1,000 heavy-duty trucks and 100,000 light-duty trucks: Pony.ai unveils the mass production timetable for Robotruck Over the past two years, Pony.ai's public narrative has been almost entirely dominated by Robotaxi: dual listing in the US and Hong Kong stock markets as the "first stock", the rollout of a 1,000-vehicle fleet, and the turnaround to positive per-vehicle profitability. Its truck business, by contrast, has rarely been mentioned publicly. This is not because there is nothing to share, but because the team was waiting for a key milestone. On August 3, that milestone arrived. Pony.ai held a media briefing, disclosing detailed progress of its Robotruck business to the public for the first time in two years. Why now? There is only one core reason: the technology and cost are both mature enough, and the business math finally adds up. Over the past two years, Pony.ai's 7th-generation Robotaxi fleet has exceeded 1,000 units, with the cost of autonomous driving kits dropping by 60%-70%. The sensors and computing platforms for heavy trucks and light trucks are almost identical to those of Robotaxi, directly benefiting from the cost dividend and mass production experience accumulated from Robotaxi development. He Xing (right) introducing the latest progress of Pony.ai's truck business More importantly, Pony.ai has accumulated complete experience in embedding autonomous driving systems in the OEM pre-installation mode. From the perspective of He Xing, Vice President of Pony.ai and Head of its Truck Division, "With this experience, our heavy trucks are now at the stage where we can carry out large-scale mass production trials." At the same time, the heavy truck industry chain is also maturing, with a number of L2+ products emerging on the market. This led to the launch of the 4th-generation heavy truck production line, the simultaneous rollout of light trucks, and the targets of
Aug 4, 2026 · via eu.36kr.com
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Aug 3, 2026 · via mrt.com
[Stay on top of transportation news: Get TTNews in your inbox.] Aurora advances third-generation hardware work R&D expenses continue to weigh on bottom line Staff Reporter Key Takeaways: - Aurora outlined third-generation autonomous-truck hardware a week after launching its second-generation system, targeting production with Aumovio in the second half of 2027. - The development matters as Aurora ramps commercialization, with quarterly revenue doubling to $2 million while Q2 losses widened to $270 million. - Aurora said third-generation hardware testing is underway and expects its fleet to reach a couple hundred trucks by year-end. A week after launching the second generation of its autonomous trucks on highways, Aurora Innovation detailed some of the advances in the third generation of its hardware. Aurora — whose losses widened in the second quarter of 2026 as the company continues to ramp up development of its products — expects manufacturing of the third-generation hardware by its partner Aumovio to begin in the second half of 2027. Work has already begun on some of the reliability testing for third-generation hardware components, Aurora CEO Chris Urmson said during the company’s Q2 earnings call July 29. The third-generation hardware will also see costs decrease, he added. And Urmson said the hardware timeline would fit with Paccar’s ambitions in the autonomous space. “Paccar and Aurora are jointly defining the path to a scalable launch of our third-generation commercial hardware kit integrated with Paccar’s future autonomy-enabled platform on their assembly lines,” he told analysts. Pittsburgh-based Aurora has partnerships for factory-installed self-driving trucks with Paccar and Volvo Autonomous Solutions. Paccar does not plan to take drivers out of its autonomous trucks yet, CEO Preston Feight emphasized July 28 during the original equipment manufacturer’s second-quarter 2026 earnings call. Kenworth and Peterbilt’s parent company requested the return of observers to the cabs of
Aug 3, 2026 · via ttnews.com
Chinese autonomous driving technology company WeRide has announced its entry into Denmark through a strategic partnership with GreenMobility, paving the way for the country’s first commercial autonomous shared mobility service. Pending regulatory approvals, the companies plan to begin public operations during the first half of 2027, marking WeRide’s expansion into the Nordic region while further strengthening its rapidly growing European presence. The partnership combines WeRide’s Level 4 autonomous driving technology with GreenMobility’s extensive experience operating one of Europe’s largest electric car-sharing fleets. Denmark to Receive Level 4 Robotaxi Service When the service launches, customers will be able to request rides using WeRide’s GXR, the company’s latest-generation fully autonomous vehicle designed to meet European Union regulations. The deployment is expected to become Denmark’s first commercial autonomous mobility project, offering fully electric, self-driving transportation designed for urban environments. Denmark’s strong EV adoption, advanced digital infrastructure, and supportive regulatory environment make it one of Europe’s most attractive markets for autonomous transportation. The companies say the initiative will support the country’s broader smart mobility goals while providing safer, cleaner, and more accessible transportation options. WeRide Continues Rapid European Expansion Denmark becomes WeRide’s sixth European market, highlighting the company’s accelerating growth across the continent. Over the past few months, WeRide has expanded into several new European countries, including: France, Belgium, Switzerland, Slovakia, Spain and Denmark. Commercial launches are already planned or underway in cities including Madrid, Zurich, and locations in Slovakia, demonstrating the company’s increasing commercialization momentum across Europe. Rather than building its own local operations from scratch, WeRide continues to pursue an asset-light expansion strategy, partnering with established mobility operators that already possess fleet management expertise, customer bases, and local market knowledge. GreenMobility Brings Proven EV Fleet Experience GreenMobility operates the largest free-floating car-sharing network in the Nordic region, with a fleet of more
Aug 3, 2026 · via electriccarsreport.com
Several popular Samsung smart TV apps contain code that share the owner’s internet connection with strangers, potentially putting millions of Samsung smart TVs at risk of hijacking, according to new security research published on Monday. Some of these apps claim to have been installed on hundreds of millions of smart TVs in people’s homes, per the app developers. At least one of the smart TV apps was a simple Pac-Man game that Samsung had endorsed and prominently featured in its “Editor’s Choice” section on customers’ TV screens. These apps contain software that funnels outsiders’ web traffic through ordinary home and office internet connections, known as residential proxy networks (or “resproxies”), which are increasingly being linked to cybercrime. When opened, apps with resproxy code can turn the smart TV into an always-on tunnel for outsiders to funnel their web traffic through, known as an exit node — even when the app is no longer open. The security research by Norwegian cybersecurity company Mnemonic describes a perfect storm of problems that allows low-quality apps to proliferate across Samsung’s app store, containing code that puts users at risk of having their internet connections tapped by a rogue app. Many of these apps are bare-bone shells, made from only a few lines of code, and are designed solely to load content from another website, such as a game. While such smart TV apps load content from another server, any review of these apps sees only the few lines of code within, and not necessarily the content itself. “What was reviewed is not necessarily what is running,” wrote Harrison Sand, an offensive security consultant at Mnemonic. After TechCrunch contacted Samsung with a request for comment about the research, the electronics giant said in an emailed statement that it was banning apps that share their users’
Aug 3, 2026 · via techcrunch.com
A Crash Course for Robotaxis After a plane crash, the entire aviation industry learns from the failure. Autonomous vehicle companies should adopt a similar standard. On October 2, 2023, a hit-and-run driver struck a pedestrian in San Francisco, throwing her into the path of a Cruise robotaxi. The Cruise vehicle braked but could not avoid running her over. What happened next turned a traffic accident into a company crisis: The robotaxi’s software, which didn’t detect the pedestrian pinned beneath it, initiated a pullover maneuver and dragged her 20 feet across the pavement. Cruise then compounded the failure by submitting a crash report that omitted the dragging entirely. This set off a chain of events that led to the suspension of the company’s operating permit, the CEO’s resignation, and finally, General Motors shutting Cruise down. This episode sparked a reckoning for Cruise, but it should have triggered an examination across the whole autonomous vehicle industry. Instead, eight months later, a Waymo vehicle hit a metal barrier while turning and tried to pull over. The barrier hooked onto the Waymo, which continued to push it, scraping five parked vehicles before finally coming to rest. After contact in these incidents, both the Cruise and Waymo vehicles chose to move rather than stop. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration incident database shows that, in the two years since the Cruise disaster, robotaxis are repeating the same dangerous maneuvers: They keep moving after hitting cyclists, pedestrians, and pets. This pattern of the same types of accidents recurring does not stop there. Robotaxi passengers have repeatedly opened doors into oncoming traffic. Waymo cars illegally passed stopped school buses more than 20 times just in the last school year. The industry’s problem is not that accidents happen. It’s that the same ones keep happening. The United States
Aug 3, 2026 · via issues.org
- United States - / - Energy Services - / - NYSE:AESI Is Atlas Energy Solutions’ (AESI) Autonomous Truck Bet Redefining Its Competitive Moat in Frac Logistics? - Atlas Energy Solutions recently expanded its autonomous truck operations in the Permian Basin with Kodiak AI, adding a second load-out point along its 42-mile Dune Express conveyor and planning to grow its Kodiak-enabled fleet from 28 to 100 driverless trucks by mid-2027, including operations on public roads subject to milestones. - This move highlights how Atlas is using automation to extend its geographic reach, integrate mining and logistics, and potentially lower operational complexity, risk and cost for oilfield customers. - We’ll now explore how the planned scale-up to 100 autonomous trucks could influence Atlas Energy Solutions’ existing investment narrative. We've uncovered the 9 dividend fortresses yielding 5%+ that don't just survive market storms, but thrive in them. Atlas Energy Solutions Investment Narrative Recap To own Atlas Energy Solutions, you need to believe its vertically integrated sand and logistics model in the Permian can convert automation and Dune Express scale into better margins, despite recent losses and sector volatility. The move to expand Kodiak-powered autonomous trucks and add a second load-out point seems directly tied to the key near term catalyst of improving logistics efficiency, while also heightening the near term risk that high capital spending outpaces actual demand. Among recent announcements, Atlas’s Q1 2026 results stand out: US$265.6 million in revenue alongside a US$47.3 million net loss underline how dependent the story is on turning operational innovation into sustainable profitability. The autonomous trucking expansion sits against that backdrop, potentially affecting how quickly the company can move from investing in logistics and power to actually improving earnings and returns on its sizeable asset base. Yet while automation could help, investors should also weigh
Aug 3, 2026 · via simplywall.st
Defence investments will create positive spillovers, says Daimler Truck chief
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Aug 3, 2026 · via ft.com
Japan to Test Self-Driving Trucks on Regular Roads in FY2027, Aiming for Level 4 Commercialization by FY2028 The Japanese government has decided to conduct demonstration tests for the commercialization of self-driving trucks between designated logistics hubs, expanding from current expressway-only operations to include regular roads, starting in fiscal 2027. Test routes and participating companies will be selected during fiscal 2026. Because regular roads demand more sophisticated driving technology than expressways, the government determined that such testing is essential for building a long-haul logistics network. Based on insights gained from these tests, the government aims to commercialize Level 4 autonomous trucks—full self-driving under specific conditions—by fiscal 2028. The tests are expected to take place in the Greater Tokyo, Chubu, and Kansai regions. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) will commission surveys to private companies and select routes based on criteria such as proximity between expressway interchanges (ICs) and logistics hubs, as well as road visibility conditions. To operate autonomously on regular roads from expressway ICs to logistics hubs, establishing technology that accounts for pedestrians and cyclists will be a key challenge. The government has previously focused on running tests between service areas (SAs) on expressways to achieve Level 4 long-haul trucking. Since March 2025, a dedicated lane for autonomous vehicles has been in operation on the Shin-Tomei Expressway in Shizuoka Prefecture between the Suruga Bay Numazu SA and Hamamatsu SA. Together with private companies, the government is currently conducting Level 2 autonomous driving tests, where a driver can take manual control when necessary. Toward the commercialization of Level 4 trucks, private companies including Mitsubishi Estate are also developing logistics hubs directly connected to expressway ICs, creating a framework that avoids regular-road driving altogether. However, most of these hubs are not expected to be completed until the 2030s, and suitable
Aug 2, 2026 · via finance.biggo.com
FedEx expands deployment of autonomous trailer loading systems FedEx Corp. announced it is expanding a collaboration with robotics company Dexterity Inc. to scale autonomous trailer loading systems. The companies said in a statement that deployment at the FedEx Hagerstown Hub in Maryland expands the program beyond the pilot site previously used to validate the technology. It enables production at a significantly larger operational scale. FedEx loads tens of thousands of trailers across the United States every day, and trailer loading remains one of the most physically demanding and challenging workflows in parcel logistics. Through the collaboration with Dexterity, FedEx said it is establishing how physical AI performs in trailer loading operations and how the technology integrates into broader hub operations. Dexterity’s trailer loader is powered by Foresight, its model for physical AI that makes real-time decisions in dynamic environments. In autonomous trailer loading, it reasons across three spatial dimensions and time to optimize how packages are placed for space, stability, and speed across a wide range of operating conditions. Dexterity’s trailer loader is powered by Foresight, its model for physical AI that makes real-time decisions in dynamic environments. Foresight powers Dexterity’s dual-armed robot, Mech, which is designed for heavy industrial operations, while remaining compact enough to operate inside trailers. “This expanded collaboration with Dexterity reflects our commitment to advancing capabilities that improve how we operate today while helping prepare our network for the future,” said Kawal Preet, FedEx’s executive vice president, planning, engineering, and transformation. As we continue evaluating and deploying physical AI in real-world environments, we see opportunities to enhance the speed, reliability, and flexibility of our network, creating long-term value for our business and customers.” “Hagerstown represents an important milestone in demonstrating how physical AI can operate reliably in a high-volume logistics environment, creating a blueprint for network
Aug 2, 2026 · via trucknews.com
In autonomous and self-driving vehicle news are Tesla, Waymo, Uber, Hyundai, Nvidia, Aurora, Baidu, Lyft, BMW, Qualcomm, Flytrex, Nash, Atlas and Kodiak. In this Article Lawsuit Alleges Understaffing Hazards in Tesla Houston Robotaxis A former operational manager for Tesla Inc.’s autonomous vehicle testing program, Javier Medrano, has filed a federal wrongful-termination lawsuit in Houston alleging severe operational understaffing. According to the complaint, Medrano served as the sole manager overseeing 38 safety operators across three continuous daily shifts in Houston—a 38:1 operator-to-manager ratio that exceeded Tesla’s internal 15:1 safety baseline. The filing contends that the lack of supervisory personnel compromised required safety oversight protocols, including camera footage auditing, mandatory weekly ride-alongs, and real-time incident investigations for the test fleet. The complaint details systemic fatigue among field testing personnel, alleging test drivers worked 60 to 80 hours per week alongside unmanaged manager on-call obligations. Following unheeded internal escalations regarding operational burnout, a March 2025 collision involving a test vehicle and a pedestrian highlighted emergency response failures linked to extreme sleep deprivation. Medrano was terminated on May 1, 2025. The lawsuit contends that chronic understaffing in primary validation markets undermines the integrity of Tesla’s safety oversight data as the company seeks regulatory clearance for driverless commercial deployments. Waymo Terminates Exclusive Uber Fleet Integration to Pursue Direct Distribution Alphabet self-driving unit Waymo has notified Uber Technologies of plans to launch its proprietary ride-hailing application in Austin and Atlanta in January 2028, ending its exclusive platform partnership in both markets. The decision follows the non-renewal of an earlier Phoenix arrangement and signals a broader shift away from third-party distribution dependencies. Existing Waymo vehicles will remain accessible on the Uber application until the current contract expires in May 2028, though independent operations will proceed concurrently. Operational disputes, commercial friction, and regulatory policy disagreements accelerated the rift.
Aug 2, 2026 · via autoconnectedcar.com
Welcome back to TechCrunch Mobility, your hub for the future of transportation and now, more than ever, the role AI is playing in it. To get this in your inbox, sign up here for free — just click TechCrunch Mobility! TechCrunch covered a couple of stories this week that illustrate the countervailing forces at play within the autonomous vehicle industry. The federal government is hitting the accelerator while state and local officials are pumping the brakes on autonomous vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration made a series of autonomous vehicle technology announcements designed to cut red tape and accelerate the development and deployment of this technology (my article describes many of its actions). The one that got the most attention was the agency’s decision to give Zoox a temporary exemption from eight federal motor vehicle safety standards, which will finally allow the company to charge customers for rides in its custom-built robotaxi. The importance of this can’t be understated. This was one of the last remaining regulatory hurdles Zoox needed to clear before launching a commercial robotaxi service. And according to the company, paid rides are imminent. The company will start charging for rides in Las Vegas first. Meanwhile, Waymo and other robotaxi operators are facing increased scrutiny over how their autonomous vehicles interact with emergency responders, a regulatory risk that’s becoming harder for the industry to shrug off. As I have noted before, San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie asked state regulators to bolster rules for autonomous vehicles nearly two weeks after Waymo robotaxis became immobile in heavy July 4 traffic, ran out of power, and blocked key streets, further compounding the gridlock. This week, Rep. Kevin Mullin (D-Calif.) proposed a bill that would direct federal regulators to establish minimum national safety standards for autonomous vehicle operators. “We have
Aug 2, 2026 · via techcrunch.com
Azerbaijan Extends Ban on Entry of Iranian Cargo Trucks
EghtesadOnline: Azerbaijan has extended the ban on the entry of Iranian cargo trucks until May 4.
Nonetheless, according to the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration, truckers are still able to park at the border crossings of Astara and Bileh Savar, and transship their goods to Azerbaijan as well as to Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic and Eurasia.
Commercial exchanges with Azerbaijan via Astara railroad are underway, IRNA reported.
According to Financial Tribune, a total of 120,068 tons of goods worth $36.73 million were exported via Astara railroad in the northern Gilan Province in the last Iranian year (March 2019-20).
According to a Rasoul Omidi, local official, the exports mainly included home appliances, ceramic products, clinker and cement, stones and fruit, ILNA reported.
A total of 227,158 tons of goods worth over $70.06 million, including MDF boards and grains, were imported through Astara railroad during the same period.
Astara is a city on the border with Azerbaijan that also has an eponymous city.
Aug 2, 2026 · via eghtesadonline.com
100 driverless oilfield trucks planned for Permian Basin as US firms scale fleet by 2027 Since 2024, Atlas’s driverless trucks have hauled 450,000 tons of sand across the Permian Basin on 7,000 deliveries. Read Next: Byd enters humanoid robot race with august debut Atlas Energy Solutions Inc. (Atlas) has announced that it intends to expand its autonomous truck operations in the US Permian Basin from 28 to 100 by mid-2027. The company will work with Kodiak AI, Inc. (Kodiak) to make this ambition a reality using its physical artificial intelligence (AI)-powered autonomous driving technology. What that means in practice is retrofitting or upfitting trucks with a package of sensors, controls, cameras, and other hardware to enable them to be operated autonomously using an AI “driver.” According to Atlas, the new trucks will be used to expand operations at its second load-out point along its 42-mile (68 km) “Dune Express” sand conveyor system. This system will help Atlas become more responsive to customer needs for the transport and supply of proppant in the region. Proppant, in case you are unaware, is a special grade of sand used by oil and gas companies during hydraulic fracturing. The sand is pumped underground to keep the cavities created by fracturing open, allowing oil and gas to flow freely. Delivering sand without drivers As you can appreciate, that requires enormous quantities of the stuff. What’s more, transporting it from mines or storage sites to drilling locations involves thousands of repetitive truck journeys, often on remote, dusty and relatively predictable routes. The load-out points refer to strategic locations along the so-called “Dune Express” where this sand is loaded onto trucks. At present, Atlas explains, autonomous trucks have been used from one load-out point at a time. More from AI and Robotics See All The addition of
Aug 2, 2026 · via interestingengineering.com
Einride has entered into an agreement to acquire fleet charging software provider Flipturn in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $38.4 million. The proposed acquisition would bring Flipturn’s charging and energy management technology into Einride’s electric and autonomous freight platform while adding a customer base representing more than 250 megawatts of charging capacity. The added capacity would more than double the amount of energy currently managed through Einride’s systems. Einride would gain the software relationships and operational connections Flipturn uses to manage charging across customer sites and third-party networks. Those customers include truckload carriers, autonomous vehicle operators and last-mile delivery fleets. The combined operation is expected to form the foundation of what Einride describes as North America’s largest heavy-duty electric vehicle charging ecosystem, based on the charging capacity represented by the combined customer base. Flipturn’s software allows fleets to monitor vehicles and chargers, schedule charging and manage electricity use through a common platform. The system can also support charger access, driver payments and onsite energy controllers while connecting with equipment from different manufacturers. The company’s platform is hardware-agnostic and compliant with the Open Charge Point Protocol, allowing it to communicate with multiple vehicle, charger and telematics systems. Einride plans to connect those capabilities with Saga AI, its freight planning and optimization platform. Saga AI has supported more than 19 million electric miles globally, using operational data to manage vehicle utilization, energy consumption and freight performance. The proposed combination would give Einride control of more elements of an electric freight operation, including route planning, vehicle deployment, charging management, energy optimization and connections to third-party charging sites.
Aug 1, 2026 · via act-news.com
Uber has partnered with — and in some cases made direct investments in — more than 30 autonomous vehicle companies over the past two years. And it’s taking a global approach. Here, TechCrunch tracks every one of those moves in one place. But first, a bit of history. Uber was, at one time, developing and testing its own autonomous vehicle (AV) technology. The company, then led by Travis Kalanick, created Uber Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) in 2014 and recruited dozens of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University’s robotics program. Two years later, Uber acquired Otto, a self-driving truck company founded by former Google self-driving engineer Anthony Levandowski, Lior Ron, Don Burnette (who has since gone on to found Kodiak AI), and Claire Delaunay. Uber also began testing its AVs on public streets in 2016 across California, Pittsburgh, and Arizona. All of that progress unraveled across three defining moments: Waymo’s trade secrets lawsuit against Uber, the resignation of Kalanick in 2017, and a fatal crash in Tempe, Arizona, in 2018 involving its self-driving Volvo XC90, which struck and killed a pedestrian. (The vehicle was in autonomous mode, and a human safety operator behind the wheel at the time wasn’t paying attention.) Uber suspended its testing and reorganized the program, although it never truly returned to its mission. After Dara Khosrowshahi took the wheel at Uber, the company went through a reset. In 2020, Uber walked away from all of its moonshots, including autonomous vehicles, to focus on its core businesses of ride-hailing and delivery using human-driven vehicles. Uber sold Uber ATG to Aurora, Jump to Lime, and Elevate to Joby Aviation. It didn’t completely divest, though. Uber kept equity stakes in all of them. Just two years later, Uber crept back in and started making AV deals. The deal flow picked up
Aug 1, 2026 · via techcrunch.com
On this week’s episode of TEN – Transport Evolved News! Honda tells its customers to try a hybrid for their next car, weeks after canceling its Prologue EV. New sales data from Q2 and multiple surveys show EV owners are happier than ICE owners, and while Waymo is now 68% safer than the average human, its fleet are racking up parking violations in Austin, Texas. These stories and more, on today’s show! Watch the show today on YouTube, or (if you’d prefer – we would) – PeerTube! 👥 Sponsors - Electric Vehicle Association - EnergySage - Win an EV with CCAN Action Fund!1 - Support the Show: - Buy us a coffee - YouTube channel - TE Swag - Amazon affiliate - Donate Bitcoin: 1QRZRGCCXUKPDZ2DZ9KX9JYJXMZDYHYGFZ0MN4WH - Join the Conversation: - Subscribe to our Main Channel, Transport Evolved or our second channel, Transport Evolved Take Two - Don’t forget to check out Kate Walton-Elliott’s new venture, Antithesis Press! Episode Timeline - 00:00 – Introduction and sponsor shoutouts! - 00:21 – Welcome to the show - 00:32 – Mercedes-Benz debuts the new GLA EV - 01:44 – BMW debuts a long wheelbase version of the iX5 and BMW will star making high-voltage iX5 batteries from September - 02:51 – Volvo gets rid of LiDAR on the EX90 and ES90, pays owners compensation for it instead - 04:04 – New renewable data for May shows serious growth - 05:17 – NHTSA working on new safety rules for flush door handles - 06:20 – Another Anti-Chinese Bill has hit the U.S. senate while Florida wants to use EV charging money on flying cars and Fed government forcing AI data centre on public land through solar review - 07:58 – As BMW increases iX3 production, and BMW confirms it still wants to make the i3
Aug 1, 2026 · via transportevolved.com
Rheinmetall's Busiest Week Yet: A Frigate Refit, a Romanian Shipyard, and a Bundeswehr Truck Order Published on 08/01/2026 at 03:51 | Redaktion boerse-global.de The defense contractor's order pipeline keeps expanding across every conceivable segment — naval systems, autonomous ground vehicles, and heavy logistics trucks — yet the share price remains stubbornly unimpressed. On a single day, Rheinmetall announced three separate developments: a mid-three-digit million euro contract to modernize the German Navy frigate F123 "Bayern," advanced negotiations to acquire Romania's insolvent Mangalia shipyard, and an 18-month development deal with the US Army for autonomous supply vehicles. The market's response? The stock closed Friday at €1,140.60, marginally in the red. The Bundeswehr's Heavy-Lift Workhorse Gets Another Order Sandwiched between the headline-grabbing naval news was a fresh order from the Bundeswehr for 56 heavy tractor units of the Elefant 2 type, valued at approximately €60.5 million gross. Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles will deliver the trucks in 2026 and 2027, extending an existing seven-year framework agreement that originally covered up to 137 vehicles. The Bundeswehr had already ordered 32 units, with Rheinmetall fulfilling call-offs worth €122 million through early 2025. The Elefant 2, built on the HX81 platform, delivers 680 horsepower, reaches speeds of up to 89 km/h, handles gradients of up to 60 percent, and tows a total weight of 135 tonnes. Its twin winches each offer 20 tonnes of pulling power, and the cab comes from the UTF family. Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Rheinmetall? Rheinmetall positions the unarmored Elefant 2 as a complement to the protected Mammut vehicle, with both carrying NATO logistics — part of Germany's broader ambition to serve as the alliance's logistical hub. The Frigate Refit That Keeps a 1996 Vessel Fighting Past 2035 The naval contract, confirmed Thursday, covers a comprehensive overhaul of
Aug 1, 2026 · via ad-hoc-news.de
Autonomous trucking developer Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ: AUR) reported a second-quarter net loss of $270 million on $2 million in revenue Wednesday. Executives restated the driverless truck rates behind the two business models the company is selling to carriers and shippers. Chief Financial Officer David Maday said Aurora’s transportation-as-a-service offering carries a per-mile revenue outlook in the $2-plus-per-mile range, while its driver-as-a-service subscription targets $0.85+ per mile. Maday said the company had put both figures out previously. Aurora plans to begin moving customers from the first model to the second in 2027. The gap between those two numbers is the practical question for any fleet weighing autonomous capacity. Under TaaS, Aurora holds a U.S. Department of Transportation operating authority, controls the truck, carries the insurance, and bills a full-service rate. Under DaaS, according to the company’s Form 10-Q, customers “acquire, manage, and maintain fleets directly, while subscribing to the Aurora Driver and a suite of related services.” Aurora’s loss amounted to 14 cents a share, wider than the 12-cent average of analysts’ estimates. Revenue rose 100% from $1 million a year earlier, which the company attributed in its Form 10-Q to increased utilization, geographical expansion, and higher fuel surcharges. Driverless truck rates split by business model “Obviously the TaaS deals have a higher per mile revenue outlook because it’s the full service,” Maday said. “As we’ve said before, kind of in that $2 plus range, whereas DaaS is targeting the $0.85 plus. There’s a substantial difference in TaaS versus DaaS on a revenue side, but there’s also a substantial difference on the cost side and on the margin side.” Aurora describes the shift as customer-by-customer rather than a single cutover. “For every customer that we sign up with a Transportation as a Service agreement, it is with the intent to then
Aug 1, 2026 · via freightwaves.com
- American Rheinmetall was awarded an 18-month U.S. Army contract for Project Sustainment to develop autonomous hybrid ground vehicles based on Harbinger's platform. - The vehicles will autonomously transport supplies to and from frontline troops, developed with partners Forterra and Primordial Labs. American Rheinmetall announced that the U.S. Army selected Harbinger’s plug-in hybrid vehicle platform as the basis for an autonomous unmanned ground vehicle contract awarded to the company, covering an 18-month effort to develop and deliver uncrewed vehicles under the Army’s Project Sustainment program. The contract runs through the National Advanced Mobility Consortium, known as NAMC, a government-industry partnership structure that lets the Army fund experimental vehicle technology development outside its traditional, slower acquisition process. American Rheinmetall will serve as the prime contractor overseeing the effort, meaning the company holds primary responsibility for delivering the finished vehicles even though the actual engineering work is split across multiple specialized partners. Project Sustainment addresses a problem that has grown more urgent as militaries worldwide watch drones and precision weapons increasingly target the unglamorous but essential work of getting supplies to frontline troops. The unmanned ground vehicles built under this contract are designed to autonomously transport supplies to and from what the Army calls the forward line of troops, the point on a battlefield closest to enemy contact, reducing the number of soldiers who need to physically drive a truck loaded with fuel, ammunition, or food through territory where an enemy drone or ambush could strike at any moment. The vehicle platform itself comes from Harbinger, a Southern California and Texas-based commercial vehicle manufacturer that built its business developing hybrid-electric chassis for delivery trucks and other medium-duty commercial vehicles before pivoting a version of that technology toward military applications. Harbinger’s defense-oriented platform, sometimes marketed under the name Praesidia, is designed to be
Aug 1, 2026 · via defence-blog.com