Yesterday General Motors announced that it was exiting the Cruise robotaxi business. Previously GM claimed robotaxis would generate $50 billion revenue by 2030. But as Yogi Berra famously said “It is dangerous to make forecasts, especially about the future.” After assessing the competitive space, and the investments they would have to continue to make, GM decided to pull the plug on Cruise. Wall Street analysts were positive about the news – GM spent around 10 billion dollars so far, with not much to show for the expense.  Even with the rapid improvement in artificial intelligence, autonomous driving is a difficult and complex endeavor.  It’s one thing to drive on an empty highway, it’s another matter altogether driving in a city during the rush hour. Anybody who has seen Waymo vehicles on the streets of San Francisco or has watched videos of said Waymo cars performing less than brilliantly, has some inkling of how far we have to go. Not that h ... read more

One of the more interesting announcements at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show was that Nvidia and Mercedes are working on AI in the Mercedes-Benz automobiles.   While Mercedes is researching self-driving cars, in the meantime they offer AI enhancements to the overall automobile use experience. Mercedes announced that it will offer a Virtual Assistant which is supposed to offer a mix of proactive and empathetic interactions. It is supposed to model four emotions and adapt them to the needs, preferences and moods of the humans. While personally I don’t want my car chatting me up, it might come in handy when kids are riding in the back – let the AI handle “Are we there yet?” questions. Mercedes will, supposedly, train large language model (artificial intelligence) to know the history of Mercedes vehicles, but also the know the manual/handbook for a particular model, as well as status of the vehicle information.  Drivers will be able to have a conversa ... read more

About 4 months ago we noticed that the parking lot at the Tesla factory in Fremont, CA was full of Tesla vehicles - something we never noticed before. In January Tesla lowered prices of their vehicles amid the news that they were not selling as briskly as they used to. That was good news for consumers. Now for the latest bad news - in Q4 2022 fuel expense to drive 100 miles in a typical electric vehicle cost more than driving a typical internal combustion engine car. Anderson Economic Group( AEG) reported that in Q4 2022 typical mid-priced internal combustion engine vehicle drivers paid $11.29 for fuel to drive 100 miles. That was 31 cents cheaper than mid-priced electric vehicle drivers had to pay to travel 100 miles - if they charged at home. If the EV drivers charged their vehicles at a commercial facility, they paid $3 more per 100 miles. With continuing inflation, the cost of electricity is up, while the seasonal drop in demand for gasoline has caused the prices to come down ... read more

While Toyota Prius vehicles can be seen everywhere on the Bay Area roads, nobody has ever accused it of being stylish or slick. This is about to change. The new 2023 Toyota Prius looks pretty darn sporty, and it has more interior space and more power as well. According to the MotorTrend magazine, it’d equipped with lithium-ion battery that provides 15% more output, while being more compact, thus freeing up some interior and trunk space. It also delivers 57mpg ( combined) mileage. Previous version delivered 52 mpg, so almost 10% improvement. Moreover, it can go from 0-60 in around 7 seconds – not a pocket-rocket, but pretty respectable. Check out some pictures on the MotorTrend site. Naturally, the new Prius is only meant to fill the gap before the EVs from Toyota take over. Toyota has committed to investing $35 billion towards development of electric vehicles through 2032, and it promises to de ... read more