The Revolution Of The Car Industry

Outre les batteries, la Chine a la mainmise sur l’industrie des terres rares, indispensables à la conception des voitures électriques. Et les constructeurs automobiles traditionnels ne veulent plus de cette dépendance, qui leur cause bien des soucis.

Waymo robotaxis are so safe that, according to the company’s data, its driverless vehicles are involved in 91 percent fewer crashes compared to human-operated vehicles. And yet the the company is bracing for the first time when a Waymo does kill somebody — a moment its CEO says society will accept, in exchange for access to its relatively safer driverless cars.

Recent reporting by The Wall Street Journal observed a startling change in Waymos’ road etiquette, a new aggressive streak that would make a BMW driver blush. These include illegal U-turns, aggressive lane switching, rolling through cross walks, and running red lights. “It’s driving more like a taxi driver — an aggressive, New York taxi driver,” said Sophia Yen, who watched in awe as two Waymos zig-zagged between lanes in a high-speed game of chicken back in September.

Hyundai unveiled the MobED, a versatile four-wheeled mobility robot platform, at the 2025 International Robot Exhibition in Tokyo. Powered by AI and autonomous navigation, it adapts to tasks like delivery, logistics, and personal assistance with features including independent wheel pivoting and adaptive suspension. This innovation positions Hyundai as a leader in adaptive robotics for diverse industries.

By rolling back auto industry fuel efficiency goals, US president Donald Trump hopes to make new cars cheaper. But prices won’t drop for years, and consumers will spend more on gas in the meantime.

Although this is apparently enabled based on what was said, I still do not feel totally comfortable with it. I would not ever consider shooting a text or responding to messages because Full Self-Driving is enabled, and there are two reasons for that.
The first is the fact that if an accident were to happen, it would be my fault. Although it would be my fault, people would take it as Tesla’s fault, just based on what media headlines usually are with accidents involving these cars.
Secondly, I am still well aware that it’s against the law to use your phone while driving. In Pennsylvania, we have the Paul Miller Law, which prohibits people from even holding their phones, even at stop lights.

Jonathan Slotkin’s recent analysis of Waymo’s safety results in an oped in the New York Times has sparked a new round of discussion about how society should think about autonomous vehicles. His framing is direct. He argues that the data looks like the kind of early clinical trial result that convinces researchers to stop a study because the treatment works. After roughly 100 million rider-only miles, Waymo’s autonomous system shows far fewer airbag deployments, far fewer injuries, and far fewer serious crashes compared to human drivers. Slotkin’s point is that the raw pattern is already visible. The question is not whether autonomy can work. The question is what pace of deployment we choose as a society. That position is compelling. It is also a starting point for a deeper examination of what high quality safety evidence looks like and how to build it.

The project will be led by Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains – renowned for the power units used in Formula 1 cars – and will create over 150 new, high valued jobs while securing another 34 existing roles. It aims to strengthen the UK’s EV supply chains and reinforce its position as a global hub for automotive innovation, delivering on a central aim of the government’s modern Industrial Strategy.

NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened its initial investigation into Waymo in October after seeing footage of its autonomous vehicle maneuvering around a stopped school bus — with its stop sign extended and lights flashing — that was unloading kids in Atlanta. In that incident, a Waymo robotaxi crossed perpendicularly in front of the school bus from its right side. The autonomous vehicle then turned left around the front of the bus before traveling down the street.

Recent NHTSA estimates show 17,140 deaths from traffic crashes between January and June 2025, an 8.2% decrease from the same period in 2024. The agency attributes part of that decline to crash avoidance technology — especially lane departure warnings, lane keeping assist, and automatic emergency braking systems.
These systems target the leading causes of roadway fatalities: driver error, distraction, and drowsiness.

Waymo faces regulatory scrutiny after its robotaxis repeatedly passed stopped school buses in violation of traffic laws, prompting an NHTSA investigation. The company plans a voluntary software recall to address AI flaws in handling such scenarios. These incidents underscore the challenges of scaling autonomous vehicles while ensuring child safety.

Discover how bidirectional Electric vehicle (EV) charging enables cleaner energy, supports grid stability and creates new value for automakers, utilities and drivers alike.

I've spent the last year deep in the technical architecture of EV charging infrastructure, and I keep coming back to the same uncomfortable observation: we're building the most advanced vehicles in history and powering them with infrastructure that's fundamentally hardware-bound.
The irony isn't lost on me. The automotive industry proved that software defines competitive advantage—Tesla demonstrated it, and now every manufacturer is racing to separate hardware from software. Yet when these intelligent vehicles pull up to charge, they encounter systems operating with less adaptability than a basic smartphone.

Tesla has introduced a budget Model 3 Standard in Europe, priced at €37,970 in Germany, by removing features like ambient lighting to counter declining sales and competition from cheaper Chinese EVs. This move aims to attract price-sensitive buyers amid economic pressures. Analysts predict it could boost demand by 15-20%.

Led by Panasonic Automotive Systems, Honda and the AGL Software Defined Vehicle (SDV) Expert Group, SoDeV combines the AGL Unified Code Base (UCB) with multiple open source projects hosted by the Linux Foundation to support consolidation of ECUs, hardware abstraction using virtualization, and cloud integration for next-generation vehicles. Additional contributors to SoDeV include Toyota, Mazda, AISIN and Renesas.  

On Sept. 4, a Robotaxi was involved in an incident when the vehicle hit a car that was backing up. While the crash resulted in damage, nobody was reported to have any injuries at the time. 
Two days later, another Robotaxi struck a cyclist on the road. Once again, there were no reported injuries. However, two separate Robotaxis were each involved in reported incidents the following day. One involved a vehicle hitting an animal, and another struck an undisclosed "fixed object."  

Modern vehicles collect detailed driving data through telematics systems that insurers and third parties can access to adjust rates

Tensor recently unveiled its personal Robocar, an autonomous vehicles designed for private ownership, and the company plans to launch these vehicles in select markets across the United States, Europe and the United Arab Emirates by the end of 2026, according to the release. Under the planned partnership, the Tensor Robocar will be made “Lyft-ready” by the manufacturer so that it can be immediately onboarded to the Lyft platform and deployed in the rideshare network by its consumer owner, the release said.

The two organizations will jointly focus on two key shifts reshaping the aftermarket. First is the circular economy transition: they plan to roll out a repairability index, a quality label for remanufactured parts, and protocols to assess the environmental footprint of reused components. They’ll also promote electric retrofitting for traditional vehicles. Second is navigating the technological overhaul underway in repairs: Valeo and MOBILIANS will support deployment of EV charging infrastructure, ensure access to essential vehicle data, and help upskill technicians through programs like Valeo’s Tech Academy.

Federal regulators issued an exemption for the pod-like EVs that don’t have any traditional car controls.