Autonocast

Joel Ricks Johnson (aka JJRicks) had already gained a sizable audience for his regular videos of Waymo rides when he took a ride that would capture the public's attention. Joel joins the show to walk the gang through that memorable ride, what went wrong, and how it compares to the more than 1,000 miles of Waymo rides he has experienced so far. If you'd like to check out more of Joel's videos for yourself, just surf over to jjricks.com for links to all of his content.

Even as more misuse of driver assistance systems, and the subsequent crashes and deaths are reported we still see Autonowashing popping up everywhere. From Tesla to TikTok, and from Elon Musk to the mainstream media, people continue to ignore the tragic cost of overstating the capabilities of automated assistance systems. This week the gang discusses a few of the most recent examples, explores a misperception at the heart of some more innocent autonowashing, talks Elon Musk on SNL and pitches a few new ideas for future shows.

By selling its "Level 5" AV development operations to Toyota's Woven Planet Holdings, Lyft has followed its ride-hailing rival Uber out of the AV development business. Founder John Zimmer joins the show to explain the move and what it means for Lyft's evolving relationship with self-driving vehicles.

The internet is in an uproar about the latest fatal Tesla crash, in which two men were found burned alive with nobody in the driver's seat. Though the investigation has only just begun, the evidence available suggests a troubling new twist on past Autopilot crashes. As the gang sorts through the available facts, they attempt to answer the bizarre question at the heart of this case: what would make someone operate a driver assistance system as if it were fully driverless?

The gang has discussed driver monitoring on many past shows, but like much of the mobility tech media we don't always give this topic the attention it deserves. That changes this week, as Ed and Alex welcome Colin Barnden of Semicast Research to the show and grill him with questions about the technology that keeps drivers in the loop. Whether you're curious about where camera DMS comes from, how it works, who develops it or where it's going as a business, Barnden (and this episode) has the answers you seek.

Tesla's "Full Self-Driving Beta" is in the news again, as correspondence between the automaker and the California DMV stating that the current "Full Self-Driving Beta" is Level 2 driver assistance and always will be. Alex, Ed and yes, even Kirsten, break down what it means and where it leaves Tesla, before discussing Luminar's plan to bring lidar to production cars, the Lordstown Motors expose and more.

Lidar and autonomous vehicles have gone hand-in-hand since the DARPA Grand Challenges, propelling the self-driving stack into the modern era. But turning a new kind of sensor into an automotive-grade qualified component that can hold up to real-world road conditions and be made at scale is an entirely different challenge than inventing something new. This week the gang dives into the nature of that challenge with help from Omer Keilaf, CEO of the lidar maker Innoviz Technologies, who explains how this controversial sensor is going from the bleeding edge to a real business.

The gang dips back into micromobility this week, welcoming Spin's Chief Business Officer Ben Bear to the show. Ben explains Spin's exciting new developments in teleoperation and even driver assistance systems for its scooters, and how these new technologies are impacting the business. Plus: the importance of city relationships, how Spin has benefitted from being part of Ford, the seasonal nature of micromobility, and the direction that long-term new product planning is headed in.

We've been so busy with big guests so far in 2021 that we've barely had time to sit down and discuss the news of the day in a trademark Autonocast discussion episode. We're making up for that with our latest episode, which is even more stream-of-consciousness than usual. From Super Bowl ads to driver monitoring, from disengagement reports to the Apple Car, this is the rambling Autonocast discussion episode you’ve been waiting for.

With so much focus on the technical progress of autonomous vehicle technology, it's easy to miss an important truth: the AV's slower-than-expected maturation is an opportunity to prepare our society for the transformative potential this technology holds. That opportunity is where Selika Talbott hopes to make a difference: in her teaching at American University and her writing at Forbes, Talbott examines the political economy, regulation and equity issues around AV technology. In her first full Autonocast conversation, Talbott shares her thoughts on these and other important topics.

Don Burnett has followed a familiar path into autonomous vehicles, as an early member of Google's self-driving car program and the Otto trucking startup that formed the core of Uber's early foray into the technology. Now, as the founder of the autonomous trucking startup Kodiak he's up against some of the biggest names in the business as competition converges on the promising but challenging trucking business. Burnett joins this week's Autonocast episode to discuss what he's learned about the AV space, why he's focused on trucking, Kodiak's "middle mile" strategy, sensors and much more.

Every year at CES, the Autonocats invite hundreds of their closest friends in the AV and mobility tech world to a party of epic proportions. Since a party wasn't in the cards this year (thanks for everything, COVID!) we went for the next best thing: a live recording session for our annual predictions episode. If you missed it, don't worry: here, with minimal editing, is that "live" episode featuring a review of last year's predictions and a heaping serving of new predictions for 2021.

Zoox's 2020 journey embodied the recent highs and lows of the AV space, entering the year under a cloud and hunting for cash but ending the year revealing an amazing AV under the protection of Amazon's ownership. We were joined by both Zoox's CEO Aicha Evans and CTO Jesse Levinson for a full hour discussion, looking back at Zoox's wild ride, reflecting on the the AV space's tumultuous past few years and looking ahead as Zoox starts rolling out rides. You won't want to miss this fascinating discussion with one of the most underrated players in AVs.

2020 saw the launch of the Aptiv-Hyundai joint venture Motional, and the announcement of its plans to start a driverless service in Las Vegas. To discuss these happenings and more, we are joined by one of the most thoughtful CTOs in the space: Motional's Laura Major. The author of "What To Expect When You're Expecting Robots," and the only female CTO of a major AV player, Major's reflections on her career, AV development and the technology that holds it all together make for an episode you won't want to miss.

First up in our series of new year conversations with select leaders in the AV space, Austin Russell of the lidar company Luminar. In a year full of challenges, Luminar cemented its status as a major player by securing production contracts for its advanced sensors, went public using a SPAC reverse merger, and inked a major deal with Intel. Alex, Kirsten and Ed sit down with Russell, the latest AV-sector billionaire, and reflected on a wild year and the road ahead.