Tesla Model Y prototype has been approved by Elon Musk, and its production will start in 2020.

Elon Musk had approved the production of a prototype of the Model Y and the company is targeting 2020, Tesla CEO said during the automaker’s third-quarter earnings call a few days ago. The CEO only said they had made significant progress on the Model Y and didn’t give any further details. Musk has previously teased a March 2019 reveal of the SUV. More »

Google’s Waymo gets permission for human-free driving tests in the Golden State.
Waymo, the self-driving unit of Google parent Alphabet, has won approval from California to begin the first tests of fully driverless cars without human safety drivers at the wheel as a backup on state roads. The company is the first to receive a driverless permit in the Golden State. The company has been granted the permission amid an increase in skepticism about the real-world readiness of self-driving technology.

Waymo’s permit includes day and night testing on city streets, rural roads, and highways with speed limits of up to 65 mph. The company claims its vehicles can safely handle fog and light rain, and testing in those conditions is included in the permit. Waymo plans to gradually begin driverless testing on public roads in a limited territory and, over time, gradually expand the area. More »

Тhe Boring Company’s first tunnel under L.A. will open December 10th
Elon Musk has recently announced on Twitter that his tunnel, designed to ultimately avoid Los Angeles traffic, will open on December 10 and free rides will be offered to the public the following day.
The two-mile rapid transit tunnel carved out underneath SpaceX’s Hawthorne headquarters, is part of a concept for an underground public transportation system, which aims to transport passengers and vehicles beneath congested roadways on autonomously driven electric platforms called “skates.” The skates will carry 8 to 16 passengers, or one passenger vehicle, along with magnetic rails at speeds of up to 155 mph, according to Musk. More »

Tesla stock drops after Musk smokes joint on live web show.

The billionaire CEO Elon Musk Friday lit up a cigarette described as containing tobacco and marijuana during a chat on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” a popular YouTube talk show.

The two-and-half-hour chat on the streamed podcast late on Thursday touched upon a wide range of topics, including the Boring Company, artificial intelligence, Musk’s plan to use SpaceX’s yet-to-be-built BFR rocket for suborbital travel, and his idea for an electric-powered supersonic airplane that takes off vertically.
Just hours after the interview, two of Tesla key executives quit and the electric car maker’s share prices fell as much as 10 percent to reach a five-month low on Friday morning. The company’s head of accounting, Dave Morton, and head of human resources, Gaby Toledano, said they were leaving the company.

More »

Mercedes EQC is the first in a range of premium electric vehicles.

Mercedes showed its first fully electric SUV at an event in Stockholm this week, becoming the latest automaker to take on Tesla. Called the EQC, the sports utility vehicles has been built as the first car from “Electronic Intelligence” brand that aims to knock rival Tesla from its spot as a leader in the sector and take a lead in the fastest growing automotive market.

The new electric SUV, Mercedes EQC, was seen at Artipelag art gallery in Gustavsberg, Sweden only a few days ago. More »

Koch network will campaign against proposed Hillsborough transportation tax.

The network of advocacy groups tied to billionaire industrialists Charles and David Koch has helped derail several plans to raise taxes for public transit over the past few years, including ones in Nashville and Little Rock.

The anti-tax, small government group now has it sights set on Hillsborough County. The group announced Tuesday that it will campaign against the one percent sales tax plan put on the November 6 general election ballot by citizen’s group All for Transportation. If approved by voters, the 30-year tax would start in January and raise about $280 million per year.

 

Continue reading here.

First ever life-size and drivable Lego Bugatti Chiron is a pioneering piece of engineering and design with 5.3 horsepower and a top speed of 12 miles per hour.
Lego built a life-sized working replica of a $2.6 million Bugatti Chiron, the toy brick company announced in a statement on Thursday.

The Bugatti model was first test-driven in June and made its public debut on Thursday at the Grand Prix Formula 1 event in Monza, Italy. The car was designed by the same Czech team that specializes in creations for Legoland attractions.

The vehicle was built by hand, each Lego piece was connected to the next without the aid of any glue, stressed the company. The team used 339 types of Lego Technic pieces, and some of them were put together with a special tool made out of Legos. More »

“Gucci Gang” rapper Lil Pump was arrested in Florida when he was pulled over while driving his Rolls-Royce with the incorrect license plates.

The 18-year-old rapper, whose real name is Gazzy Garcia, was pulled over while driving his Rolls-Royce through Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood Wednesday afternoon and was taken into custody by police.

The police noticed that the license plate on his Rolls-Royce actually belonged to a Mini Cooper, a spokesperson for the Miami Police Department confirmed.

The 18-year-old “Gucci Gang” rapper also told police that he did not have a driver’s license. The rapper was being held on $500 bond at Miami-Dade County’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. More »

Alphabet’s self-driving cars are reportedly annoying their neighbors in Arizona, where Waymo has been testing its vehicles for the last year.

More than a dozen locals told they hated the cars, which often struggle to cross a T-intersection near the company’s office.

One woman said that she almost hit one of the company’s minivans because it suddenly stopped while trying to make a right turn, while another man said that he gets so frustrated waiting for the cars to cross the intersection that he has illegally driven around them.

 

According to CNBC.

Waymo and Walmart have launched a pilot program to ferry customers to the store.
Walmart is partnering with Waymo, a self-driving technology company and formerly known as Google’s self-driving car project to take the online grocery delivery to a new level: they will shuttle consumers to and from stores in self-driving cars.
Waymo is starting the program this week and customers will be able to use its self-driving car service to pick up groceries at Walmart stores. More »