Latest news with #LexusRX450
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Automotive
- Forbes
Waymo To Partner With Toyota On Personal Robocars
Waymo and Toyota have announced a partnership with the goal of developing self-driving technology in personal cars. Details are scant. The partnership will also involve Toyota's 'Woven' district which was developing its own self-driving stack, as well as a futuristic prototype city. Woven had previously purchased Lyft's 'Level 5' self-driving division several years ago. Ever since the start of Waymo there have been regular discussions about relationships with automakers to include Waymo's 'Waymo Driver' technology in their cars. In part at my urging, Waymo has followed the easier 'robotaxi' plan, selling rides, not cars, to consumers. There is value in personal cars, but there are many challenges in making a car suitable for that market. Waymo now has robotaxi operations in 5 locations, with several more planned, and is giving 250,000 rides per week. They report a superhuman safety record. Now, it seems, they will talk about use in personal cars with the world's top-selling automaker. Waymo's first two prototype vehicles were built on top of a Prius and a Lexus RX450 (without the direct involvement of Toyota) which makes this fitting. Having worked inside Waymo and having followed the automakers closely, I may be able to offer some useful insights. As noted, all companies with working self-driving have taken a robotaxi-first appoach. To sell a car to consumers, it must function everywhere in a territory. You can't make a Chevy Tahoe that only drives at Lake Tahoe, you just won't sell enough of them. On the other hand, you can make a successful robotaxi that just serves a few lucrative service areas in big cities. The robotaxis come home every night, you control every aspect of them, which is a must for radical new products like this. Most car companies never see the customer again after the sale--and even their dealer barely sees them. Self-driving is not a product, it's a service, which involves lots of infrastructure, services, software updates, connectivity, maps and more. If the cars can operate vacant they also need remote assist operators, pick-up/drop-off and parking lot handling and more. So selling self-driving as a product is a lot harder. One solution is to do freeways and major roads. That's a useful product for the consumer. They drive the car to the major road, push a button, and can relax/sleep/work on a long trip. Mercedes has sold such a product and others plan it. That's something people in every region will want, even though it doesn't drive their own personal street. Over time you expand the service area. Tesla dreams they can make a car that can drive every road, and perhaps some day they will, but that's still not a car you'll 'bet your life' in while it's on a road it's never seen before, never been tested and certified on. Nor is it a car the maker wants to take liability for on roads they've never tested it on. So the service area grows slowly. Partnership graphic Waymo While this car can't run vacant on any street, or come pick you up at any address, it's still a nice thing to have in your car. Americans, by my calculation, spend 50 billion hours every year turning steering wheels. They only spend 250 billion working! Getting that time back for work or relaxation or sleep is a big deal. A large fraction of that driving is on major roads. In may ways, the value created from those billions of hours is the largest dollar value created by robocars, though saving lives remains a larger overall (though less tangible) value. Plus, Waymo's technology will work on the city streets of a large number of major cities by the time Toyota puts it in a car, which is still years away. While making a car model a success requires you sell it over a wide area, it will provide this functionality in they key markets. Mercedes Drive Pilot, which only does 90 km/h on some Autobahns, sells for $2,500 per year. Over the 20 year life of a car, that's more than the cost of an entire (less quality) car. Tesla has sold 400,000 licences to their 'Supervised Full Self Driving" prototype for as much as $15,000, though it's currently $8,000, or about $1,500 in a used vehicle. But that doesn't self drive at all, you must constantly watch the road, which not everybody finds enjoyable, though most like the freeway version which is included with the car and find it relaxing. Tesla has said for the last 8 years that it will self-drive within a year. This year they have said they really mean it this time. The sensors for Waymo's technology started out expensive, but since they are digital electronics, they are expected to drop vastly in price at scale, as digital electronics always have. So this should be a profitable product, though probably beginning in the Lexus price range rather than the Corolla. But it won't stay there. It's extremely unlikely Waymo's technology would be combined with any of Toyota's, including Woven's Lyft Level 5 project. This suggests those projects will be wound down. Tesla has said that if they make a working self-drive system, they will let private Tesla owners hire out their cars as robotaxis. That's not likely to be that big a deal (as even Tesla's own internal research reportedly said) but such cars can have use as a way to handle special 'peak' loads, when the fleet-owned robotaxis are overwhelmed and wait times increase or rides are refused. If private cars are out there which can become robotaxis, at peak times a premium offer might be made (like 'surge' pricing) to get private owners to have their cars clean and ready to go--or at least ready to go to a cleaning depot and get to work. Waymo plans to be the world's leading robotaxi company and might make use of this. Waymo has contracted with Zeekr and Hyundai to build their next generation of robotaxis. Nothing was said in the announcement, but it certainly could make sense for Toyota to also build vehicles for Waymo; they are very good at that. They are a bit less skilled at EVs, but that's changing. In the past, deals have been slow to happen: Both Alphabet/Waymo and Toyota are the top companies in their space, each expecting to be in charge of any relationship. That makes it harder but it can still happen. Automakers are slow to come out with new cars, so developments are probably several years in the future. Waymo's deal with Zeekr was threatened by the large tariffs put on Chinese EVs by first Biden, then Trump. Toyota manufactures many vehicles in the USA (though also Canada.) There is some irony that Waymo eventually would like to replace car ownership with their robotaxi service. That's coming for some customers, but not immediately. There's plenty of time to sell Toyotas, and there will always be a decent segment of the market who want to continue owning private vehicles.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Yahoo
Police searching for new leads in hit-and-run crash that killed 24-year-old woman
The Brief Investigators are searching for new leads in a hit-and-run crash that killed 24-year-old Mecha Woodard in Gwinnett County. Woodard was hit while walking on the side of State Route 316 during a storm in September. Officials say the suspect vehicle was a 2019-2022 Lexus RX350 or RX450 that had damage to its front passenger-side bumper and headlight. GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Gwinnett County police are asking the public for new leads in a deadly hit-and-run case that happened last year in Lawrenceville. It's been months since 24-year-old Mecha Woodard was struck and killed by a vehicle along State Route 316. The driver did not stay on the scene and has not been identified. What we know Investigators say Woodard was hit during a storm in the early morning hours of Sept. 27, 2024. The Sandy Springs woman had pulled her vehicle over and was walking in the gore zone between State Route 316 and the entrance ramp from Boggs Road when she was struck. Through vehicle parts collected at the scene, investigators say they have determined that the suspect vehicle is a 2019-2022 Lexus RX350 or Lexus RX 450. The SUV suffered damage to the front passenger-side bumper and headlight. "It's going to be obvious to this person that they struck something that night. I can't say to whether or not, what that person knew that they struck or what they saw, because at the point in time when the accident occurred was one of the heaviest points in time for the storm." Cpl. Collin Flynn said. "So, it would have been raining, and the storm conditions would have been very bad at that point in time." What they're saying At a press conference in October 2024, Woodard's mother, Shelly Xiong, urged the driver to come forward. "Please, if anybody has any information or knows anything, please, I'm begging you to please call the police. Help me find the person that is responsible for my daughter's death," Xiong said. What you can do If you have any information about the incident, call Gwinnett County Police detectives at (678) 442-5653 or submit a tip to Crime Stoppers at (404) 577-8477. The Source Information for this story was taken from the Gwinnett County Police Department and previous FOX 5 reporting.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Yahoo
Gwinnett police searching for driver who hit, killed woman as Hurricane Helene moved through
Gwinnett County police are searching for a driver who crashed into a woman and killed her last year. Police say Mecha Woodard, 24, pulled her car over on State Route 316 near Breckinridge Blvd. as Hurricane Helene moved through Georgia on Sept. 27 and began walking. [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] As Woodard walked, police say she was hit by a car and killed. They say that car drove off. Investigators believe the car that hit her is a 2019 to 2022 Lexus RX 350 or Lexus RX 450 that would have sustained damage to the front passenger-side bumper and headlight. TRENDING STORIES: Georgia Tech student realizes his classmate is the doctor who delivered him North GA volunteer firefighter arrested for sharing photos of twins' death scene on social media Ex-UGA player kicked off team after child cruelty arrest reaches plea deal 'We know there was a major weather event, the weather was bad and it was raining hard, so we're not ruling out it was just a freak accident,' Cpl. Juan Madiedo said. Anyone with information that could assist investigators should contact them at 678-442-5653 or contact Crime Stoppers of Greater Atlanta. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Yahoo
Woman faces charges after allegedly crashing stolen car in multi-car wreck
DENVER (KDVR) — Police said several people were injured after a woman allegedly crashed a stolen car in Boulder after leaving the hospital. Around 6:15 a.m., the Boulder Police Department responded to a report of a three-vehicle car crash in the area of 48th Street and Arapahoe Avenue. This is in the Arapahoe Ridge neighborhood just east of the University of Colorado Boulder's East Campus. Police closed all lanes of Arapahoe Avenue between 48th Street and Foothills Parkway until just after 8 a.m. After the initial investigation on Monday afternoon, the police said a woman was leaving the hospital and allegedly stole a food delivery driver's car that was unattended and running. Pedestrian killed, 19-year-old arrested in Highlands Ranch crash Police said the woman drove a Toyota Camry onto Arapahoe Avenue when she allegedly struck a Toyota Highlander going westbound. The Highlander crossed over the median and struck a Lexus RX450 heading eastbound. All three vehicles are believed to be totaled. Police said a man driving the Highlander and a woman driver were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries while the suspect driver, Emily Rios, 29, was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. At this time, there is no further word on the conditions of the suspect and two victims. Police said Rios faces charges of aggravated motor vehicle theft, reckless driving and possibly additional charges. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
