From The Mobilist Inbox This Week
Driverless in Beijing, 5th U.S. gigafactory, Lithium Triangle, autonomous dreams
Each Wednesday, The Mobilist highlights reader articles on Medium, comments, and updates.
Autonomous testing in Beijing: A major principle that has put China ahead of the West in leading aspects of electric car batteries is its willingness to assume more risks. Now it appears to be taking the same attitude toward self-driving vehicles. The blogger Moneyball, whom we have previously featured in Inbox, tweets: “Beijing to open 143 kilometers of highways/ring roads for self-driving vehicle tests, mulls removing safety drivers on certain sections by year end, to allow autonomous delivery vehicle tests amid plans to replace electric 3-/4-wheelers.”
Look for the first daring leap into Level 4 autonomy in Beijing — not soon, but perhaps first.
A fifth U.S. battery gigafactory? Rivian, the U.S. electric pickup truck maker, said this week that its batteries will be made by Samsung, the third big South Korean manufacturer in addition to LG Chem and SK Innovation. Simon Moores, CEO at Benchmark Mineral, sees that as a signal that Samsung will build a U.S. gigafactory. If he’s right, it would be the fifth in the country, which is in a long-shot attempt to catch up to Europe and China.
