Waymo uses NHTSA to scrap standards for autonomous vehicles

Waymo is tired of impossible standards, commercial war could kill the planet and Toyota is taking initiatives at the global level. All this and more in The Morning Shift of Friday, August 30, 2019.

1st: Waymo says to get rid of audiovisual standards

If a builder wishes to manufacture a fully autonomous car, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration currently requires this manufacturer to meet 75 different safety standards. These standards are obsolete according to Waymo, Auto News, and that's because they assume that the licensed driver will be driving.

Requiring a licensed driver goes against the principle of autonomy, which would ideally allow anyone to sit in the driver's seat. Although manufacturers are not yet fully autonomous, Waymo says it may be because compliance with the restrictive standards of NHTSA complicates the design.

More new cars:

"NHTSA should act quickly to remove the barriers while ensuring security," Waymo said in a letter released Thursday after the auto safety agency solicited public comment in May on "removing regulatory hurdles unnecessary to the safe introduction of automated driving systems ".

NHTSA should first tackle the safety standards that require a man to drive before revising the rules to adapt different seat configurations, Waymo said.

This will enable "timely deployment" of vehicles without manual controls, Waymo added.

In his comments, General Motors said: "It is imperative that NHTSA continues to conduct this critical dialogue with a sense of urgency, so that the evolution of the necessary regulations will keep pace with the technology."

It is a rather important call to action that would require a serious rethinking of how we, as a society, view the transportation of vehicles. Rules changes will not be particularly fast:

NHTSA does not plan to start seating rules until March 2020. This involves revising crashworthiness standards to account for occupants facing the rear or on the ground. side in fully autonomous vehicles. The new seats "are not vital for the development or deployment of audiovisual vehicles," Waymo said, referring to autonomous vehicles.

The comments submitted by the builders suggest that it would take at least 2025 for the agency to complete a complete rewrite of various safety standards.

NHTSA also wonders where and how to test autonomous cars to make sure they are safe. The agency plans to use simulations or external remote controls during testing. Many manufacturers are planning remote controls to drive autonomous vehicles in factories or on trucks.

Looks like NHTSA has a lot to do.

2nd: China's CO2 emissions to suffer because of the trade war

Ah, yes, the good old China-United States trade war. Just when you think it can not be worse, we find a way to do it! China, a country heavily fueled by coal, will have little chance of meeting its greenhouse gas emissions targets, according to Reuters.

Here is more of the article:

The world's largest producer of greenhouse gases, which contributes to global warming, has pledged to maximize emissions by 2030, as part of a global effort to limit rising temperatures .

In June, he promised to show "the most ambitious ambition possible" when revising its climate policy next year, hoping that stricter targets would be included in its five-year plan 2021- 2025.

However, Li[Gaochefdubureaudeschangementsclimatiquesduministèredel'Écologieetdel'Environment)ainformélesjournalistesdelaperspectivedusommetdesNationsUniessurleclimatàNewYorklemoisprochainasemblédéverserdel'eaufroidesurl'idéequelaChinepourraitaccélérerconsidérablementamenerlesémissionsàunpic[GaoheadoftheclimatechangeofficeattheMinistryofEcologyandEnvironment)briefingreportersaheadofaUnitedNationsclimatesummitinNewYorknextmonthappearedtopourcoldwaterontheideaChinawouldbeabletosignificantlyaccelerateeffortstobringemissionstoapeak[Gaochefdubureaudeschangementsclimatiquesduministèredel'Écologieetdel'Environnement)ainformélesjournalistesdelaperspectivedusommetdesNationsUniessurleclimatàNewYorklemoisprochainasemblédéverserdel'eaufroidesurl'idéequelaChinepourraitaccélérerconsidérablementamenerlesémissionsàunpic[GaoheadoftheclimatechangeofficeattheMinistryofEcologyandEnvironment)briefingreportersaheadofaUnitedNationsclimatesummitinNewYorknextmonthappearedtopourcoldwaterontheideaChinawouldbeabletosignificantlyaccelerateeffortstobringemissionstoapeak

"Do not underestimate the determination and confidence of the Chinese government, but at the same time, do not underestimate the difficulties that China faces," he told reporters, adding, "China does not will not be able to reach the goal many years in advance. "

Basically, the Chinese economy will start to peek, and you can not really tell people that they to have spend money they do not have to choose greener eating options.

Li said that the Ministry of the Environment will focus on climate finance in the future and will work with the central bank and the main Chinese planning body to develop policies to support climate change projects. carbon reduction across the country, including renewables and electric vehicles.

But he added that China still relied on fossil fuels and that it was difficult to make adjustments, especially when the economy was slowing down.

Li added that China is still unable to meet a major requirement of the Paris climate agreement to establish a comprehensive annual carbon inventory that should be submitted to the United Nations. , the country lacking staff and resources.

Is it just me, or are we as a global society shooting us in the foot?

3rd: Tesla exempted from Chinese taxes

China offers a 10% sales tax exemption on motor vehicle sales to domestic electric vehicle manufacturers. But in an interesting move, the country has decided to add Tesla to this list, reports Bloomberg.

From the article:

The exemption … concerns all Tesla models sold in China, announced Friday the US Department of Industry on its website. The shares of the electric car maker jumped 3.7% before normal trading began in New York.

This comes after Elon Musk's visit to the country on the occasion of the World Conference on Artificial Intelligence, which will be held over two days in Shanghai. According to reports, he spoke with local authorities and visited the disastrous new gigafactory that Tesla was designing for the production of its cars in China.

Interestingly, though, Tesla also higher prices for its vehicles in China as a result of the aforementioned trade war and its negative impact on the Chinese economy:

The price of a basic imported model 3 sedan rose more than 2 percent to 363,900 yuan ($ 50,900), the Tesla website said on Friday. Prices for the Model S basic sedans and Model X sport utility vehicles increased by a similar percentage to 793,900 yuan and 809,900 yuan, respectively.

This is an interesting dichotomy here, one that highlights the complicated relationship between attempts to be ecological and the just economy … a sort of … cistern.

4th: Toyota will not build British cars the day after Brexit

What exactly should a global car company do the day after a country separates from the European Union? If you guessed "take a day off and let the chaos subside," you would be right. That's what Toyota will do exactly, reports Reuters.

From the article:

Toyota built just over 8% of the 1.52 million British cars last year at its Burnaston plant in Derbyshire and began production of its new Corolla model earlier this year.

"We will have a production break on the first day of Brexit, Friday 1st, and … then we will resume production on Monday and Tuesday," said a spokesman.

"We do not know what the real situation will look like. We have already advanced a few days of additional inventory that we will use then Monday and Tuesday and we will see what is the situation thereafter, "he said.

Basically, there are a lot of unknowns here. The auto industry was very much opposed to Brexit, largely because there would suddenly be more tariffs, border delays and bureaucracy than if cars could be easily transported from one brother country to another. Toyota is definitely one of them.

Toyota claims to lose no production volume. He just wants to let that first day play before he makes any sudden movements.

5th: but Toyota Will Develop in Africa

When the rest of the world collapses and everything stagnates, it's time to move. At least, that's what Toyota and a few other automakers thought of as they explore Africa as a potentially untapped new market..

Here are other news from Automotive News:

The Ivorian government signed an agreement Thursday with Toyota Motor Corp. for the construction of a vehicle assembly plant in this country in West Africa, announced the office of the Ivorian Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly in a statement.

Thursday's agreement was signed at a development conference between Japan and Africa, held in Yokohama, Japan, by Gon Coulibaly and Ichiro Kashitani, CEO of Toyota Tsusho, a unit of the automotive and industrial group .

As part of its efforts on the continent, Toyota Tsusho acquired in 2016 the French automotive retailer CFAO, present in 35 African countries. Toyota already produces cars in South Africa, where the auto industry is well developed.

VW and Nissan have also set up operations in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, or have committed to doing so. Honda and Peugeot have opened assembly plants in Nigeria and Peugeot has done the same in Kenya.

For now, there is no indication of what Toyota's production volume will look like, but it's a promising start for the deal. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

Reverse: Lieutenant-Colonel Guion S. Bluford, of the US Air Force, becomes the first African-American in space

Neutral: Who will die first, the economy or the planet?

I do not know about you, but I can not say that I'm the biggest fan of living constantly with the threat of impending global destruction hovering over my head!