Three Robotaxis in Miami, Four New Waymo Markets, One New NHTSA Letter
This week on Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Tesla‘s unsupervised robotaxi launch in Miami, Waymo preparing to bring four new markets online, and NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison’s letter to autonomous vehicle operators.
On July 3rd, Tesla launched unsupervised robotaxi in Miami, their first market outside of Texas and California. We were there on the ground conducting field research with no safety monitor and no chase vehicle in sight, riding through torrential downpours and flooded streets. The fleet grew from two vehicles on day one to three vehicles by day three, and it was the best unsupervised robotaxi experience we have ever had.
While conducting field research, we counted over two dozen Cybercabs staged in Miami, every single one with a steering wheel and a Florida license plate. We believe these are validation vehicles and that Cybercab will be Tesla’s major robotaxi launch vehicle. Notably, Tesla’s operating domain extends further west than Waymo’s, wrapping around the back side of Miami International Airport.
As Tesla scales in Miami, NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison sent a letter to autonomous vehicle operators on July 8th citing a pattern of driverless vehicles interfering with police, fire, and EMS. The timing was notable, as our Tesla robotaxi flawlessly pulled over for an ambulance during our Miami rides. Mr. Morrison’s approach of loosening hardware rules while tightening behavioral scrutiny is the regulatory framework we believe the industry needs to scale.
Waymo opened employee rides in Las Vegas, San Diego, Tampa, and Denver, the final gate before public service. Tampa confirms the call The Road to Autonomy made three weeks ago when we uncovered Waymo’s 100,000 square foot warehouse lease near Tampa International Airport.
Beyond the four new cities, OMEGA uncovered corporate filings pointing to potential Waymo deployments in France, Spain, and the Netherlands, along with an Alphabet entity in Singapore holding $21 billion that we verified as a wholly owned Waymo subsidiary through the Delaware Chancery Court.
On the Foreign Autonomy Desk, Grayson and Walt discuss Baidu publicly disclosing 143,000 autonomous driving miles in Hong Kong and Zelos securing Malaysia’s first L4 public road permit for driverless delivery.
Episode Chapters
- 0:00 Tesla Launches Robotaxi in Miami
- 8:50 Tesla’s Miami Service Area Compared to Waymo’s
- 14:35 NHTSA Administrator Jonathan Morrison’s Letter to Autonomous Vehicle Operators
- 19:13 Waymo’s New Markets: Las Vegas, San Diego, Tampa, and Denver
- 23:02 Denver: Waymo’s First Snow and Ice Market
- 26:41 OMEGA uncovers Waymo’s European Grand Ambitions
- 29:32 Waymo’s Playbook
- 32:01 Uber’s Autonomy Partners Struggles
- 34:27 Foreign Autonomy Desk
- 35:21 Next Week
The future is bright. The future is autonomous. The future is The Road to Autonomy.
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