What We’re Reading

• San Francisco balks at Cruise settlement offer (San Francisco Examiner February 29, 2024)

  Cruise’s attempt to settle the ongoing investigation of its purported failure to fully disclose information regarding an October pedestrian dragging incident to the California Public Utilities Commission is meeting resistance from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. “San Francisco does not support approval of the proposed settlement as submitted,” said city attorney David Chiu in a letter to CPUC. “In most, if not all cases, complete and accurate video (and audio) offers the best and most easily accessible information about a crash involving a driverless AV. Any settlement agreement should address the standards for making complete and accurate video and audio available to the Commission,” Chiu added.

  At a hearing on Feb. 6, Cruise offered to pay sanctions of $112,000 and to voluntarily make several “new data reporting enhancements” to the commission as part of its proposed settlement offer to resolve the investigation. Thus, it appears Cruise is now agreeing to automatically submit data to CPCU whenever there is any AV accident, not just when requested.  This no doubt will result in the submission of substantially more data to CPCU going forward. Others likely will follow suit.

• Bill to help build electric vehicle infrastructure in rural areas moves along (Royal Examiner, March 4, 2024)

  In an effort to expand its charging network to distressed rural areas, state legislators in Virginia recently introduced House Bill 107, which would create a state fund to help subsidize the cost of public electric charging stations. The bill would give public charging station developers funds for up to 70% of the non-utility costs to build charging stations. This attempt to expand the EV charging network aligns with Virginia’s Clean Car Act, which will begin banning the sale of gas-powered vehicles in 2035. 

  So, will the House pass the bill? According to the opinion of the author, “[t]he House will likely reject House Bill 107’s amendment because that will send the bill to conference, a relatively regular practice in the legislature where a select group of lawmakers meets in private to work out differences between any bills. Otherwise, if the bill remains as is, the re-enactment clause effectively kills it because it means the bill will have to come back for approval next year before it becomes law.”  We’ll be watching Virginia to see if the House approves or if Bill 107 gets pushed back another year.

• US to probe national safety risks of Chinese cars (Just Auto, March 4, 2024)

  The White House announced that the Secretary of Commerce will be opening an investigation into connected vehicles that are imported from China that may be collecting “sensitive data” about United States citizens, and whether these vehicles are a national security threat.

  In response, China foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated, “China’s door has been open to global auto companies, including US auto companies who fully shared in dividends of China’s big market.”  She further told the United States to “respect the laws of market economy and the principles of fair competition.”

  Currently, there are few Chinese imported vehicles in the United States, and EV maker BYD continues to focus on Europe and Asia for its largest markets. Europe is “bracing for a Chinese export offensive” as BYD continues to dominate the EV market, recently announcing is cheapest electric vehicle, the BYD Seagull EV, starting at under $10,000.