TechCrunch Mobility: Two roads diverged — for robotaxis
TechCrunch Mobility: Two roads diverged — for robotaxis
TechCrunch Mobility：自动驾驶出租车的两条分岔路
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TechCrunch covered a couple of stories this week that illustrate the countervailing forces at play within the autonomous vehicle industry. The federal government is hitting the accelerator while state and local officials are pumping the brakes on autonomous vehicles. 本周 TechCrunch 报道了几则新闻，展示了自动驾驶汽车行业内部存在的相互制衡的力量。联邦政府正在踩下油门，而州和地方官员则在为自动驾驶汽车踩下刹车。
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration made a series of autonomous vehicle technology announcements designed to cut red tape and accelerate the development and deployment of this technology (my article describes many of its actions). The one that got the most attention was the agency’s decision to give Zoox a temporary exemption from eight federal motor vehicle safety standards, which will finally allow the company to charge customers for rides in its custom-built robotaxi. 美国国家公路交通安全管理局（NHTSA）发布了一系列关于自动驾驶汽车技术的公告，旨在减少繁文缛节并加速该技术的开发与部署（我的文章描述了其中的许多举措）。最受关注的一项是该机构决定给予 Zoox 八项联邦机动车安全标准的临时豁免权，这将最终允许该公司对其定制的自动驾驶出租车服务向乘客收费。
The importance of this can’t be understated. This was one of the last remaining regulatory hurdles Zoox needed to clear before launching a commercial robotaxi service. And according to the company, paid rides are imminent. The company will start charging for rides in Las Vegas first. 这一决定的重要性不言而喻。这是 Zoox 在推出商业化自动驾驶出租车服务前需要扫清的最后几个监管障碍之一。据该公司称，付费乘车服务即将到来。该公司将首先在拉斯维加斯开始收费运营。
Meanwhile, Waymo and other robotaxi operators are facing increased scrutiny over how their autonomous vehicles interact with emergency responders, a regulatory risk that’s becoming harder for the industry to shrug off. As I have noted before, San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie asked state regulators to bolster rules for autonomous vehicles nearly two weeks after Waymo robotaxis became immobile in heavy July 4 traffic, ran out of power, and blocked key streets, further compounding the gridlock. 与此同时，Waymo 和其他自动驾驶出租车运营商正面临越来越严格的审查，焦点在于其自动驾驶汽车如何与应急响应人员互动——这已成为行业难以忽视的监管风险。正如我之前提到的，在 Waymo 自动驾驶出租车因 7 月 4 日的拥堵而瘫痪、耗尽电量并阻塞关键街道，进一步加剧交通堵塞近两周后，旧金山市长 Daniel Lurie 要求州监管机构加强对自动驾驶汽车的监管规则。
This week, Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.) proposed a bill that would direct federal regulators to establish minimum national safety standards for autonomous vehicle operators. “We have seen disturbing, and frankly, an unacceptable number of incidents where autonomous vehicles inadvertently interfere with emergency responders,” Mullin said during the press conference, which Lurie also spoke at. 本周，众议员 Kevin Mullin（加州民主党）提出了一项法案，旨在指导联邦监管机构为自动驾驶汽车运营商建立全国性的最低安全标准。Mullin 在新闻发布会上表示：“我们已经看到令人不安且坦率地说无法接受的事件数量，即自动驾驶汽车无意中干扰了应急响应人员。”Lurie 也出席了此次发布会并发表了讲话。
So here we are, a push forward, and nope, a pull back. And in the middle is the AV industry. What do you think? Send me an email with your view at kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com. 所以现状就是这样：一边在向前推进，另一边却在向后拉扯。而自动驾驶行业正处于中间。你怎么看？请发送电子邮件至 kirsten.korosec@techcrunch.com 分享你的观点。
Deals!
交易动态！
Lucid has landed more Saudi money, this time from Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family. The billionaire prince purchased a little more than 19 million shares, or about 5%, of Lucid Motors, according to a regulatory filing. Lucid 获得了更多的沙特资金，这次来自沙特王室成员阿尔瓦利德·本·塔拉勒·阿勒沙特王子。根据监管文件显示，这位亿万富翁王子购买了超过 1900 万股 Lucid Motors 的股票，约占其股份的 5%。
Elon Musk’s tunneling startup The Boring Company is in talks to raise a $4 billion funding round at a valuation of $20 billion. 埃隆·马斯克的隧道初创公司 The Boring Company 正在商谈一轮 40 亿美元的融资，估值为 200 亿美元。
Terminal, a Toronto-based startup that provides telematics data infrastructure for the commercial fleet industry, raised $20 million in a Series A round led by Battery Ventures. New strategic investors Intact Private Capital and Penske, as well as returning backers Y Combinator and Wayfinder Ventures, also participated. 总部位于多伦多的初创公司 Terminal 为商业车队行业提供远程信息处理数据基础设施，该公司在由 Battery Ventures 领投的 A 轮融资中筹集了 2000 万美元。新的战略投资者 Intact Private Capital 和 Penske，以及老股东 Y Combinator 和 Wayfinder Ventures 也参与了此次融资。
Notable reads and other tidbits
值得一读及其他简讯
Alaska Airlines CEO and president Ben Minicucci joined Lyft’s board of directors. 阿拉斯加航空首席执行官兼总裁 Ben Minicucci 加入了 Lyft 的董事会。
The nascent on-demand drone-delivery industry had a busy week. Walmart and Alphabet’s Wing drone delivery started service across Central Florida, and Flytrex announced a partnership with autonomic logistics platform Nash. But the biggest announcement was about DoorDash, which said it was building a drone delivery business, including its own aircraft, as part of an effort developed by its robotics and autonomy team. This will eventually operate within the company’s delivery app. 新兴的按需无人机配送行业本周非常忙碌。沃尔玛和 Alphabet 旗下的 Wing 无人机配送服务在佛罗里达州中部启动，Flytrex 也宣布与自动物流平台 Nash 建立合作伙伴关系。但最重大的公告来自 DoorDash，该公司表示正在构建无人机配送业务，包括研发自己的飞行器，这是其机器人与自动驾驶团队开发项目的一部分。该服务最终将在公司的配送应用程序中运行。
Ferrari might have received a lot of hate for its first all-electric vehicle, the Luce, but the criticism didn’t dampen sales. Ferrari hit this year’s sales target for the Luce in just two months. 法拉利的首款全电动汽车 Luce 可能招致了许多批评，但这并没有影响销量。法拉利仅用了两个月就完成了 Luce 今年的销售目标。
Florida was awarded $200 million under the federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, but the money never made it to charging infrastructure for electric cars. Instead, the state is using the money to build 32 landing pads with charging stations for electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft, or eVTOLs. 佛罗里达州根据联邦“国家电动汽车基础设施计划”获得了 2 亿美元拨款，但这笔钱并没有用于电动汽车的充电基础设施。相反，该州正利用这笔资金为电动垂直起降飞行器（eVTOL）建造 32 个带有充电站的停机坪。
London is shaping up to be the next robotaxi battleground. Baidu has started testing autonomous vehicles in London as part of its partnership with Lyft and Freenow, the taxi and multi-mobility app that the ride-hailing company now owns. The companies plan to invite the public to hail their robotaxis in 2027. Meanwhile, others are also preparing to launch. In April, Waymo began testing its autonomous vehicles with human safety operators in the city. Uber and its self-driving tech partner, Wayve, also announced plans to launch a robotaxi service in London this year. 伦敦正成为下一个自动驾驶出租车的战场。百度已开始在伦敦测试自动驾驶汽车，这是其与 Lyft 及 Freenow（网约车公司拥有的出租车和多模式出行应用程序）合作的一部分。这些公司计划在 2027 年邀请公众乘坐其自动驾驶出租车。与此同时，其他公司也在准备启动。4 月份，Waymo 开始在伦敦测试配备人类安全员的自动驾驶汽车。Uber 及其自动驾驶技术合作伙伴 Wayve 也宣布计划于今年在伦敦推出自动驾驶出租车服务。
Rivian spinoff Also will finally start delivering its first e-bikes to customers next week, after months of delays related to unspecified supply chain issues. 在经历了数月与未指明的供应链问题相关的延误后，Rivian 的衍生公司 Also 将于下周终于开始向客户交付其首批电动自行车。
In yet another hint that a Tesla-SpaceX merger is imminent, the EV maker is considering selling off its China business ahead of a SpaceX merger, according to the Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Tesla hit a new milestone and built its 10 millionth EV. 据《华尔街日报》报道，作为特斯拉与 SpaceX 合并即将到来的又一迹象，这家电动汽车制造商正在考虑在合并前出售其中国业务。与此同时，特斯拉达到了一个新的里程碑，生产了第 1000 万辆电动汽车。
Waymo robotaxis started to return to freeways, more than two months after the company stopped driving these high-speed roads over concerns about how its autonomous vehicles behaved near construction zones. 在停止在高速公路上行驶两个多月后，Waymo 的自动驾驶出租车开始重返高速公路。此前，该公司因担心其自动驾驶汽车在施工区域附近的表现而暂停了相关路段的运营。
One more thing … 还有一件事……
There was a time when this newsletter was chock-full of electric vehicle news, much of it centered on ambitious plans from U.S. automakers GM and Ford. Both companies ramped up spending and formed joint ventures to build battery and EV factories, in an effort to shift their portfolios to ones filled with electric cars, trucks, and SUVs. But as those plans have retreated, so has the talk. TechCrunch teamed up with Hudson Labs, a New York-based financial research firm, to analyze the last seven years of GM and Ford quarterly earnings calls and found that both companies are… 曾几何时，这份通讯充满了电动汽车新闻，其中大部分集中在美国汽车制造商通用汽车（GM）和福特（Ford）的雄心勃勃的计划上。两家公司都增加了支出并成立了合资企业来建设电池和电动汽车工厂，试图将产品组合转向充满电动轿车、卡车和 SUV 的模式。但随着这些计划的退缩，相关的讨论也随之减少。TechCrunch 与总部位于纽约的金融研究公司 Hudson Labs 合作，分析了通用汽车和福特过去七年的季度财报电话会议，发现两家公司都在……