TechCrunch Mobility: The cost of Waymo

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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced at the end of the week that it planned to rationalize the exemption process of part 555 in order to return more quickly for car manufacturers who wish to deploy autonomous vehicles built without human orders such as a steering wheel or pedals.

The letter sent to the “stakeholders” (which means that companies working on AVS) are still quite opaque. And manufacturers will always have to demonstrate that traditional flywheel vehicles, driver’s brakes or mirrors offer an equivalent level of security as a compliant vehicles and the exemption is in the public interest.

The main main thing here is that the NHTSA maintains that the current exemption process of part 555 is not well suited to vehicles equipped with automated driving systems and that it is a long and complex process. In short: the agency wants to accelerate things.

In other news related to federal agencies, Asset published a Few decrees linked to accelerated drones and supersonic trips.

Side note: I see that my predictions (from the last edition) Trump-Elon Musk The fallout would turn into one of these relationships outside of any allowance were correct.

Let’s move on to the rest of the news.

A little bird

Last week, I shared our scoop about Jony IVEThe work love business working alongside Rivian Designers and a skunkworks team that would eventually turn in AlsoA micromobility startup.

Well, some other little birds appeared to share a little more and clarify the relationship. I learned that the project was named Inder. Rivian actually applied for a Trademark of the name Inder But abandoned it later. Sources have also shared that if the Lovefrom team has brought its expertise in industrial design to effort – and apparently a cool engine design – it has not been involved in any user / UX interface.

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Offers!

JetzeroThe Zero-Event aircraft company, based in Long Beach, California, working on mixed wing aircraft, plans to build a factory in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company, which has the support of a variety of venture capital (like Trucks VC) and strategic investors like United Airlines and Alaska Airlines, said it would invest $ 4.7 billion in the next decade On the project, reported the Wall Street Journal. The construction of the installation should start in the first half of 2026, with the first deliveries of customers in the early 2030s, the company said.

There is an important detail in this transaction: it includes more than $ 1.1 billion in state performance incentives which are paid over almost 40 years and which depend on Jetzero creating more than 14,000 jobs between 2027 and 2036, Reuters reported.

Other offers deserve to be noted …

Mitra chema battery material startup, lifted $ 15.6 million of a planned financing cycle of $ 50 million.

Notable readings and other songs

Autonomous vehicles

Waymo The rides cost more than Uber Or Lyft – And People pay anywayAccording to OBI, an application that brings together prices and time of collecting in real time on several drawing services. The company has published what it calls the “first in -depth examination of Waymo’s pricing strategy”. The TL; DR: Waymo autonomous car journeys are always more expensive than Uber and Lyft’s comparative offers – and that does not seem to have any importance.

Waymo Robotaxis has become a symbol of events from the aftermath that imagines showing several driver -free vehicles – with anti -ice graffiti and cut tires – on fire. Waymo has removed its remaining vehicles from downtown Los Angeles and plans to continue criminal proceedings and collect damages from those who have vandalized its robotaxis. The incident increases some Important surveillance issues On how many cameras and sensors on Waymo vehicles are used and if it provides camera images to the authorities to identify the demonstrators. Waymo did not answer our questions about it.

June 22 is the big Tesla Robotaxi launch day in Austin, Texas, at least according to CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk,.

Wayve And Uber announced its intention to launch a Robotaxi service fully without driver in London. This does not happen right away, however, and the calendar is notable here: the British government recently announced an accelerated framework for autonomous commercial pilots to be deployed in spring 2026, until the end of 2027.

Electric vehicles, batteries and charges

Infinite machineThe micromobility startup based in New York supported by A16Zrevealed a Sitting scooter Called OLTO which costs $ 3,495 when it starts to ship later this year. The OLTO will include 40 miles of range, taken from a 48 V Lithium-ion battery easily swappable.

Car technology

During AppleWWDC 2025 event, a Few items related to the car have been revealed, including that the company adds widgets and messages of messages to Carplay with iOS 26.