TechCrunch Mobility: Reining in robotaxis

TechCrunch Mobility：驾驭自动驾驶出租车

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On an average day in San Francisco, you might see dozens (hundreds?) of Waymo robotaxis zipping around the city — and with little disruption. But, as TechCrunch has reported, there have been numerous incidents of robotaxis impeding traffic, driving into crime scenes, and interfering with first responders. And not just in the Bay Area. In some cases, companies have relied on first responders to move their robotaxis. 在旧金山的普通日子里，你可能会看到几十（甚至几百？）辆 Waymo 自动驾驶出租车在城市中穿梭，且几乎没有造成什么干扰。然而，正如 TechCrunch 所报道的那样，已经发生了多起自动驾驶出租车阻碍交通、驶入犯罪现场以及干扰急救人员的事件。这种情况不仅限于湾区。在某些情况下，公司甚至不得不依赖急救人员来移动他们的自动驾驶出租车。

These disruptions are occurring in the early stages of the robotaxi era. California has a new law hoping to get ahead of the problem before the next impending wave of robotaxis land. Senate Bill 1246, which was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom this week, sets a series of new rules for AVs designed to improve safety and response times when they become disabled or interfere with emergency responders. The law also creates ways to hold these companies accountable if they don’t. 这些干扰正发生在自动驾驶出租车时代的早期阶段。加利福尼亚州出台了一项新法律，希望在下一波自动驾驶出租车浪潮到来之前防患于未然。本周由州长加文·纽森（Gavin Newsom）签署成为法律的第 1246 号参议院法案（Senate Bill 1246），为自动驾驶汽车制定了一系列新规则，旨在提高它们在发生故障或干扰急救人员时的安全性和响应速度。该法律还规定了在这些公司未能遵守时追究其责任的途径。

Autonomous vehicle technology companies like Tesla, Waymo, and Zoox will have to provide first responders with local, on-the-ground support when their robotaxis cause problems and could also face penalties if a robotaxi blocks police or firefighters for more than 30 minutes. The law also says AV developers can only employ remote drivers who are based in the United States and those drivers must hold a U.S. driver’s license. They must also notify cities, towns, and other local jurisdictions about the location and status of vehicles during system-wide failures and must provide “local incident technicians” who can assist with AV accidents and obstructions. 特斯拉、Waymo 和 Zoox 等自动驾驶技术公司必须在自动驾驶出租车引发问题时，为急救人员提供当地的现场支持；如果自动驾驶出租车阻碍警察或消防员超过 30 分钟，公司还可能面临处罚。该法律还规定，自动驾驶汽车开发商只能聘用位于美国的远程驾驶员，且这些驾驶员必须持有美国驾照。此外，在系统性故障期间，他们必须向城市、城镇和其他地方司法管辖区通报车辆的位置和状态，并提供能够协助处理自动驾驶汽车事故和障碍的“当地事故技术人员”。

There are still some details to hammer out, which the Department of Motor Vehicles will handle since it’s the main regulator of autonomous vehicles in the state. But when this law goes into effect in July 2028, will it actually keep robotaxis out of the way of emergency responders? It likely won’t, but hopefully this law reduces the chaos and raises the accountability when something does happen. Perhaps the better question is will other states follow California’s lead or wait for the federal government to weigh in? 仍有一些细节需要敲定，这将由机动车管理局（DMV）负责，因为它是该州自动驾驶汽车的主要监管机构。但当这项法律于 2028 年 7 月生效时，它真的能让自动驾驶出租车避开急救人员吗？这可能很难做到，但希望这项法律能减少混乱，并在事故发生时提高问责制。也许更好的问题是：其他州会效仿加州的先例，还是等待联邦政府介入？

Deals!

交易动态！

Harbinger, the EV startup, landed a $300 million deal to supply FedEx with 2,000 of its electric trucks. 电动汽车初创公司 Harbinger 达成了一项 3 亿美元的协议，将为联邦快递（FedEx）提供 2,000 辆电动卡车。
HyperGuest, an Israeli travel tech startup, raised $25 million from AMI, the investment arm of Apax Partners. 以色列旅游科技初创公司 HyperGuest 从 Apax Partners 的投资部门 AMI 筹集了 2,500 万美元。
REGENT Craft, the developer and manufacturer of the all-electric Seaglider, extended its collaboration with the U.S. Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, pushing the total value of the contract to $19.25 million. 全电动“海滑翔机”（Seaglider）的开发商和制造商 REGENT Craft 延长了与美国海军陆战队作战实验室的合作，将合同总价值推高至 1,925 万美元。
Quartermaster, an Arlington, Virginia-based maritime intelligence startup, raised $140 million in a Series B round. About $100 million came from Insight Partners, defense-focused firm Overmatch Ventures, and First Round Capital. The remaining $40 million came in the form of a debt facility from investment bank Stifel. 位于弗吉尼亚州阿灵顿的海事智能初创公司 Quartermaster 在 B 轮融资中筹集了 1.4 亿美元。其中约 1 亿美元来自 Insight Partners、专注于国防的 Overmatch Ventures 和 First Round Capital。其余 4,000 万美元以投资银行 Stifel 提供的债务融资形式获得。
Voltaback, a French fleet management software startup, raised €2.8 million from European investment fund Serena. 法国车队管理软件初创公司 Voltaback 从欧洲投资基金 Serena 筹集了 280 万欧元。

Notable reads and other tidbits

值得一读及其他趣闻

When Aurora announced it would have 30,000 autonomous trucks on the road by the end of 2030, I admit that I raised at least one of my eyebrows. I interviewed CFO David Maday to find out exactly how the company plans to accomplish this and why he’s confident it will succeed. 当 Aurora 宣布到 2030 年底将有 3 万辆自动驾驶卡车上路时，我承认我至少挑了一下眉毛。我采访了首席财务官 David Maday，以了解该公司究竟计划如何实现这一目标，以及他为何对其成功充满信心。
BMW unveiled its new 2027 3 Series and it’s offering essentially the same car for gas and electric. Guess which one is cheaper? 宝马发布了新款 2027 款 3 系，并为燃油版和电动版提供了基本相同的车型。猜猜哪个更便宜？
DoorDash shared more about its new drone delivery business DoorDash Air, including the autonomous aircraft and its ground-based systems approach. DoorDash 分享了更多关于其新无人机配送业务 DoorDash Air 的信息，包括自动驾驶飞行器及其地面系统方案。
Kodiak has landed Ikea as a customer and will begin driverless deliveries on public highways later this year. The trucks will haul Ikea products without anyone in the cab on a 219-mile stretch of Interstate 45 between Houston and Dallas, according to the company. Kodiak 签下了宜家作为客户，并将于今年晚些时候在公共高速公路上开始无人驾驶配送。据该公司称，这些卡车将在休斯顿和达拉斯之间 219 英里的 45 号州际公路上运输宜家产品，驾驶室内将无人值守。
Lyft agreed to pay $272.5 million to settle a lawsuit accusing the ride-hailing company of violating California law by misclassifying drivers as independent contractors, instead of employees. The settlement wraps up violations that occurred before Prop 22 was approved by voters, which allows companies like Uber and Lyft to classify drivers as contractors. Lyft 同意支付 2.725 亿美元以和解一场诉讼，该诉讼指控这家网约车公司违反加州法律，将司机错误地归类为独立承包商而非员工。此次和解解决了在选民批准第 22 号提案（Prop 22）之前发生的违规行为，该提案允许 Uber 和 Lyft 等公司将司机归类为承包商。
Northeastern University tested 21 late-model vehicles from 17 automakers and 30 companion mobile apps. The upshot: cars are collecting a trove of personal data and sharing it with a lot of tech companies, including Adobe, Contentsquare, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Snap, and Yahoo. 东北大学测试了来自 17 家汽车制造商的 21 款最新车型和 30 款配套移动应用程序。结论是：汽车正在收集大量个人数据，并将其与许多科技公司共享，包括 Adobe、Contentsquare、谷歌、微软、Meta、Snap 和雅虎。
SpaceX’s Starship rocket reached Earth orbit for the first time, though not without some drama along the way. SpaceX 的“星舰”（Starship）火箭首次进入地球轨道，尽管过程中并非没有波折。
Rivian reported a record-setting quarter of sales thanks to the new R2 SUV. And it’s still forecasting between 65,000 and 70,000 vehicles this year. But it is experiencing a few hiccups with its newest EV. The company issued a recall for its R2 SUV over fasteners on its high-voltage battery pack that might not be properly tightened, which can cause a loss of power while driving. 得益于新款 R2 SUV，Rivian 公布了创纪录的季度销售额。该公司仍预计今年交付 6.5 万至 7 万辆汽车。但其最新的电动汽车遇到了一些小问题。该公司针对 R2 SUV 发起了召回，原因是其高压电池组上的紧固件可能未拧紧，这可能导致驾驶时动力丧失。
We’ll finish this roundup with a few notable Tesla news item. The company sold more than 480,000 EVs in the third quarter, the second strong quarter in a row for the company after a softer start to the year. The company has delayed its Roadster 2 event again due to bad weather. And while Tesla’s traditional automotive business may be clicking along, it really wants to be considered an AI and robotics company. One year ago, Elon Musk laid out his fourth Master Plan, which he claims will deliver “amazing abundance” through robotaxis, robots, and AI. As Sean O’Kane noted in his recent piece, “What that means, more than a year later, is still tricky to pin down.” It did just pin down more money to try. The company secured $30 billion in fresh credit lines that could be used to scale its future production. 最后，我们以几条值得关注的特斯拉新闻结束本次汇总。该公司第三季度销售了超过 48 万辆电动汽车，这是继年初表现疲软后，公司连续第二个强劲季度。由于天气原因，该公司再次推迟了 Roadster 2 的发布活动。虽然特斯拉的传统汽车业务可能进展顺利，但它确实希望被视为一家人工智能和机器人公司。一年前，埃隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）制定了他的第四个总体规划，他声称这将通过自动驾驶出租车、机器人和人工智能带来“惊人的富足”。正如 Sean O’Kane 在其最近的文章中所指出的，“一年多过去了，这意味着什么仍然难以确定。”不过，该公司刚刚筹集了更多资金来尝试实现这一目标。该公司获得了 300 亿美元的新信贷额度，可用于扩大其未来的生产规模。