May Mobility’s driverless microtransit might beat robotaxis to profitability

Autonomous vehicle company May Mobility has launched its first driverless on-demand microtransit service on public roads in Sun City, Arizona in partnership with transit tech company Via. The milestone is in line with May Mobility’s goal of launching rider-only operations by 2023. It also signals that the gentle onramp approach to commercializing autonomy could be […]

Dec 18, 2023

May Mobility is slowly advancing its driverless capabilities. The startup this week launched a small-scale deployment of autonomous shuttles, which will drive themselves along a fixed route without a human safety driver present. May will initially deploy one to two autonomous Toyota Sienna minivans to ferry employees and “invited guests” across a 2-square-mile area of the city. This is the second city where May is performing so-called “driver-out” operations. In December 2023, the startup began

Nov 20, 2024

Chinese autonomous vehicle company WeRide has received the green light to test its driverless vehicles with passengers in California. The step comes as WeRide begins the process to go public on the U.S. stock market at a nearly $5 billion valuation. The timing also coincides with reports that the Commerce Department is considering a ban on Chinese connected vehicles — which include autonomous vehicles — due to national security concerns. As of August 2, WeRide holds two permits from the Californ

Aug 13, 2024

Nuro is rolling out test fleet of its its driverless, passenger-less R3 vehicles across the Bay Area and Houston, two months after the the autonomous vehicle technology startup changed its business strategy to license its AV tech to automakers and mobility providers. The large-scale demo, which will expand the domain where Nuro currently tests, is designed to show potential customers Nuro’s technology. The startup’s offer is two-fold. For OEMs, Nuro hopes to sell automated driving products for

Nov 19, 2024