Members of President-elect Donald Trump's transition team have told advisers that they plan to make a federal framework for self-driving vehicles one in all the Transportation Department's priorities, in line with people accustomed to the matter.
If recent rules allow more widespread use of cars without human control, it should directly profit Elon Musk, the Tesla Inc. chief executive and Trump megadonor who has turn out to be a robust fixture within the president-elect's inner circle. He is betting the longer term of the electrical vehicle maker on self-driving technology and artificial intelligence.
Tesla shares rose greater than 7% shortly after markets opened on Monday, extending their 28% rise since Election Day. Shares of Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., which could face competition from Musk's long-planned robotaxi network, each fell greater than 6% in intraday trading.
Current federal regulations pose significant hurdles for firms that wish to bring vehicles without steering wheels or pedals to market in large numbers, which is what Tesla intends to do.
The Trump team desires to staff the department with leaders who will develop a framework for regulating self-driving vehicles, in line with people accustomed to the matter, who asked to not be identified because they usually are not authorized to talk publicly. The work continues to be at an early stage and the policy details still have to be fleshed out.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration currently allows manufacturers to deploy 2,500 self-driving vehicles per yr under a granted exemption. Additionally, there are a lot of ongoing safety investigations into each autonomous vehicles and driver assistance systems, including features Tesla markets as Autopilot and fully self-driving.
While the Transportation Department, through NHTSA, can set narrow rules that will help clear the best way for autonomous vehicles, mass adoption of self-driving cars will likely require a broader act from Congress. A bipartisan legislative measure within the early stages of debate would create federal rules for AVs, two of the people said.
“Companies want clarity about vehicles with no pedals and no steering wheel,” said Grayson Brulte, founding father of The Road to Autonomy, an information and analytics company focused on self-driving technology. “There could be arguments about this, but if a federal framework is implemented, it could usher in the autonomous economy.”
One candidate for transportation secretary is Emil Michael, a former Uber executive who has spoken to Trump's team and potential employees, in line with people accustomed to the discussions. Republican Reps. Sam Graves of Missouri and Garret Graves of Louisiana were also being considered to steer the department, the people said.
The transition team didn’t reply to requests for comment.
Waymo, cruise
Tesla is attempting to meet up with firms led by Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo, which, unlike Musk's automaker, has already carried passengers in vehicles with nobody behind the wheel.
General Motors Co.'s Waymo and Cruise have largely only used autonomous cars, which still have steering wheels and pedals, although they’ll drive with out a human in the driving force's seat. This is because of state and federal safety requirements, a lot of which were written long before automated driving systems were introduced.
While firms can request an exemption from these standards to operate a limited variety of vehicles without certain controls, Cruise's request for such an exemption has not been processed for greater than two years. In July, GM announced it was abandoning plans for a dedicated autonomous vehicle called Origin.
Autonomous vehicles are also being deployed slowly for safety reasons. Cruise kept his cars off the road for nearly a yr after one in all his vehicles struck and carried away a pedestrian in San Francisco. NHTSA has also initiated defect investigations into Waymo and Amazon.com Inc.'s Zoox unit and Tesla's driver assistance systems. Uber sold its self-driving automobile division in 2020, years after one in all its test vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona.
Tesla's Cybercab
Musk announced plans last month to provide large numbers of driverless Tesla robotaxis starting in 2026. The company introduced the Cybercab and Robovan models last month, which were just prototypes.
Shortly after the event, Musk called for a nationwide approval process for autonomous vehicles. During Tesla's quarterly earnings call, the CEO said he would use a possible role within the Trump administration to push for such a task.
Since then, Trump has appointed Musk and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to go a brand new Ministry of Government Efficiency to “cut government bureaucracy” and cut spending and regulations deemed overly burdensome.
NHTSA currently allows manufacturers to deploy 2,500 self-driving vehicles per yr under a granted waiver, but legislative efforts to extend that number to as many as 100,000 have repeatedly failed.
An analogous bill passed the House several years ago, during Trump's first term, however the measure stalled within the Senate. An attempt within the Biden administration's first yr to merge the bill with other laws failed when some manufacturers tried to incorporate language that will prevent consumers from suing or starting class motion lawsuits.
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