Autonomous technology developer Aurora Innovation, Inc. announced it has opened a specific lane for driverless commercial vehicles in Texas, supported by two terminals located on either side of the route. Aurora is touting this new autonomous truck lane as an industry first as it prepares for a commercial launch next year.
Aurora Innovation, Inc. ($AUR) is a developer of autonomous commercial vehicles and adjacent technologies that continues to evolve in its quest to reach commercial operations. Its technology has shown a lot of promise to date, garnering the attention (and checkbooks) of multiple automakers, including Toyota, Peterbilt, and Uber Freight.
In 2019, Aurora acquired LiDAR company Blackmore, enabling it to begin developing a sensing suite finally capable of safely operating large trucks autonomously at high speeds and through inclement weather conditions.
Since 2020, the company has been deploying Class 8 trucks integrated with its own Aurora Driver technology utilizing said proprietary LiDAR. This led to a reunion with former partner Volvo, which has since integrated Aurora Driver into its own trucks.
Last we spoke of Aurora, it was continuing its work toward the launch of self-driving trucks as a service (TaaS) called “Aurora Horizon” in 2024, following a massive round of funding to the tune of $820 million.
As it prepares to begin sending autonomous trucks out between its two new terminals in Texas, it has opened up a driverless-specific lane for them to safely navigate.
Aurora’s new Houston terminal / Credit: Aurora Innovation, Inc.
Aurora stays in its own lane… for autonomous trucks
According to details from the company, it has officially opened the autonomous commercial vehicle industry’s first driverless truck lane across I-45 between Dallas and Houston. Aurora currently has commercial-ready terminals in place in those two cities to support the trucks as they navigate back and forth.
Per Aurora, nearly half of all truck freight in the state of Texas moves along I-45, where the new driverless lane has been implemented, so it sees the corridor as an ideal route for its commercial launch of autonomous operations. Per Aurora co-founder and chief product officer Sterling Anderson:
Opening a driverless trucking lane flanked by commercially-ready terminals is an industry-first that unlocks our ability to launch our driverless trucking product. With this corridor’s launch, we’ve defined, refined, and validated the framework for the expansion of our network with the largest partner ecosystem in the autonomous trucking industry.
The terminals Anderson references are already being used by Aurora to store, maintain, prepare, inspect, and deploy autonomous trucks between destinations. The company shared that it has developed a specific terminal blueprint to implement a myriad of features to make each terminal commercial-ready when driverless truck services officially begin.
By designing and implementing these commercial-ready terminals, Aurora says it already has the capabilities to support driverless trucks 24/7, 365 days a year. These two initial terminals are already operating day and night, supporting trucks that haul over 75 loads per week for nearby pilot customers.
In addition to the terminals and new autonomous truck lane, Aurora shared that it is working to implement a new Command Center to further support its around-the-clock operations. Per the release:
Aurora’s Command Center includes a team of remote specialists who monitor and provide guidance to the active fleet of Aurora-powered trucks, and dispatchers who allocate trucks, trailers, and vehicle operators to missions. Aurora’s Command Center already supports commercial pilot hauls and is prepared to support driverless missions.
With more and more commercial infrastructure being put into place, Aurora appears poised to reach its target of commercial truck services in late 2024. This will be an operation to keep an eye on. For now, here’s a video Aurora recently provided showcasing its new autonomous truck lane and terminals in Texas.
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Air taxi startup Vertical Aerospace achieved a world’s first this week, completing the first flight between two airports through public airspace for an eVTOL at the Royal International Air Tattoo in Gloucestershire, England.
The Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT) is the world’s largest military airshow, held every July and serving as a public showcase for the latest advancements in aviation technology. It’s fitting, then, that RIAT served as setting for the Vertical VX4 prototype’s first piloted public flight.
The eVTOL aircraft flew 17 miles from the company’s Flight Test Centre at Cotswold Airport to RAF Fairford, a Royal Air Force station used by the US Air Force. The Vertical VX4 reached speeds of 115 mph, and an altitude of 1800 ft, and also marked the first landing at a public location for an aircraft of this type.
The Vertical Aerospace entry was the only battery-electric aircraft present at RIAT 2025, and the flight served as a demonstration of the company’s broader strategy to unlock new hybrid-electric applications for defense, logistics, and special/close support missions where the eVTOL’s (relatively) quiet operations could give it a tactical advantage.
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“RIAT is a global stage for the most advanced, mission-ready aerospace technology, and we’re proud to showcase how electric aviation will support the future of defense,” says Stuart Simpson, CEO of Vertical Aerospace. “Our hybrid-electric roadmap unlocks new capabilities for military operations, and Vertical’s RIAT presence reinforces our commitment to playing a meaningful role in the future of military and special mission aviation.”
Vertical’s VX4 debuted last year, with a 20% increase in the power-to-weight ratio that enables a top cruising speed of 150 mph and transports four passengers plus a pilot up to 100 miles on a single charge.
The inaugural VX4 flight was witnessed by several thousand UK aircraft enthusiasts, and showed how an eVTOL aircraft could integrate with real-world airport operations, building momentum toward more regular, certified deployment.
Electrek’s Take
Archer, BETA, EHang, Joby, XPeng – the list of eVTOL manufacturers seems to be as long as the list of new electric car brands that didn’t exist back when I first started working with EVs back in ::gulp:: the 1990s. The future of regional point-to-point air travel certainly seems to be vertical, and electric.
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Say what you will about Elon Musk, but Tesla has changed the way that millions of people buy cars and, by extension, car insurance. Now, Honda is taking a page from Tesla’s successful playbook and launching its own in-house insurance business. Enter: Honda Insurance Solutions.
Honda Insurance Solutions is being launched as a fully licensed insurance agency serving the insurance needs of Acura and Honda customers, but it’s not stopping at competitive pricing and coverage options for Honda cars and motorcycles. Honda Insurance Solutions promises to go several steps beyond Tesla’s offering with coverage for trailers, RVs, homes, and even pets.
“Honda Insurance Solutions offers customers access to coverage through a brand they know and trust,” says Petar Vucurevic, President, American Honda Insurance Solutions, LLC and Senior Vice President, American Honda Finance Corporation. “Insurance is a key touchpoint in the vehicle ownership journey, and we aim to deliver a superior experience tailored to the unique needs of each customer, while promoting safer driving and increased peace of mind on the road.”
The company says the launch of its new insurance business is just part of Honda’s broader digital vehicle sales platform strategy, with future plans to integrate insurance offerings into new products.
What Honda is doing right now is deepening relationships with its existing customers and finding ways to make money on products it hasn’t sold them – whether that’s the Harley parked in the garage next to their Prologue or the garage itself.
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Nobody ever says “this is business” before doing something nice, and the recently reborn Lion Electric company is keeping that streak alive by doing the unthinkable to cut costs: they’re going to void the warranties on hundreds of electric school buses.
In a letter issued to exiting Lion Electric customers last week, Deloitte Restructuring announced that the warranties on all Lion vehicles purchased outside of the company’s home Province of Quebec are null and void – leaving dozens of school districts in the lurch with stranded assets that won’t get fixed, and can’t be sold to generate funds for replacements.
“We are working with alternate vendors at the expense of the school district to help keep our electric buses functional and on the road,” explains Dr. Richard Decman, Superintendent of Herscher CUSD No. 2 district in Herscher, Illinois. “Currently, six of our 25 (Lion) electric buses need some type of repair.”
Student Transportation News reports that Lion buses represent fully half of Herscher’s overall fleet of 50 buses, and that the district has received nearly $10 million for the purchase of 25 electric buses and the related charging stations from various state and utility incentive programs.
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Herscher isn’t the only district having problems with Lion buses. “All four Lion buses that we own are currently parked and not being used,” Coleen Souza, interim transportation director of Winthrop Public Schools, told Clean Trucking. “Two of them are in need of repairs which would cost us money which we are not willing to invest in because the buses do not run for more than a month before needing more repairs.”
More of the same in Maine, where Yarmouth School Department bought two Lion Electric buses in 2023 with the state covering the costs. According to Superintendent Andrew Dolloff, the buses almost never worked. “We’ve had some sporadic service over the past two years, but as soon as the tech leaves, the buses produce error codes again,” explained Dolloff. ” and “Then the technician quits or is released, and we wait a few months for the next response.”
Dolloff added that Yarmouth’s electric buses did not operate during the 2024-25 school year.
Lion’s new owners are seemingly uninterested in their customers’ plight – which might be easily dismissed if those new owners, Groupe MACH, weren’t also the old owners of Lion Electric.
That’s right, kids. Quebec-based real estate company Groupe MACH, which stepped in to “save” Lion Electric earlier this summer, along with Ontario-based Mirella & Lino Saputo Foundation, bought $90 million of equity in Lion Electric back in 2023. And, while the MACH people may not have been the ones who ultimately made the call about voiding the warranties (that decision was made by the Deloitte bankruptcy team), it is absolutely Group MACH who have, to date, not announced plans to continue to honor those warranties, either.
Make of that what you will.
Deloitte Lion letter
SOURCES: School Transportation News, Clean Trucking, Deloitte.
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