Latest news with #AutomatedVehicleExemptionProgram
Globe and Mail
26-04-2025
- Automotive
- Globe and Mail
Tesla Stock (TSLA) Turbocharged as U.S. Makes Self Driving Rule Changes to Race Past China
Shares in troubled EV maker Tesla (TSLA) revved up higher today after it received a rare bit of good news on the future of self-driving cars in the U.S. Stay Ahead of the Market: Discover outperforming stocks and invest smarter with Top Smart Score Stocks. Filter, analyze, and streamline your search for investment opportunities using Tipranks' Stock Screener. Easier to Deploy It seems President Donald Trump has listened to his buddy, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk, and made changes to federal rules on autonomous vehicles to make it easier to deploy the vehicles and even loosen requirements around accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said it will continue its requirement that vehicles equipped with certain advanced driver assistance systems or self-driving systems report safety incidents but it said will streamline reporting requirements. The NHTSA will also expand its Automated Vehicle Exemption Program (AVEP) to include domestically produced vehicles. The program previously allowed only certain foreign vehicles to be deployed on U.S. roads without fully complying with NHTSA's Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for research or demonstration purposes. However, vehicles built in America can also now submit requests for similar exceptions. Challenge China U.S. transportation secretary Sean Duffy said the new framework will slash red tape to spur innovation and challenge China. 'We are in a race with them to out-innovate and the stakes couldn't be higher,' he said. Musk had called for these changes in part to help the rollout of his fleet of Cybercabs in Texas this June. According to the Financial Times, to win approval Tesla needs an exemption from the agency to operate a non-standard car on American roads. Tesla stock has swerved off track in 2025 battered by rising Chinese competition, concerns over tariffs and the reputational hit to the company given Musk's close relationship with the colourful Trump administration. Following a woeful set of first quarter results when profits slumped by 71%, Musk has promised to refocus on his day job and spend less time working for Trump as head of the controversial Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE. An easing in self-driving rules could be a good way to kickstart those Tesla batteries. Is TSLA a Good Stock to Buy Now? On TipRanks, TSLA has a Hold consensus based on 17 Buy, 11 Hold and 12 Sell ratings. Its highest price target is $465. TSLA stock's consensus price target is $284.74 implying an 9.72% upside. See more TSLA analyst ratings Disclaimer & Disclosure Report an Issue
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
TechCrunch Mobility: Slate's ‘transformer' EV truck breaks cover and Tesla's dueling realities
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility — your central hub for news and insights on the future of transportation. Sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! Busy week, so let's get to it. Starting with federal regulations! Woohoo. Exciting stuff. I'm talking about the U.S. Department of Transportation's new Automated Vehicle Framework, which includes a standing general order (SGO) on crash reporting for vehicles equipped with certain advanced driver-assistance systems and automated driving systems. There were also some changes to the Automated Vehicle Exemption Program (AVEP). Briefly, the AVEP handles language and processes of domestic and imported vehicles receiving exemptions. I want to spend a bit more time on the SGO, which has more significant changes. The Trump administration says it streamlines the process; others, like Consumer Reports, disagree. The SGO ends a 24-hour reporting requirement and instead allows companies five days to submit a report if a vehicle with a Level 2 system is involved in a crash. As Consumer Reports notes, the new order also changes reporting requirements for when a vehicle with Level 2 driving automation has been towed away after a crash. In the past, any vehicle with a Level 2 or above advanced driver-assistance system involved in a crash that DID NOT involve a fatality or hitting a vulnerable road user like a pedestrian or cyclist still had to report it within five days. Now the rule will only apply to vehicles with ADS (automated driving systems), which cuts out the bulk of vehicles on the road today. That means if a Tesla that has Autopilot engaged (or a GM vehicle with Super Cruise or Ford with its BlueCruise system on) crashes and must be towed, it doesn't need to report that to the feds as long as the incident did not involve a fatality, an individual being transported to a hospital for medical treatment, a pedestrian or other vulnerable road user being struck, or an air bag deployment. Reporting is still required for any vehicle with Level 2 ADAS (like Tesla Autopilot) or ADS that is in a crash in which there is a fatality, an air bag is deployed, a person is transported to the hospital, or a vulnerable road user is hit. During an interview at a Semafor event, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy seems to give a nod to those rules (although he says "autonomous" and not "ADAS") when he said, 'What we want to do is be able to get good data, but if there's a scraping of paint off of an autonomous vehicle, the reporting requirements became very laborious and challenging, and it slowed the process down.' Think I got this wrong? Reach out. OK, on to the rest. Slate, the Bezos-backed EV startup, broke cover at an event in Long Beach, California. Many of the details that senior reporter Sean O'Kane reported in his initial scoop were finally presented to the public. Earlier in the week, we published some other insider details thanks to some little birds that describe how leaders have internally described the Slate EV as a 'transformer" — as in the animated 'more than meets the eye' series. Turns out, that is exactly what the company is pitching to customers. Got a tip for us? Email Kirsten Korosec at or my Signal at kkorosec.07, Sean O'Kane at or Rebecca Bellan at Or check out these instructions to learn how to contact us. Ather Energy, the Indian startup manufacturing electric two-wheelers, cut the size of its initial public offer by 18% to 26.26 billion Indian rupees ($308.3 million). DoorDash wants to buy Deliveroo for $3.6 billion, Axios reported. Electra, the hybrid electric aircraft startup, raised $115 million in a Series B round led by Prysm Capital. Jay Park, co-founder and managing partner at Prysm, has joined Electra's board of directors. Fora, a travel agent startup based in New York, raised $60 million across Series B and C rounds. Josh Kushner's Thrive co-led the $40 million Series C round. The venture arm of United Airlines has invested an undisclosed amount in JetZero, a startup developing a blended wing body design. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai received some attention for remarks during the company's earnings call about its self-driving vehicle unit Waymo. In response to a question, he said, as part of a longer answer, 'There's future optionality around personal ownership as well.' Waymo has talked vaguely about licensing its tech (presumably to automakers) before, so I wouldn't read too much into this. But it's certainly notable that Pichai said it in an earnings call. Tesla has started testing its autonomous ride-hail service with employees in Austin and the Bay Area ahead of the company's planned robotaxi launch this summer. Volkswagen of America and Uber plan to launch a commercial robotaxi service — using autonomous electric VW ID. BUZZ vehicles — in multiple U.S. cities over the next decade. The companies expect to launch a commercial service in Los Angeles by late 2026, although it will initially include human safety drivers. The news brought me back to 2017-18 — an era of partnership announcements, many of which never materialized. VW has a lot of work to do before it launches commercially, including gaining even the most basic testing permit. Aidan Gomez, the co-founder and CEO of generative AI startup Cohere, joined Rivian's board. I don't want to read too deeply into the appointment, but it does signal Rivian's interest in applying AI to its own venture while positioning itself as a software leader — and even provider — within the automotive industry. Faraday Future somehow still exists and its board has appointed founder Jia Yueting as the company's co-CEO, three years after he was sidelined following an internal probe into allegations of fraud. Side note: A Securities and Exchange Commission investigation remains ongoing. Tesla earnings supported a hypothesis I've had cooking in my brain for a while now. The company exists in contradictory realities. In one, Tesla's profits are down 71% YoY, automotive revenues continue to fall, and its energy business is exposed to the U.S.-China trade war. In the other, Tesla is really an AI company that finally has the attention of its CEO Elon Musk and is on the cusp of launching an autonomous vehicle ride-hailing service and a cheaper EV — although it has yet to do either. Investors grabbed on to the Tesla-is-an-innovator reality with both hands and they really don't want to let go — even if the reality is that anti-Musk sentiment is affecting the brand and is even an official risk in its regulatory filing. Musk's comments about allocating more time to Tesla and less at DOGE helped push them there. If you want to catch up on all the nuggets in the earnings report and call, scroll through our Tesla earnings wrap-up. The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against Uber, alleging the company charged customers for its Uber One subscription service without their consent. What is Lyft's loss is Uber's gain. Delta SkyMiles members in the United States can now start earning points when they ride with Uber or order delivery through Uber Eats as part of a recently announced exclusive partnership between the two companies. (Lyft had a partnership with Delta.)
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Tesla (TSLA) Shares Jump After U.S. Loosens Self-Driving Car Rules
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose more than 5% on Friday after U.S. regulators eased rules tied to autonomous vehicles, a move seen as favorable to the electric vehicle maker's self-driving ambitions. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it would maintain current safety incident reporting requirements for driver assistance systems, but promised to streamline the process. The agency will also expand its Automated Vehicle Exemption Program to allow domestically produced vehicles, including those from Tesla, to apply for safety standard exemptions. Previously, the program primarily supported foreign-made vehicles for research or demonstration purposes. The changes come as Tesla seeks regulatory clearance to deploy its Cybercab robotaxi fleet in Texas this summer. According to reports, the company is requesting exemptions to operate non-standard vehicles on public roads. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the updated rules aim to reduce bureaucratic delays and strengthen America's edge against China in the autonomous vehicle race. The policy shift follows a challenging year for Tesla. The company's first-quarter earnings plunged 71% amid growing competition from Chinese automakers and controversy over CEO Elon Musk's role in the Trump administration. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
Time of India
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
US agency to ease some safety rules for self-driving vehicles
The Trump administration said on Thursday it aims to speed up deployment of self-driving vehicles by exempting some from certain safety requirements designed for human drivers and easing rules that require the reporting of safety incidents. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said the new framework to boost autonomous vehicles would help U.S. automakers compete with Chinese rivals. The announcement comes as Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a close Trump adviser, has repeatedly pledged to launch commercial robotaxi operations soon. Tesla also faces scrutiny from NHTSA over its Full-Self Driving software after a fatal crash. The revised rules will allow some autonomous vehicles that do not comply with federal safety standards such as having rearview mirrors to operate on U.S. roads. The rules will also allow carmakers to report less severe crashes monthly, and add a property damage reporting threshold for less severe crashes involving self-driving vehicles. "This administration understands that we're in a race with China to out-innovate, and the stakes couldn't be higher," Duffy said. "Our new framework will slash red tape." As part of the revision, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it would expand a program to exempt some self-driving vehicles from safety requirements and streamline the reporting of safety incidents for advanced driver assistance and self-driving systems. Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety said it was disappointed that the U.S. Department of Transportation "chose to dilute, instead of enhance, the reporting requirements." The group also raised concerns about the safety exemptions saying "without safeguards, safety regulations, transparency and accountability, the success of AV deployment is imperiled at best and could result in deadly consequences at worst." The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, a trade group representing nearly all major automakers, praised the USDOT. The industry has "been hamstrung by government inaction ... This announcement shows the administration is also proceeding with a sense of urgency, so we don't cede AV leadership to China and other countries," it said. Automakers have long sought to deploy automated vehicles on U.S. roads that do not comply with federal safety standards. Some of those standards were written with human drivers in mind, like requiring rearview mirrors or brake pedals. NHTSA is expanding its Automated Vehicle Exemption Program to now include domestically produced vehicles. The program currently allows companies to operate only non-compliant imported automated vehicles on U.S. roads. In 2022, General Motors filed a petition with NHTSA seeking permission to deploy up to 2,500 self-driving vehicles annually without human controls such as brake pedals or mirrors. GM withdrew the petition last year after a lengthy government review had not been completed. GM said in December it would halt funding of its self-driving Cruise robotaxi business after one of its robotaxis seriously injured a pedestrian who had been hit by another vehicle in October 2023 and it had to pay a $500,000 criminal fine to resolve a Justice Department probe into the matter. GM had invested more than $10 billion in Cruise since 2016. Alphabet's self-driving unit Waymo said in October that it had closed a $5.6 billion funding round as it looks to expand its autonomous ride-hailing service. Last month, Waymo said it aimed to launch its fully autonomous ride-hailing service in the U.S. capital city next year.
Epoch Times
25-04-2025
- Automotive
- Epoch Times
Department of Transportation Eases Safety Regulations for Self-Driving Cars
The Department of Transportation (DOT) said on Thursday that it would ease some safety regulations for the development of self-driving vehicles in a move to maintain U.S. global dominance in the industry. The DOT stated that it would expand the Automated Vehicle Exemption Program (AVEP)—which currently applies only to imported AVs—to include domestically-produced automated vehicles (AVs). The program will exempt U.S. automakers from safety regulations for AVs intended for research or demonstration purposes, 'This Administration understands that we're in a race with China to out-innovate, and the stakes couldn't be higher,' Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a Duffy stated that the move is part of the DOT's innovation agenda to move the United States 'closer to a single national standard' that promotes innovation by removing barriers while also maintaining safety. To maintain safety, NHTSA said that it will continue requiring vehicles with certain advanced driver assistance and automated driving systems to report crash incidents, and streamline the reporting process to remove 'unnecessary and duplicative requirements.' Related Stories 2/7/2025 1/21/2025 NHTSA's chief counsel, Peter Simshauser, said the move would allow AV manufacturers to 'develop faster and spend less time on unnecessary process, while still advancing safety.' The Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association (AVIA) said in a 'We look forward to working with Secretary Duffy and his team to implement smart, forward-looking policies that will make our roads safer, expand mobility, strengthen supply chains, and drive American economic growth for generations to come,' AVIA CEO Jeff Farrah stated. John Bozzella, president and CEO of Alliance for Automotive Innovation, said that the new framework would help ensure that the United States will not 'cede AV leadership to China and other countries.' Bozzella added that the new framework for self-driving cars is 'overdue.' He said that the AV industry has been 'hamstrung by government inaction' in the past years. 'This technology works. It will help improve safety on the roads and increase mobility,' he said in a Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety voiced disappointment with the administration's move, emphasizing the need to enhance information on the safety of using self-driving cars on public roadways. 'The AV industry has been offering a myriad of promises, such as a reduction in crashes, more accessibility, less congestion and lower carbon emissions,' the agroup said in a 'However, troubling incidents have already occurred in the small number of cities in which they are currently deployed ... Without safeguards, safety regulations, transparency and accountability, the success of AV deployment is imperiled at best and could result in deadly consequences at worst.' The Epoch Times has reached out to the DOT for comment on the group's concerns but did not receive a response by publication time. In 2022, General Motors (GM) filed a petition with NHTSA seeking permission to deploy up to 2,500 self-driving vehicles annually without human controls such as brake pedals or mirrors. The automaker subsequently withdrew the petition last year after a lengthy government review had not been completed. In December 2024, GM Reuters contributed to this report.
