in simulation, you still need to make sure the simulation wasn’t missing edge cases that will cause crashes in the real world.” The world of AI is still far from perfect, but as the technology develops, the stakes for autonomous driving will become much higher.

China tops the world in driverless car testing (MSN, June 15, 2024)

China has embraced driverless car technology like no other country in the world.  In Wuhan, tech giant Bidau has 500 driverless taxis on the road, many of which operate without safety drivers, and plan to add another 1,000 to its fleet. Currently, sixteen cities in China participate in driverless vehicle testing with at least nineteen automakers and their suppliers vying to establish dominance.  The Chinese government plays a large role in the success of the autonomous vehicle sector as it controls the narrative about safety, designate areas for on-road testing, limit discussion with online censorship, and have stringent data control policies. Countries like the US and Japan continue to test driverless car technology, but at a more cautious rate.

GM pumps $850 million in Cruise to keep struggling robotaxi company afloat (The Verge, June 11, 2024)

General Motors is injecting $850 million into Cruise to support its operations following the highly publicized suspension of its robotaxi service, after a driverless car was involved in a pedestrian accident. The funding will help Cruise resume testing in various U.S. cities and seek additional investors. Despite significant losses — $8.2 billion since 2017, including $3.48 billion in 2023 — GM remains committed to Cruise. After the incident, Cruise recalled all 950 vehicles for a software update, launched a safety review, and faced executive resignations. Co-founders Kyle Vogt and Dan Kan, plus a quarter of the staff, departed, leading to leadership changes, with GM executives taking key roles. Cruise is cautiously returning to the roads with safety drivers in cities like Houston, Phoenix, and Dallas, and continues its efforts towards fully autonomous operations.

Activists gather in Chinatown to demand immediate ban on self-driving taxis in California (The San Francisco Standard, February 19, 2024)

An activist group in California called the Network for Safety in Our Streets & for Working People is calling for Governor Newsom to ban self-driving taxis after a Waymo robotaxi was set ablaze following two recent robotaxi incidents that occurred in San Francisco: first, when a Cruise vehicle hit and dragged a pedestrian, and more recently when a Waymo robotaxi struck a cyclist. The group believes that robotaxis are endangering public safety, and that they should all be removed from the streets of San Francisco. “We demand that Governor Newsom remove all Waymo self-driving taxis from the streets of San Francisco and California immediately,” said Edward Escobar, a coalition organizer, in a statement on Sunday.

According to the California Department of Motor Vehicles, self-driving vehicles have been involved in over 2,000 collisions in California alone since 2014, most of which were reported by Waymo and Cruise.  Mark Gruberg, a board member of the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance, stated, “We don’t run into fire trucks. We don’t drive into wet concrete. We don’t run over people and then drag them for 20 feet…So the [California Utilities Commission] really has to get its act together.”

Carmakers pumped the brakes on hybrid cars too soon (Vox, February 14, 2024)

As barriers to adoption of electric vehicles continue to mount, the hybrid vehicle space, which was left for dead in the not-too-distant past, seems to be making a formidable comeback. Despite proposed rules by the EPA aimed at reducing reliance on carbon-spewing vehicles, drivers still seem to be reluctant to give up gasoline entirely due to factors such as range anxiety, reliability, and charging infrastructure. As a possible short-term compromise, hybrid cars— models that blend electric and gasoline power —are experiencing a bit of a renaissance.

“The number of hybrid model offerings declined in 2023, but sales increased significantly across existing models,” according to the Energy Information Administration. In fact, new car purchasers are now buying around as many hybrid cars as fully electric vehicles, and demand is growing. Whether the return to hybrids will serve as a bridge to greater electrification or merely slow ultimate transition remains to be seen.

Elon Musk claims fatal crash was not on ‘Full Self-Driving Beta’ after Tesla said logs were lost (Electrek, February 14, 2024)

In response to an article in The Washington Post earlier this week regarding a fatal accident involving a Tesla employee in 2022, Elon Musk is claiming that the involved Tesla was not on “Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta” when the accident occurred. Although the Tesla employee was legally intoxicated at the time of the accident, subsequent investigation revealed that the Tesla may have been using FSD at the time of the accident. Investigating authorities, however, were unable to recover data from the vehicle due to fire damage, and Tesla said it could not confirm that FSD had been in use because it “did not receive data over-the-air for this incident.”

Musk is now publicly claiming that the Tesla was not even equipped with FSD, notwithstanding reports to NHTSA that “a driver-assistance feature had been in use at least 30 seconds before impact.” It will be interesting to find out why, if true, this information did not surface until now. 

EV battery giants BYD, CATL form Chinese powerhouse to build solid-state batteries (Electrek, February 12, 2024)

Who will win the race to commercialize all-solid-state EV batteries?  China, if they have anything to say about it.  Several leading Chinese automakers and battery manufacturers are joining forces to commercialize solid-state batteries, which could revolutionize the EV market.  The government led, China All-Solid-State Battery Collaborative Innovation Platform (CASIP), was formed last month and includes academia and industry leaders like BYD, Contemporary Amperex Technology, and NIO.  BYD and CATL already make up over 50% of the global EV battery market and are used by Tesla, BMW, Toyota, Kia, Ford, and other leading EV makers.  China sees this new alliance as a way of ensuring they will become an “automotive powerhouse.”

Waymo recalls and update robotaxi software after two cars crashed into the same towed truck (Tech Crunch, February 13, 2024)

Self-driving vehicles continue to face ongoing scrutiny with the latest news of Waymo issuing its very first recall after two of the carmaker’s robotaxis crashed into a towed pickup truck in Arizona this past December. According to Waymo, the pickup truck was improperly towed, “angled across a center turn lane and a traffic lane,” which resulted in the robotaxis being unable to correctly predict the motion of the vehicle.  While the crashes were considered “minor” with no injuries,according to Mauricio Peña, Waymo’s chief safety officer, the company has developed and tested a software update that was deployed to its entire fleet by January 12.

“This voluntary recall reflects how seriously we take our responsibility to safely deploy our technology and to transparently communicate with the public,” Peña wrote in a blog post.

AV restrictions bill reintroduced in California (Trucking Dive, February 13, 2024)

The ongoing battle between labor and autonomous tech in California witnessed another salvo last week when California legislators reintroduced a bill seeking to give state legislators more oversight over the AV sector.  Specifically, the bill aims to shift the responsibility for keeping safety operators onboard autonomous heavy-duty trucks to politicians, rather than state regulators. The proposed law is aligned with another Teamsters-supported bill, which seeks to require the passage of local ordinances before autonomous vehicles are allowed to operate.  “California must implement real AV safety standards and ensure local municipalities have a say in AV deployment,” said Peter Finn, president of Teamsters Joint Council 7.