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BrightDrop is tracking $1 billion revenue in 2023 • ZebethMedia

General Motors’ e-delivery van subsidiary BrightDrop said Thursday it’s on track to reach $1 billion in revenue next year. The company, which launched in 2021 and was incubated at the automaker’s global innovation center, said reaching the financial milestone would make it one of the quickest tech startups to reach unicorn status, ahead of Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and Tesla, which took five or more years to reach their first billion. BrightDrop also unveiled Thursday at GM’s Investor Day BrightDrop Core, a subscription-based software platform that combines data generated from its other products to provide customers with more detailed insight into their operations. The platform will launch early next year to feature a user portal and mobile productivity apps. The company reported that it has received more than 25,000 reservations and letters of intent from customers including Walmart, Hertz, FedEx and Verizon for its Zevo 600 all-electric commercial van, which is already on the road. The company said that it’s set to generate up to $10 billion in revenue and reach profit margins of 20% by the end of the decade. Travis Katz, BrightDrop president and CEO, said that BrightDrop’s recent expansion into the online grocery sector will help it capture “substantial market share across multiple industries.” “We’re a tech startup with a subscription-based product offering that’s backed by a global powerhouse — this puts us in a league of our own,” Katz said in a statement.

Everything we know about the 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 6 EV • ZebethMedia

The EV was announced in June, but details have been sparse Hyundai released fresh details Thursday at the LA Auto Show about the 2023 Ioniq 6, the all-electric vehicle that the Korean company debuted in June. With an estimated range of 340 miles and an on-sale date in spring of 2023, the hotly anticipated follow-up to the Ioniq 5 crossover is one more step towards the company’s aim to accelerate electrification and autonomous vehicle technology in the U.S. by 2025. Hyundai has put considerable capital towards its target. The company recently announced a $10 billion dollar-plus investment into autonomous vehicles, EVs and robotics to help it meet its goals. Ioniq 6 platform The Ioniq 6 sits on Hyundai’s E-GMP platform, which also underpins the Ioniq 5 and the battery-electric vehicles under the Hyundai brand, including the Kia EV6 and the Genesis GV60. Hyundai has been touting the Hyundai Ioniq 6 as a Tesla Model 3 rival. By 2030, the company says it plans to introduce 17 battery-electric models and sell more than 1.8 million EVs worldwide. Power and speed Image Credits: Hyundai The Ionic 6 has a long and low roofline and slight boattail shape that gives it what Hyundai claims is an “ultra low drag coefficient.” Paired with a 77.4 kWh battery pack, the Ioniq 6 will come in front-wheel drive or optional all-wheel-drive and get a range of up to 340 miles. The all-wheel drive version will make 320 horsepower and 446 pound-feet of torque from a pair of dual motors located at the front and back of the car. Hyundai says that the Ioniq 6 can travel from zero to 60 miles per hour in under 5 seconds but customers will give up range for performance. The Ioniq 6 with all-wheel drive will get around 310 miles of range. The front-wheel drive version makes 225 horsepower and 258 lb-ft of torque and will get the touted 340 miles of range. Battery and charging Image Credits: Hyundai Both versions of the Ioniq 6 will get fast-charging capabilities and support both 400-volt and 800-volt infrastructure thanks to the EGM-P platform. That platform offers 800-volt charging as standard, but Hyundai says that it can accept 400-volt charging without an adapter by using an inverter and a motor to boost 400 volts to 800 volts. On a DC Fast charger (350-kW) Hyundai says that the Ioniq 6 can go from 10% to 80% charged in just 18 minutes. In five minutes, the Ioniq 6 can regain around 65 miles of range on a 350-kw DC Fast charger. For home charging, a Level 2 charger will give the Ioniq 6 a full charge in just over seven hours. Like other automakers, including Tesla, Hyundai has incorporated a battery conditioning software into the Ioniq 6. Conditioning can reduce charging time for quick charges on road trips. When a charging location is entered into the navigation system, the battery conditioning system will turn on so that the battery is prepped to take the max charge in the shortest period of time. The Ioniq 6 will also get a new navigation function that will generate routes with EV charging stations along the way when the battery is low. If a charging station is out of order or in use, the system will automatically look for other EV stations that are available and send the driver there. IONIQ 6 is the first Hyundai model to get OTA updates and V2L or vehicle-to-load functions (aka bi-directional charging). Hyundai says that the IONIQ 6 can charge electric devices like electric bikes, scooters, camping equipment, or a stranded EV. Like all Hyundais, the Ioniq 6 will come with a variety of the company’s Advanced Driver Assistance features, including forward collision warning and avoidance, pedestrian and cyclist avoidance assistance, lane departure warning, blind spot warning, and adaptive cruise control, amongst others. Hyundai has not yet announced pricing for the Ioniq 6 and says those details will be announced closer to the on-sale date in spring 2023.

Stellantis is bringing its new all-electric Fiat 500e to North America in early 2024 • ZebethMedia

Stellantis brand Fiat is coming back to the United States with its new all-electric 500e, a small urban vehicle that has been selling like hot cakes in Europe. The all-electric Fiat 500e is not like the original 500e, which was essentially a retro’d version of an internal combustion version of the same model. This time, the Fiat 500e is built on its own platform designed for EVs. Fiat 500e Image credit: Stellantis The Fiat 500e made its debut at the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Show to signal its entry into the North American market. But consumers will need to be patient. The new 500e will arrive in North America in Q1 of 2024, according to the company. While the announcement was made at the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Show, consumers are going to have to wait a year to actually see a production version of the 500e designed for North America. The company said the official reveal of the North American 500e is scheduled for the 2023 Los Angeles Auto Show. Fiat did not release any North American specs for the 500e vehicle. Bringing the Fiat 500e to North America is a bet that some consumers in this SUV-loving region have an appetite for a smaller EV. The Stellantis brand is positioning itself as a cool, and yes, small vehicle that is functional without sacrificing fashion. It’s perhaps a niche demographic; it’s also one wide open for the taking, at least in North America. As part of the reveal, the Fiat brand collaborated with design houses Armani, Kartell and Bvlgari to create one-off versions of the 500e vehicles. While these have been couched as design exercises to showcase Italian craftsmanship, creativity and sophistication, it’s possible (though not likely) that one or all of these could become an option for consumers if demand meets or surpasses expectations. Lest you forget, the brand launched the Fiat 500 by Gucci in 2011.

The new 2023 Toyota Prius plays up power, not fuel economy • ZebethMedia

Toyota is beefing up the fuel-sipping Prius hybrid, adding more power and quicker acceleration to appeal to a wider range of car shoppers in an increasingly crowded market. The car created – and dominated – the segment when it launched in the U.S. 22 years ago. But the world’s first production hybrid car has steadily lost ground to new models from American, German, Japanese and Korean automakers as it enters its fifth generation. The 2023 Toyota Prius debuted Wednesday evening at the Los Angeles Auto Show with a sportier powertrain and curvier, low-slung silhouette to broaden its appeal to sports car customers who would not have considered a Prius in the past. However, the hybrid won’t become much greener: Toyota said the new model can deliver 57 mpg, similar to the outgoing Prius. 2023 Toyota Prius Toyota said the new model features a lower roofline and wider rear for a more modern, athletic look. The standard, front-wheel-drive model will now produce 194 horsepower, a 60% increase over the previous generation. The new hybrid can travel from 0 to 60 mph in 7.2 seconds – slower than a sports car but still a 26% improvement over the previous Prius’ 9.8 second trip. The power boost comes from the new hybrid’s larger engine and a smaller, lighter lithium-ion battery that increases output 15% over the previous generation’s nickel metal battery, according to Toyota. Prius Prime 2023 Prius Prime plug-in hybrid Image credit: Toyota A lower, longer and wider Prius Prime, the nameplate’s plug-in hybrid version, also debuted at the auto show Wednesday evening , boasting a 50% increase in its electric range. That suggests that the new Prime will be able to travel roughly 37 miles on a fully charged battery before drawing power from its gas engine, compared with the outgoing model’s 25-mile range. Toyota said it will announce pricing and delivery dates for the Prius hybrid later this year and for the Prius Prime early next year.    

Toyota unveils all-electric SUV concept under its ‘Beyond Zero’ badge • ZebethMedia

Toyota unveiled Wednesday an all-electric SUV concept with plant-based seating and an AI “personal” assistant as the automaker expands its “beyond zero” portfolio. The bZ compact crossover concept that debuted at the Los Angeles Auto Show is meant to showcase Toyota’s vision for its battery-electric future. Toyota has said it plans to launch 30 fully electric vehicles, including five under the bZ (“Beyond Zero”) badge. Last year, the Japanese automaker kicked off the bz brand with the unveiling of the all-electric Toyota bZ4X. That vehicle, which is is nearly identical to the Subaru Solterra thanks to a collaboration between the two companies, came to market earlier this year. The SUV concept car showcases a “possible vision of the very near future” for its EV lineup, the automaker said in a statement. Toyota didn’t provide a timeline for the launch, but said the portfolio will support its goal to go carbon neutral by 2050. Image Credits: Toyota The 2023 Toyota Prius, a mild hybrid, also debuted Wednesday ahead of the auto show. Toyota said the sleek bZ concept pushes the wheels to the corners to achieve an aggressive stance, making it appear in motion when parked. Its silhouette displays short overhangs, sweepback angles and a “narrowed-down cabin design” to create a futuristic look, according to the automaker. Inside, the car showcase seating made from plant-based and recycled materials and a semicircle-shaped steering wheel that looks like the top half has been lopped off. Yui, the name of the AI-based “personal agent,” responds to requests from front or rear passengers using sound and lights that “move around the cabin.”

Cruise has expanded its driverless robotaxi service to daytime hours • ZebethMedia

Cruise is expanding its driverless ride-hailing service in San Francisco to daytime hours, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt tweeted Wednesday. The robotaxi service is now available to employees from 5 a.m. to 4 p.m. and then again from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eventually, these expanded operating hours will be available to the public. The bolstered hours are the latest expansion of the GM subsidiary’s driverless operations in San Francisco. Cruise opened its driverless robotaxi service, in which there is not a human safety operator, to the public in early 2022. Initially, the rides were free, limited to small portions of the city and only offered between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. That service has expanded over time. Cruise began charging for rides in June 2022. Today, public customers can hail (and are charged for) driverless rides between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. About 70 Cruise AVs are operating in the service. Cruise has about 300 AVs across its operations in San Francisco, Austin and Phoenix. Fares include a base fee of $5 and a $0.90 per mile and $0.40 per-minute rate. A 1.5% city tax is also included in the price. An estimated fare is calculated using the estimated time and distance of the fastest, most optimal route. Cruise shares that estimate fare with customers and will charge that amount if the time or distance of the actual ride takes longer. Cruise doesn’t have surge pricing. Image Credits: Cruise Earlier this month, Cruise expanded its service area to most of San Francisco. For now, that expanded area is only available to employees. Cruise is also expanding operations to Austin and Phoenix. In October, the company invited potential passengers in Phoenix and Austin to join the waitlist to be among the first robotaxi passengers. During GM’s third-quarter earnings call, Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt said the company remains on track to complete its first commercial driverless public rides and deliveries by the end of the year. Cruise will likely follow a similar playbook in Austin and Phoenix as it has in San Francisco, albeit at a faster pace considering both locations are in states with fewer regulatory hurdles than California. In San Francisco, Cruise typically starts with its own employees and then opens it up to the public. The service area and hours also start small and grow, each time being first offered to employees.

Waabi unveils its first generation self-driving truck • ZebethMedia

Autonomous trucking startup Waabi has unveiled its first generation of trucks that are purpose-built for OEM integration. The trucks are powered by the Waabi Driver, a combination of Waabi’s software, sensors and compute. Their launch signals both that Waabi is ready to verify and validate its self-driving stack and that it’s open for business. Waabi is starting out with a handful of trucks that appear to be made by Peterbuilt (although Waabi wouldn’t name its first OEM partner). In the future, the Waabi Driver will be integrated into vehicles at the factory level with no interruption to an OEM’s assembly line, according to Raquel Urtasun, founder and CEO. The initial batch of trucks will be used for data collection and testing, as well as commercial pilots, said Urtasun. Waabi is testing with commercial partners today and expects to name names in the coming weeks. The startup launched last June with a vision of bringing a new generation autonomous driving to market, one that takes an AI-first approach. In February, Waabi revealed Waabi World, a closed-loop simulator that both virtually tests Waabi’s self-driving software and teaches it in real time. Urtasun believes Waabi’s training and testing strategy will enable the company to scale autonomous trucking faster than competitors. That’s in part because Waabi doesn’t have to spend as much time collecting real world data to train its models or testing its trucks in the real world. In fact, Urtasun said Waabi’s trucks, which are tested almost entirely in simulation, can reach autonomy before even interacting with real data. Waabi’s simulation technology also helped the company design a next generation truck by testing out different sensor placement on a digital twin of the vehicle itself. “The first generation that we built is actually the best placement of sensors that you can have,” Uratsun told ZebethMedia.  “Typically in the industry, you will build a prototype, collect data, make your server compatible and then you will discover issues and build the next generation a year and a half, or two years later. With Waabi our hardware design is done in simulation so you already built that next generation.” The result is a truck that doesn’t look clunky or like it’s been retrofitted with sensors after the fact. The hardware is lightweight and seamlessly integrated into the body, which Urtasun says makes for a more aerodynamic design and one that’s easier to clean and maintain. “The technology is flexible on the hardware and software front, which enables us to offer the Waabi Driver for all different truck platforms and OEMs, and you can easily integrate whatever the next lidar or camera version will be superfast due to our simulator,” said Urtasun, noting that this flexibility was another reason Waabi would be able to scale quickly. While the company’s business model is still developing, the executive said Waabi will likely go to market with a driver-as-a-service model — Waabi will work with OEMs to integrate the Waabi Driver and will sell its service to fleets and shippers. Waabi is focused on solving for middle mile trucking, where it believes self-driving tech will first deploy at scale. The company recently hired Dustin Koehl as its new head of transportation, someone who has spent 16 years in the trucking industry. “We really care about bringing the customers to our journey, and something you see in the tech industry is people saying, I’ll build the technology and you will use it. But that’s not how you build a product that is really solving the pain points of the industry,” said Urtasun.

Parallel Domain says autonomous driving won’t scale without synthetic data • ZebethMedia

Achieving autonomous driving safely requires near endless hours of training software on every situation that could possibly arise before putting a vehicle on the road. Historically, autonomy companies have collected hordes of real-world data with which to train their algorithms, but it’s impossible to train a system how to handle edge cases based on real-world data alone. Not only that, but it’s time consuming to even collect, sort and label all that data in the first place. Most self-driving vehicle companies, like Cruise, Waymo and Waabi, use synthetic data for training and testing perception models with speed and a level of control that’s impossible with data collected from the real world. Parallel Domain, a startup that has built a data generation platform for autonomy companies, says synthetic data is a critical component to scaling the AI that powers vision and perception systems and preparing them for the unpredictability of the physical world. The startup just closed a $30 million Series B led by March Capital, with participation from return investors Costanoa Ventures, Foundry Group, Calibrate Ventures and Ubiquity Ventures. Parallel Domain has been focused on the automotive market, supplying synthetic data to some of the major OEMs that are building advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving companies building much more advanced self-driving systems. Now, Parallel Domain is ready to expand into drones and mobile computer vision, according to co-founder and CEO Kevin McNamara. “We’re also really doubling down on generative AI approaches for content generation,” McNamara told ZebethMedia. “How can we use some of the advancements in generative AI to bring a much broader diversity of things and people and behaviors into our worlds? Because again, the hard part here is really, once you have a physically accurate renderer, how do you actually go build the million different scenarios a car is going to need to encounter?” The startup also wants to hire a team to support its growing customer base across North America, Europe and Asia, according to McNamara. Virtual world building A sample of Parallel Domain’s synthetic data. Image Credit: Parallel Domain When Parallel Domain was founded in 2017, the startup was hyper focused on creating virtual worlds based on real-world map data. Over the past five years, Parallel Domain has added to its world generation by filling it with cars, people, different times of day, weather and all the range of behaviors that make those worlds interesting. This enables customers — of which Parallel Domain counts Google, Continental, Woven Planet and Toyota Research Institute — to generate dynamic camera, radar and lidar data that they would need to actually train and test their vision and perception systems, said McNamara.  Parallel Domain’s synthetic data platform consists of two modes: training and testing. When training, customers will describe high level parameters — for example, highway driving with 50% rain, 20% at night and an ambulance in every sequence — on which they want to train their model and the system will generate hundreds of thousands of examples to meet those parameters. On the testing side, Parallel Domain offers an API that allows the customer to control the placement of dynamic things in the world, which can then be hooked up to their simulator to test specific scenarios. Waymo, for example, is particularly keen on using synthetic data to test for different weather conditions, the company told ZebethMedia. (Disclaimer: Waymo is not a confirmed Parallel Domain customer.) Waymo sees weather as a new lens it can apply to all the miles it has driven in real world and in simulation, since it would be impossible to recollect all those experiences with arbitrary weather conditions. Whether it’s testing or training, whenever Parallel Domain’s software creates a simulation, it is able to automatically generate labels to correspond with each simulated agent. This helps machine learning teams do supervised learning and testing without having to go through the arduous process of labeling data themselves. Parallel Domain envisions a world in which autonomy companies use synthetic data for most, if not all, of their training and testing needs. Today, the ratio of synthetic to real world data varies from company to company. More established businesses with the historical resources to have collected lots of data are using synthetic data for about 20% to 40% of their needs, whereas companies that are earlier in their product development process are relying 80% on synthetic versus 20% real world, according to McNamara. Julia Klein, partner at March Capital and now one of Parallel Domain’s board members, said she thinks synthetic data will play a critical role in the future of machine learning.  “Obtaining the real world data that you need to train computer vision models is oftentimes an obstacle and there’s hold ups in terms of being able to get that data in, to label that data, to get it ready to a position where it can actually be used,” Klein told ZebethMedia. “What we’ve seen with Parallel Domain is that they’re expediting that process considerably, and they’re also addressing things that you may not even get in real world datasets.”

Genesis teases its EV future with the Genesis X convertible • ZebethMedia

Hyundai luxury arm Genesis unveiled Tuesday evening the Genesis X convertible, the third and final electric vehicle concept of the brand’s EV future. The reveal, held at a splashy event ahead of the 2022 Los Angeles Auto Show, follows the X Concept and the X Speedium Coupe — all of which fall under the Inspired by X lineup. These are all just concepts and few if any details were shared at the event. But the Genesis X convertible, and its concept siblings, aren’t just design exercises. The intent is for the vehicles, and specifically the front fascia of the Genesis X convertible, to showcase the brand’s new EV portfolio. When asked about whether the X Convertible or something like it might soon be in customers’ garages, Luc Donckerwolke, chief creative officer of the Hyundai Motor Group and the Genesis automotive brand, demurred. “Let’s put it this way. I’m putting a huge amount of energy, of my energy, to make it possible,” he told ZebethMedia. Image Credits: Abigail Bassett The X Convertible has a hardtop roof with transparent moonroofs to keep the cabin open and spacious feeling for four passengers when the top is closed. The front of the vehicle gets Genesis’ new EV face, which is an abstract of the Genesis Crest Grille. Expect this new “face” to show up on future EVs. The white paint on the concept is called Crane White and incorporates pearl particles according to the release. The interior is Giwa blue with Dancheong Orange stitching and a driver oriented cockpit. Image Credits: Abigail Bassett Genesis calls the X Convertible, “a beacon for the brand.” And based on the reaction, perhaps it has that chance. When the vehicle was unveiled to select media and guests at a multimillion dollar beach home in Malibu, California, the audience audibly gasped a response that’s uncommon at these kinds of events. “We have to utilize this opportunity to inject more adrenaline in the brand,” Donckerwolke said. “If somebody believes that electric vehicles cannot be sexy, Genesis will demonstrate the exact opposite.” The X convertible shares its architecture and electric powertrain with the X Concept announced in 2021 and X Speedium Coupe concept announced in 2022. Donckerwolke wouldn’t confirm the underpinnings of these concepts. He did tell ZebethMedia: “We are working with the right partners to get the right amount of of performance, which will be in my opinion adequate performance to fit this segment.” He continued to say that the X Convertible will “open up a new, uh, let’s say base of platform, a new platform and modular system.” Donckerwolke declined to elaborate. Genesis continues to push the design forward, as Donckerwolke mentioned, “Normally you go to you create something and you have to limit your design to the most common denominator,” he said. “We don’t have this, we, we talk to our internal suppliers and we say, we need those seats. We need those lights. And this is, this is basically allowing us to push the boundaries a lot. And that’s basically what’s allowing us to create cars like this.” Genesis said its aim is to “deliver products for customers to enjoy,” and given the response of the gathered attendees, the Convertible X Concept moves the brand in that direction.

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