Andrew J. Hawkins

After almost two years of testing and a gradual phase-in program, Waymo says its finally ready to provide 24/7 robotaxi service at Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport. It’s a pretty big milestone, given how financially essential airports trips are for all human-powered ridehail and taxi services. Waymo also recently completed its 100,000th trip to the airport, and is available for curbside pickup at Terminals 3 and 4. Airport pickups are typically pretty chaotic. So, good luck robots!

I got an uncomfortable feeling while reading this essay about the difficulties of finding a reliable means of transportation from the DNC. Part of it is the over-reliance of cities on ridehail apps like Uber to accommodate large numbers of people in the absence of adequate public transit. And the other part is the knowledge that this is just the way it’s going to be from now on. Taxi stands are a thing of the past. Uber has its claws sunk deep in the government. We’re all stuck in the Ride App Zone for life.

The US Department of Transportation is hosting a half-day webinar about EV battery safety, in light of several high-profile incidents of deadly fires sparked by lithium-ion battery cells. The August 27th event, which is free to the public, will feature “representatives from DOT and other agencies and organizations will discuss EVs and fire safety topics related to lithium-ion batteries.” The webinar comes a few days after California firefighters had to dump hundreds of gallons of water on a burning Tesla Semi in order to cool the battery pack.

The robotaxi company says its doing 100,000 paid trips a week, up from 50,000 a week last May. This comes after the company got rid of its waitlist in San Francisco, and expanded its service area in the city. Saswat Panigrahi, chief product officer, had this to say about the milestone:

People still think of autonomous vehicles as the faraway future, but for more and more people, they’re now an everyday reality.

People also don’t want to hear lots of robot cars honking at each other in parking lots as part of their everyday reality, but I digress. (Fixed this time, hopefully?)

Tesla is selling a cooler sized to fit perfectly in the weirdly-shallow Cybertruck frunk. And yes, it’s made of stainless steel. And yes, you can fill it full of Cyberbeer that I initially mistook for an IPA made by the Zodiac Killer because I forgot that Tesla makes its own beer now. But the real kick in the crotch is the price. Because why is god’s name would anyone shell out $700 for a cooler? Of course the answer is the same people who would pay $100,000 for an electric truck made by the guy who thinks people are being too mean to oil and gas executives. Now that’s cool.