Image: Coco

Nearly 18 months after autonomous delivery company Coco began testing services with Michigan-based chain Little Caesars, the companies announced a partnership integrating the delivery robots into the convenience-oriented pizza brand’s operations, marking the start of broader rollouts.

Coco announced the partnership August 19, expanding autonomous robot delivery to Little Caesars locations throughout Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, and, within the month, San Jose, California — the company’s latest service area. 

In a statement to Food On Demand, Trish Heusel, Little Caesars’ vice president of innovation, noted Coco’s experience, proven ability to scale, and integration with DoorDash and Uber Eats as key benefits leading to the partnership. 

Source: Food On Demand

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Image: Tesla

Tesla is preparing to launch its Cybercab robotaxi in Austin, Texas, as soon as this month. The rollout would put the company’s first vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals onto public roads for operations.

The launch is expected to begin with rides for Tesla employees before the vehicles are added to the company’s existing robotaxi service. Tesla has been testing production Cybercabs on public streets since June and has also been running employee rides on private roads and training local first responders in Austin.

The Cybercab is central to Tesla’s plans to build a larger autonomous ride-hailing business. Unlike the modified Model Y vehicles currently used by the company, the two-seat vehicle has been designed from the outset without conventional driver controls.

The timing puts the Cybercab under scrutiny because Tesla’s current autonomous ride-hailing operation remains small. The company reported 380,000 cumulative driverless miles across its Robotaxi hubs in its latest earnings update. Rival Waymo, which has operated a commercial driverless service since 2020, has recorded more than 220 million rider-only driverless miles by comparison.

Tesla’s existing service also relies on a mixture of supervised and unsupervised vehicles. Third-party tracking cited in previous Zag Daily coverage put the number of active unsupervised vehicles across Austin, Dallas and Houston at 32, while the wider robotaxi fleet had also contracted sharply.

Source: Zag Daily

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Intersections Need Safety Layer That Aviation Built Decades Ago

Today, most traffic infrastructure can control movement, but it can’t truly understand it. It may know the signal state, but not whether a vehicle is unlikely to stop, whether a pedestrian is entering conflict, or whether a near-miss pattern is emerging that signals deeper risk. In most cases, agencies learn where the danger is only after crashes accumulate.

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Waymo’s Cheaper, Next-Gen Robotaxi Is Now Open to All Riders in These Three Cities

Waymo has opened its next-generation robotaxi to all riders in Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Francisco — a notable milestone for the Alphabet company as it pushes to expand its fleet with vehicles that are cheaper to build, operate, and maintain.

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Portland Airport Can Charge 20 Rental EVs at Once –– from Overhead

Portland International Airport (PDX) in Oregon can now charge up to 20 rental EVs at once without sacrificing valuable floor space, thanks to a new overhead ChargePoint fast charging system. ChargePoint installed 10 dual-port fast-chargers at PDX’s Quick Turnaround Facility (QTA), where rental companies clean and service cars between customers. The chargers, each rated at 200 kW, are mounted above the cars, with retractable cables that operators pull down when needed.

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WestJet Ordered to Scrap Weight Cap on Power Wheelchairs

Canada’s transport regulator says WestJet is imposing an “undue barrier” on travellers living with a disability by effectively barring some power wheelchairs from its planes. The Canadian Transportation Agency says that, before July 2027, the country’s second-largest carrier must scrap its 300-pound weight cap on mobility aids on the vast majority of its aircraft.

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Edmonton City Council to Vote on Fare Gate Pilot Project in November

Edmonton city council narrowly passed a motion Tuesday to investigate whether fare gates could substantially limit fare evasion on the city’s LRT system. As a result, city administration will draft a budget proposal to present at budget deliberations in November.

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North Vancouver Dad Ticketed for Letting Underage Son Ride E-Scooter

Children under the age of 16 are not allowed to operate e-scooters on public roads, bike lanes or bike paths, B.C. Highway Patrol Sgt. Michael McLaughlin said. “We spoke to the boy’s father, explained the law, and issued a ticket.”

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Study Links ULEZ to Growth in Children’s Lungs in London

The five-year study tracked more than 3,400 children aged six to nine at 84 primary schools in London and Luton between 2018 and 2022. Researchers from Imperial College London and the universities of Bedfordshire, Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Southern California also took part.

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Uber App Launches Autonomous Taxi Ride in Zagreb

The service has been available on the Uber app since Wednesday, Morena Simatic, a country manager at Uber for Balkans, Baltics and Ukraine said in a post on Linkedin. In March, Croatia-based autonomous mobility company Verne teamed up with New-York listed Pony AI, a global leader in the large-scale commercialization of autonomous driving technology, and Uber Technologies, in a strategic partnership to launch the first commercial robotaxi service in Europe.

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Portimão Moves Forward with Rules for Shared Scooters and Bicycles

The now-approved process involves conducting a technical diagnosis, evaluating parking and circulation areas, and identifying any potential conflicts with sidewalks and accessible routes.

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As U.S. Tries to Starve Cuba, Solar Electric Garbage Trikes Offer a Lifeline

Cuba is struggling with a US-imposed blockade on fuel shipments, which has led to many crises, including a breakdown in garbage collection in Havana. But a startup is stepping up to collect garbage in one neighborhood, using electric three-wheeled vehicles powered by solar.

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Geely Prepares Revolutionary 500 Wh/kg Solid-State EV Battery That Could Beat Diesel

The batteries are being developed inside Geely Holding, the parent that owns Geely, Zeekr, Lynk & Co, Volvo, Polestar, Lotus, and Smart. Geely says real-world validation started in 2026, with pilot deployment across those brands slated for 2027.

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Sri Lanka Moving Fast on Pilotless Air Taxi Commercialization

As the race to launch electric air taxis moves beyond prototypes, EHang is betting it has found a faster way to bring its pilotless aircraft to new countries. The China-based advanced air mobility company has unveiled its Global Fast Track Program, a framework designed to help aviation regulators move from initial evaluations to commercial eVTOL operations in months instead of years. Sri Lanka has become the first country to adopt the initiative, with officials targeting an initial regulatory sandbox for commercial operations within four months, provided all required safety, technical, operational, and regulatory approvals are successfully completed.

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Image: Electrek

Nevada’s Transportation Authority granted Tesla a permit to run driverless vehicles in Las Vegas last month and capped the fleet at 10 cars. Tesla’s application had asked for 5,000.

The permit also confines Tesla to an approved stretch of the Strip, bans pickups at Harry Reid International Airport, and limits the vehicles to 45 mph.

Tesla Robotaxi, LLC filed docket 26-05015 with the Nevada Transportation Authority in early June, seeking an Autonomous Vehicle Network Company permit. The application covered all of Clark County and requested authority for up to 5,000 vehicles during the first 12 months. It specifically named Harry Reid International Airport and Henderson Executive Airport as pickup locations.

The Authority signed off on July 27. Ten fully autonomous vehicles, operating only inside a geofence the regulator has to approve, with a 45 mph ceiling and no airport service.

There are conditions beyond the fleet cap. Every vehicle has to be labeled “robotaxi,” passengers have to be told they’re riding driverless, and the trips require “appropriate human supervision.” Growing the fleet past 10 means going back to the Authority for a new approval.

Nevada regulators haven’t publicly explained how a 5,000-vehicle request became a 10-vehicle permit.

Amazon’s Zoox holds AVNC Permit 001 in Nevada. Its most recent amendment, issued July 16, eleven days before Tesla’s, authorizes a “fleet limited to no more than one hundred (100) vehicles.” Zoox is currently running roughly 50 on the Strip and started charging for rides this month after clearing its federal hurdle.

Waymo filed its own Nevada application in June, docket 26-06007. Uber’s Aviari Services subsidiary filed in July. Both are pending, and Waymo already went fully driverless in Las Vegas in early July.

Tesla is the third autonomous operator to reach the Strip, and it showed up asking for the biggest allocation by a factor of 50.

Source: Electrek

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