What We’re Reading
Tesla hit with ‘right to repair’ antitrust class actions (Reuters, March 15, 2023)
Tesla is facing yet more litigation as two proposed antitrust class actions have been filed alleging that the automaker unlawfully curbed competition for maintenance and replacement parts for its EVs. The pair of lawsuits allege that Tesla designed its EVs, warranties, and repair policies specifically to deter owners from utilizing independent repair facilities outside Tesla’s network.
According to this article, the lawsuits seek to “dismantle” Tesla’s monopolistic repair and service facilities, and to make Tesla’s repair manuals and diagnostic tools “available to individuals and independent repair shops at a reasonable cost.” An attorney for one of the proposed classes is quoted as saying “Tesla needs to open up its ecosystem and allow competition for the servicing of Tesla [vehicles] and sales of parts.” Tesla representatives did not immediately comment or respond.
The proposed classes include all individuals who paid Tesla for repairs or parts after March 2019. Although damages are not specified in the complaints, the potential classes ultimately could include hundreds of thousands of Tesla owners and lessees, with damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
The litigations against Tesla are captioned Virginia Lambrix v. Tesla Inc, No. 3:23-cv-01145 and Robert Orendian v. Tesla, No. 3:23-cv-01157, both in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Similar “right to repair” antitrust litigation has been filed against Harley-Davidson in Wisconsin federal court, and Deere & Co., the world's largest farm equipment maker, in federal district court in Chicago.
Forward and Kodiak Robotics Becomes First Companies to Operate Consistent Autonomous Trucking Service Between Dallas and Atlanta (PR Newswire, March 16, 2023)
Kodiak Robotics, Inc., a leader in the nascent autonomous trucking space, is expanding its collaboration with Forward Air Corporation, a leader in the commercial transportation service space, to include the operation of an almost continuous autonomous freight service across a nearly 800-mile freight lane between Dallas and Atlanta. Kodiak’s partnership with Forward is the latest in its rapidly burgeoning fleet and carrier partnership business model, which includes similar deals with IKEA, Werner Enterprises, U.S. Xpress, 10 Roads Express and CEVA Logistics.
Despite the operational and technical challenges facing the commercial self-driving industry, Kodiak has differentiated its services by maintaining a perfect safety record and industry leading customer service to Forward during the course of their pilot program, which commenced in August 2022. Kodiak credits its success to the reliability of its autonomous system and the unique flexibility and speed of its proprietary mapping solution, which allows it to issue real-time, fleet-wide mapping updates over-the-air. As an added safety measure, a safety driver team oversees and monitors Kodiak’s autonomous system.
Tom Schmitt, Chairman, President and CEO of Forward said, “To serve our customers, we always need to be on the forefront of exploring emerging technologies. Kodiak has earned an outstanding reputation in safe autonomous trucking, and this collaboration allows us to explore potential benefits to our business. While we don’t see autonomous trucks replacing independent contractor capacity, this could potentially be a scalable solution for certain lanes in our network.”
Kodiak’s Founder and CEO Don Burnette added, “We are proving out our business model by moving time-sensitive freight across thousands of miles and multiple hours of service through our collaboration with Forward. ... The tweener lane between Dallas and Atlanta is long and difficult to staff, so it perfectly illustrates how autonomous trucks can make the supply chain more efficient and resilient and supplement our customers’ human driven fleets. At the same time, we are showcasing the reliability and ruggedness of our autonomous system, which is able to operate for six days straight without needing rest or recalibration—a significant achievement.”
GM Is Fed Up Of Not Having Self-Driving Vehicle Rules In Place (CarBuzz, March 19, 2023)
In a recent meeting with prominent members of Congress, GM’s CEO Mary Barra once again urged lawmakers to enact legislation to facilitate the development of self-driving in the United States. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI) agreed, saying “[w]e must act to ensure US manufacturers can compete with countries like China, create jobs here and improve roadway safety."
GM has been at the domestic forefront of AV technology, from its self-driving subsidiary Cruise to its yet-to-be-approved plans to manufacture vehicles without steering wheels. Those vehicles include the Origin, which GM hopes “to one day replace heavily modified examples of the Chevy Bolt EV as GM's flagship autonomous vehicle.”
This is not the first time GM has lobbied for self-driving vehicle legislation, with Cruise having specifically asked President Biden for such legislation back in 2021.