Perspectives on Transportation & Mobility

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.

Oi! That new battery’s got a bit of a Musk about it. Australia, the world’s largest coal exporter, is now also home to the world’s biggest battery for wind and solar energy.

Did none of these developers read a cautionary tale called Frankenstein in school? The artificial intelligence boom is upon us, but researchers across numerous disciplines are scrambling to fully comprehend AI’s abilities and anticipated impacts across the economy.

Previously reluctant to show the autonomous vehicles it is developing, General Motors now wants to signal its progress in getting them to market. For more than a year, General Motors has tantalized investors with plans to build its future around self-driving cars.

Automotive practice leader Aaron Jacoby recently spoke with the Los Angeles Times about how as the year draws to a close, new car sales for 2017 have been marked by demand for SUVs rising to unprecedented heights, while interest in traditional passenger cars has plummeted.

Both Leandra English, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s deputy director, and Mick Mulvaney, the White House’s pick for interim head, have shown up for work.

Uber has announced a new deal with Volvo. Under the agreement, Uber plans to purchase as many as 24,000 self-driving Volvos once the technology is production-ready, putting the vehicles into its extensive ride-hailing network.

Want to take your Tesla for a joyride … through the air? In a tease that would be utterly ludicrous if it had come from practically anyone else, Tesla CEO Elon Musk hinted Sunday that a “special upgrade” of the company’s new Roadster supercar may be capable of briefly flying.

Richard Cordray, the embattled director of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, announced Wednesday that he will leave the agency by the end of November.

Arent Fox secured a favorable decision on behalf of three New York Maserati dealerships.

Trucks will someday drive themselves out of warehouses and cruise down freeways without the aid of humans or even a driver’s cab — about that there seems little disagreement.

Self-driving cars will change millions of people’s lives for the better by providing independence and mobility to those who can’t drive because of physical limitations or age.

Is Silicon Skyline the next Silicon Valley or Silicon Beach?

No driver, no driving, no problems (shoes and shirts required). Waymo has been testing its self-driving vehicles in Arizona since 2016, and the rollout of completely driverless cars in Chandler, Arizona now marks a major milestone for the technology and the company.

Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) sent the request to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget’s Mick Mulvaney, urging him to act on rulemaking involving the standardization of vehicle to vehicle, or V2V, communication.

Automotive practice leader Aaron Jacoby recently spoke with San Fernando Valley Business Journal about several topics pertaining to autonomous vehicles.

Car safety regulations requiring human hands and feet may be getting the boot. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has asked industry players to share their feedback on “any unnecessary regulatory barriers to automated safety technologies.”

A couple million dollars saved is a few technology advancements earned. Identifying and reducing day-to-day costs on the traditional side of the automaker business is set to fund the more futuristic innovations in the industry.

Have we mentioned that everyone is getting together over self-driving cars? In a $450 million transaction, Delphi Automotive will buy self-driving software startup nuTonomy to accelerate their commercial autonomous rollout.

Foreign markets are top-of-mind for automakers, and neither the market nor the auto brands are being shy about it.