Episodes
A quick, belated farewell, and an invitation to subscribe to my newsletter Future Perfect covering AI, AVs/EVs, and climate tech. You can give it a read and subscribe over at http://futureperfect.news Also, for the lawyers amongst you, I'm thrilled to announce the Law Practice of Marc E. Hoag, focused on all things AI and tech including US Copyright law. You can find me at http://marchoaglaw.com Thank you so much for making Autonomous Cars with Marc Hoag the first organic result on Google...
Published 06/28/23
Published 06/28/23
Today's episode is the second installment in my two-part series on Keysight Technologies. Last time I was joined by Henrik Liebau where we discussed a bit of a teaser on Keysight's upcoming autonomous vehicle sensor testing suite in anticipation of their big reveal at CES 2022; today I'm joined by a colleague of Henrik's, Sven Kopacz, where we finally get to unpack and discuss in great detail everything about their incredible new Radar Scene Emulator (learn more and Keysight.com and...
Published 01/28/22
Keysight Technologies is arguably the leader in electronic design and testing equipment. Spun out of Agilent Technologies, itself spun out of HP -- yes, that HP -- and manufacturing everything from oscilloscopes to digital multimeters, from signal generators to AC and DC power sources; from bit error ratio testers to 5G OTA chambers, not to mention their exhaustive suite of testing and and monitoring software, Keysight provides all the necessary hardware and software testing for OEMs and tier...
Published 12/14/21
So I finally got it. I finally got the (in)famous Tesla Full Self-Driving beta, otherwise known as FSD beta, v10.3.1 to be precise. This is my personal account of testing across three different days in New England, about 40 minutes north of Boston. Day One was a biblical, torrential rain; but days Two and Three were pristinely beautiful and sunny. All three days left me with the same conclusion.  FYI: I'm putting together a video of my FSD beta test; it should be available on my YouTube...
Published 11/05/21
Today, I discuss the potential legal issue surrounding Tesla's FSD, specifically, whether it can -- or can't -- be transferred to a future Tesla vehicle, especially considering that none of us have received the very thing we paid for.
Published 10/15/21
Today: Pouria Paknejad, More on Tesla FSD Beta, etc. In today’s third installment in the ongoing discussion on Tesla’s imminent, infamous FSD beta deployment, I’m joined by Motiv Mobility advisor, fellow attorney, all-around tech and automotive nerd and guru, and dear friend, Pouria Paknejad, as we thoroughly discuss, dissect, debate, and devour all there is surrounding this polarizing experiment by Team Elon and Co. Have a listen, and be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or...
Published 10/08/21
Today: Tesla’s FSD Beta request deployment So picking up where we left off last time, I unpack the five metrics Tesla is using to calculate your “Safety Score” to determine whether you’re lucky enough to get access to Tesla’s Full Self Driving beta. I also dive into a few questions and concerns, and try to cover as much as ground as possible. Have a listen, and be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen; and don’t forget to follow me on all social media...
Published 10/01/21
Today: Tesla’s FSD Beta request deployment! Tesla’s (supposedly) about to finally deploy its infamous Tesla FSD Beta to a wider audience… sort of. Tonight. Maybe. And it’s not really a full deployment, rather it’s a “Request” button which will enable those of us, like yours truly, who already purchased FSD, to — you guessed it — to “request” FSD Beta. After requesting, Tesla’s insurance system will analyze your last seven consecutive days of driving to determine whether you “qualify” for...
Published 09/24/21
Today: VW’s impressive AV plans, Germany’s AV regulation, and Tesla’s FSD beta v9. All this... right now. VW’s AV plans VW has pivoted from being the leader is diesel fuel, to a potential leader in the EV space; and now it’s doing the same with its AV initiatives with everything from a software platform to its co-ownership with Ford of Argo.ai. Germany’s AV legislation Germany seems poised to pass legislation allowing for driverless Level 4 autonomous vehicle driving on its roads come...
Published 07/13/21
Today: 7/11 installs EV charging stations; Cruise starts driverless passenger rides; Volvo announces a Lidar-equipped Level 4 XC90 for 2022. All this... right now.  7/11 chargers They're not quite Super Gulp Slurpies -- or whatever 7/11 calls its diabetes-inducing ambrosia these days -- but 7/11 is indeed moving forward with a plan to install some 500 chargers at their various stores across the US. This is a pretty great idea if only to entice folks to stop and buy up more junk food from...
Published 07/09/21
1. Cruise in Dubai: Cruise becomes the exclusive partner to launch a robotaxi service in Dubai from 2023 to 2030, with the aim of getting 4000 Cruise Origins on Dubai's roads. 2. Tesla's vision-only FSD v9.0: Elon announces that a soon-to-be-released version of Full Self Driving beta, v9.0, will be "vision-only," meaning no radar, and of course, still no lidar, i.e., it will be camera-based only. 3. Mercedes EQS: The new electric S-Klasse, the EQS, is a technological and aesthetic marvel,...
Published 04/13/21
Today: 1. The conclusion for Xpeng's cross-China AV trek 2. The auto insurance industry in an autonomous future  3. A huge AV simulation testing service 
Published 04/01/21
Today: 1. Xpeng starts a six day autonomous trek across China 2. BMW's larger, curvier iDrive suggests revolutionary AV capabilities  3. Cruise does indeed acquire Voyage, but I'm not entirely pleased with the implications All this... right now.
Published 03/26/21
***This episode brought to you in party by The Information. Get 75% off your first month at TheInformation.com/Hoag*** My guest today is Allan Witters, the CEO of T4L -- that's Transportation for Life -- a brand-agnostic electric vehicle subscription service that already has over $3M in pre-orders, and is already eyeing an IPO; they've also got a WeFunder page. If that sounds a bit much, a bit too sudden, a bit too everything to be true, that's because the T4L team are determined to do...
Published 03/23/21
My guest today is Noel Marshall of the drive-by-wire team over at Schaeffler's US offices. We discuss everything from their Indy Autonomous Challenge; the SAM Car Project; the USDOT inclusive design challenge; and tackle some of the much broader issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, society, and much more besides.
Published 03/19/21
Today: 1. I explain further why AVs need to be EVs, and talk about Cruise's huge new charging station in SF 2. I explain why teleoperations should be considered as an alternative to AVs 3. Argo.ai has partnered up with LabCampus at Munich Airport to develop an AV test track
Published 03/13/21
Today:  1. All AVs must be EVs in California by 2025 2. Pennsylvania recognizes delivery bots as "pedestrians"  3. I debate the notion that Tesla's FSD beta is nothing more than a glorified L2 system
Published 03/10/21
1. We reflect on Didi and AutoX's progress on autonomous ride sharing in China; their remote control center; and the validation of AVs in a covid world 2. Honda surprises the world with the first publicly available L3 vehicle 3. Cruise may have just bought Voyage
Published 03/05/21
NHTSA: Final barriers to be removed thanks to NHTSA's final rule on AVs GM: The new circular test track offers 4 lanes and 62 mph AV testing Baidu: They get ready for numerous deployments in China and become the 6th company in California to get a driverless testing permit
Published 03/02/21
1. Volkswagen and Microsoft partner up to deploy an automotive cloud solution for OTA updates and AV capabilities  2. UK values AVs at £42B by 2035 3. Germany gets closer to allowing L4 vehicles on public roads
Published 02/26/21
Apple buys lidar: Apple is off shopping for lidar. I theorize that they're likely going after solid state lidar. Lucid gets SPAC'd: First Faraday, and now, as I predicted, so has Lucid, to the tune of $4.4B. Volvo's solution for motion sickness: Volvo is using predictive data to solve motion sickness with audio queues.
Published 02/23/21
Faraday Future: FF just went public via a SPAC valuing the troubled EV automaker at $3.4B Aurora & Toyota: The AV technology company partners up with Toyota to utilize their Sienna minivan for ride hailing fleets Apple Car: Apple's long-rumored Apple Car is apparently not happening with Hyundai-Kia; so what's going on? 
Published 02/12/21
Guest: Jessica Uguccioni, Automated Vehicles Review - Lead Lawyer, at Law Commission of England and Wales Topics: The Law Commission of England and Wales' review of the UK's regulatory framework for AVs on behalf of the UK Government's Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV)
Published 02/02/21
Watch this review on my YouTube channel: YouTube.com/AutonomousCarsWithMarcHoag Read this review on my Medium channel  So I know this review has been a long time coming; those of you who listen to my podcast will remember that my wife and I took delivery of our white-on-white Tesla Model Y Long Range All Wheel Drive in June of this year; based on a delivery tracking site, I think it’s safe to say we were one of the first in California to take possession of that particular configuration. And...
Published 12/24/20