Insights on Transportation & Mobility

The future, according to carmakers, does not include using your built-in navigation system as a stand for your smartphone and its Google Maps app.

While the Marketplace is open, GM is still getting vendors. In December, GM rolled out “Marketplace” to over 2 million GM drivers with an initial pack of features for ordering food, reserving hotel rooms and restaurant tables, and locating gas stations from your GM vehicle.

And they’re not the only ones taking note of the standout platform. Prodigy, an Alchemist Accelerator automotive sales company, recently announced that it has closed a $5.4 million seed funding round.

In Karczewski v. DCH Mission Valley, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the district court’s dismissal of an American with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title III claim regarding the availability of temporary hand controls in vehicles for test drives.

Drivers, start your litigation. GM is understood to be the first autonomous car maker sued over an accident allegedly caused by a self-driving car.

Self-driving cars apparently have a solid reputation management team. According to a new AAA study, the amount of US drivers who are fearful of autonomous vehicles is on a significant decline.

This is one survey request you might want to open. This week, the US Department of Transportation published several notices for public comment involving automated cars, trucks, buses, and light rail.

Automakers have tasted tech and they are ready for their next course. The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance recently announced a new venture capital fund, named Alliance Ventures, that will be dedicated to startup technology investment.

The name’s Fisker, Henrik Fisker. The Los Angeles-based Danish expat known for designing the Aston Martin DB9, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage, the BMW Z8, and many more iconic cars is staging a comeback in the electric car industry.

Neural networks driving autonomous vehicles—a giant leap for self-driving cars and a big question for regulators.

And the third time seems to have charmed critics. Toyota Research Institute has released details about Platform 3.0, which is built on a Lexus LS 600hl hybrid luxury sedan, and will officially debut the autonomous research vehicle at CES 2018.

As 2017 came to a close, so did the auto industry’s sales streak.

Buy next year’s holiday décor, the sweater you actually wanted, and self-driving tech for 50 percent off!

Several automakers are already building up the heavy-duty electric vehicle market.

How do Teslas fit into country music? Elon Musk recently made new production promises on Twitter, saying that his company would make a pickup truck after the release of the Model Y, an electric SUV slated for 2019.

PCs just got a popularity boost in Silicon Valley.

If your smartphone feels old after a year, what about your car?

Auto upgrades and accessories? There’s an app for that.

Big Auto’s take on the Epcot classic is open for business in Michigan. The American Center for Mobility, a 500-acre test track for autonomous cars, welcomed its first participants, Visteon Corp. and Toyota Motor North America, last week.

The major automotive dealership vendor is running a full court press. Cox Automotive has sued CDK Global for anti-competitive behavior intended to eliminate competition in dealership data integration, breach of contract, engaging in unfair trade practices, and the defamation of Cox.

For those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, as Santayana optimistically said. Automakers making bold new strides into tech territory are also vividly remembering the smartphone wars and other court battles that have dominated Silicon Valley.

Boston city officials signed off on the Lyft/nuTonomy pilot program, which will be limited to the Seaport District’s startup hub, in October, and the cars are now up and running.