Episode 239 | From TuSimple to Bot Auto: Xiaodi Hou's New Plan for Profitable Autonomous Trucking

Bibhrajit Halder, Founder & CEO, Safe AI joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss the growth of autonomous mining and construction. The surging demand for autonomous equipment in mining and construction is being driven partly by severe labor shortages and potential productivity gains in the range of 20-25%.Episode Chapters0:00 Current State of Autonomous Construction and Mining Markets 5:04 Connectivity 8:40 End-to-end Models13:52 LiDAR Debate21:05 Retrofitting Trucks for Autonomy28:59 Redundancy30:20 Safe AI Use Cases 32:35 Electrification35:23 Future of Autonomous Construction and MiningRecorded on Friday, November 1, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The election of Donald J. Trump as the 47th President of the United States could dramatically reshape the autonomous vehicle industry, with Elon Musk positioned as a key influence in the new administration. A national framework for autonomous vehicles and trucks is expected to be a top priority, potentially overriding state-specific regulations like California’s strict regulations. Episode Chapters0:00 Impact of the Presidential Election on Autonomy Markets 11:07 Toyota & May Mobility15:25 Lyft17:02 Zoox23:24 Autonomous Vehicle Policy27:05 Tesla33:18 Next WeekRecorded on November 7, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sergey Litvinenko, Co-Founder & CEO, Koop joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss insuring personally owned autonomous vehicles beginning with the Tesla Cybercab. Insuring autonomous vehicles without steering wheels and pedals presents unprecedented challenges that could potentially halt widespread adoption if the insurance is not figured out. While there currently isn’t an insurance product for personally owned fully autonomous vehicles, perhaps Tesla Insurance may have been created specifically to address this challenge? A critical aspect of insuring personally owned autonomous vehicles will be the handling of post-accident repairs and liability. OEM-backed insurance, particularly Tesla Insurance, is best positioned to handle these challenges due to their direct access to vehicle data, repair capabilities, and understanding of their unique vehicle designs. While there may be initial concerns about litigation and fraudulent claims, the comprehensive data collection from autonomous vehicles will help combat false claims. The future of personally owned autonomous vehicle insurance is likely to see rates decrease over time as safety performance improves.Episode Chapters0:00 Insuring CyberCab4:23 Insuring Personally Owned Autonomous Vehicles 7:13 Liability for Personally Owned Autonomous Vehicles with No Manual Controls9:01 Repairing Personally Owned Autonomous Vehicles 13:23 In The Event of a Crash, Who is Responsible? 23:36 Rider Liability Insurance 26:54 Underwriting Risk36:43 First Personally Owned Autonomous Vehicle Policies 38:27 Key TakeawaysRecorded on Tuesday, October 29, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Waymo’s new EMMA model (End-to-End Multimodal Model) for Autonomous Driving, their increased weekly ridership and how a shortage of skilled mechanics and technicians could slow down the growth of the Waymo One service. As Waymo grows their service, Zoox is now preparing to join the party and launch a robotaxi service in both San Francisco and Las Vegas next year. While Zoox is about to join the robotaxi party, Tesla and their desire to launch a robotaxi service continues to divide the public and the market.Episode Chapters0:00 Waymo3:02 Autonomous Vehicle Mechanics 5:46 Uber11:20 Pricing Waymo One14:53 Economy18:12 Waymo EMMA model (End-to-End Multimodal Model) Paper21:53 Tesla Shade27:28 Zoox31:41 Aurora Delays Driver Out Until April 202538:45 Lyft39:36 WeRideRecorded on October 31, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sam Abidi, President, Apex Advisors joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss the rapidly evolving off-road autonomy market, its unique dynamics and why the market is full of opportunity. Autonomy is transforming off-road industries, from sprawling mine sites to vast agricultural fields and busy construction sites. As traditional equipment manufacturers and innovative startups race to meet surging demand, autonomous systems are proving to be more than just a solution to persistent labor shortages—they’re becoming a cornerstone of operational excellence.The economics are compelling: autonomous vehicles operate longer, work more efficiently, and significantly reduce operational expenses. Mining companies can run their haul trucks around the clock, farmers can precisely manage their fields with fewer workers, and construction sites can maintain productivity even amid staffing challenges.This convergence of necessity and innovation has sparked intense competition, as both established heavy equipment giants and agile tech startups vie to capture their share of this rapidly expanding market. What’s driving this gold rush? The promise of scalable operations and robust profit margins, underpinned by proven success stories across multiple sectors.Episode Chapters0:00 Off-Road Autonomy Market2:35 Ag Autonomy8:51 Startups Competing with Established Industrial OEMs11:01 OEM Deals13:20 Off-Road Autonomy Regulatory Market 16:05 Western Australia Mines20:10 Apex Advisors 24:20 Workforce Development 27:34 Private Equity Roll-Ups 35:17 Growth of the Off-Road Autonomy Market38:31 Future of Off-Road AutonomyRecorded on Monday, October 18, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss the opening of the autonomy IPO market and investors increasing desire to own autonomous vehicle companies. On October 23rd, Tesla’s stock rallied 20% following earnings that beat the street and Elon Musk’s continued commentary about Tesla’s robotaxi ambitions. WeRide completed its NASDAQ IPO raising $440M on October 25th, the same day Waymo announced a massive $5.6B funding round led by Alphabet with participation from Tiger Global and Sliver Lake.Episode Chapters0:00 Capital Markets are Open3:07 Tesla Robotaxi Service in Palo Alto?5:43 The Interrelationships and Risks of the Elon Musk Companies10:43 WeRide IPO19:37 Waymo's Latest Funding Round23:17 Lucid is Finding Out Autonomy is Hard29:40 Wayve32:02 Cruise Goes Driverless in Houston33:16 Uber37:02 Next WeekRecorded on October 25, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Xiaodi Hou, Founder & CEO, Bot Auto joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss his plans for building and scaling a profitable autonomous trucking company.In a revealing conversation Dr. Xiaodi candidly discusses his departure from TuSimple and the founding of Bot Auto, offering candid insights into lessons learned, decisions he made and why his new approach to building an autonomous trucking business is largely focused on profitability over rapid scaling.Episode Chapters0:00 What Happened at TuSimple3:52 What if TuSimple Did Not Go Public6:46 Decision Making9:41 Bot Auto Business and Commercialization Strategy 20:39 Bot Auto Cost Structure 24:07 Making a Truck Autonomous and Going Driver-Out30:18 Safety33:11 Tesla FSD (Full Self-Driving)37:08 Bot Auto Lanes39:47 Small Teams44:53 Commercial Operations Timeline50:35 GPUs52:17 TakeawayRecorded on Monday, October 14, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss the details emerging from Tesla’s robotaxi unveiling at We, Robot. Tesla’s robotaxi is projected to have a 200-mile range with FSD 13 powering Full Self-Driving Unsupervised. Could FSD 13 be Tesla’s breakthrough autonomy moment? Or will it be a later version of FSD? Later the conversation shifts to the emerging news about Uber’s potential acquisition of Expedia and what that acquisition would mean to both the travel and autonomy markets.The IPO market for autonomy is heating up, as Horizon Robotics has filled for an IPO on the Hong Kong Exchange and Pony AI is preparing for a U.S. listing. Could this be a sign of things to come?Episode Chapters0:00 We, Robot 15:39 Autonomy Use Cases 18:48 Horizon Robotics and Pony.AI IPOs 24:46 Potential; Uber / Expedia Deal 33:24 Lyft Makes a Move? 40:06 Next WeekRecorded on October 17, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Pete Bigelow, Senior Reporter, Automotive News joined Grayson Brulte on The Road to Autonomy podcast to discuss the latest developments in the autonomous vehicle industry including the introduction of Tesla’s Cybercab, Waymo’s expansion and the growth of robotaxis. On 10/10 Tesla unveiled Cybercab, a two passenger robotaxi as Waymo ramps up operations in multiple cities around the U.S., Hyundai works on their Motional strategy and Zoox prepares to launch commercial service in Las Vegas in 2025. Even as Robotoaxis scale, certain OEMs are still focused on developing SAE Level 3 systems which come with complex regulatory issues. Along with the regulatory issues comes liability and who is at fault in the event of a crash. It’s a problem that has not been solved yet and one that certain special interest groups might not want to be solved.Episode Chapters0:00 We, Robot6:55 President Tump on Autonomous Vehicles8:34 Shared Rides11:45 Zoox in Las Vegas14:00 Motional / Hyundai21:14 Tort Reform29:02 Tim Kentley Klay's HYPR33:10 Mobileye34:47 VW ID Buzz Autonomous Vehicle Service37:33 Robotaxi OutlookRecorded on Friday, October 11, 2024 --------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In this episode of Autonomy Markets, Grayson Brulte and Walter Piecyk discuss Tesla’s We Robot event, an event that Grayson has dubbed as “Autonomy Disneyland” and the markets mixed market reaction to the event.While the We Robot event was impressive and Disneyesque, it fell short on providing concrete details about timelines, financial projections, and technological progress in Tesla’s development of full self-driving (FSD). The lack of substantive details led to an 8% drop in Tesla’s stock price, while Uber and Lyft’ stocks gained on no further details about Tesla’s proposed robotaxi network service. Overall, the We Robot event was impressive. Cybercab, Robovan are Tesla’s vision for an autonomous future. Optimus is getting closer to moving into homes, and we suspect Tesla has something else up there sleeves. Episode Chapters0:00 Optimus (Robots)2:35 Full Self-Driving (FSD)9:40 Cybercab19:24 Uber & Lyft26:12 Does Amazon Integrate Zoox into a Prime Mobility Tier?28:33 Inductive Charging 32:56 Autonomy Disneyland34:54 Next WeekRecorded on October 11, 2024--------About The Road to AutonomyThe Road to Autonomy® is a leading source of data, insight and commentary on autonomous vehicles/trucks and the emerging autonomy economy™.Sign up for This Week in The Autonomy Economy newsletter: https://www.roadtoautonomy.com/autonomy-economy/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.