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An Autonomous Car for Consumers? Lucid Says It's Happening.

posted by jelizondo on Wednesday October 29, @11:34AM   
from the dystopian-science dept.

Freeman writes:

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/10/an-autonomous-car-for-consumers-lucid-says-its-happening/

Is it possible to be a CEO in 2025 and not catch a case of AI fever? The latest company to catch this particular cold is Lucid, the Saudi-backed electric vehicle startup. Today, it announced a new collaboration with Nvidia to use the latter's hardware and software, with the aim of creating an autonomous vehicle for consumers. Oh, and the AI will apparently design Lucid's production lines.

Formed by refugees from Tesla who saw a chance to improve on their past work, Lucid has already built the most efficient EV on sale in North America.
[...]
"We've already set the benchmark in core EV attributes with proprietary technology that results in unmatched range, efficiency, space, performance, and handling," said interim CEO Marc Winterhoff. "Now, we're taking the next step by combining cutting-edge AI with Lucid's engineering excellence to deliver the smartest and safest autonomous vehicles on the road. Partnering with Nvidia, we're proud to continue powering American innovation leadership in the global quest for autonomous mobility," Winterhoff said.
[...]
Car buyers are starting to cotton on to driver assists like General Motors' Super Cruise, which about 40 percent of customers choose to pay for after the three-year free trial ends, and Lucid must be hoping that offering a far more advanced system, which won't require the human to pay any attention while it is engaged, will help it earn plenty of money.
[...]
Nvidia's industrial platform will let Lucid create its production lines digitally first before committing them to actual hardware. "By modeling autonomous systems, Lucid can optimize robot path planning, improve safety, and shorten commissioning time," Lucid said.

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Original Submission

• Re:Can't wait .. Re:Can't wait .. (Score: 3, Interesting) by pTamok on Wednesday October 29, @03:59PM (1 child)

  by pTamok (3042) on Wednesday October 29, @03:59PM (#1422704)

  Actually, there was an Australian government study looking at head protection for car occupants/ordinary motorists.

  Department of Transport and Regional Services; Australian Transport Safety Bureau: The Development of a Protective Headband for Car Occupants; Robert W G Anderson, Kirsten White and A Jack McLean; Road Accident Research Unit; University of Adelaide; 2000 [infrastructure.gov.au]

  In 1997 McLean et al. (1997) demonstrated that energy absorbing headwear for car
  occupants might be effective in reducing the numbers of head injuries sustained by car
  occupants. The estimated benefits were greater than the estimated benefits of padding of the
  upper interior of vehicles to the requirements of the US Federal Motor Vehicle Safety
  Standard 201. This report investigates the suitability of selected materials for head
  protection, in the form of a headband that could be worn by car occupants.
  ...
  These tests demonstrate that a headband for car occupants could significantly reduce the
  severity of certain head impacts in a crash. The best prototype headband reduced the HIC
  and peak acceleration values by over 60 percent in a standard test with the interior of the
  car. The reduced impact was approximately equivalent in severity to an unprotected impact
  with the structure at half the speed.

  Further development:

  AUSTRALIAN TRANSPORT SAFETY BUREAU DOCUMENT RETRIEVAL INFORMATION; CR 205; October 2001; Further Development of a Protective Headband for Car Occupants; Anderson RWG, Ponte G, McLean AJ, Tiller R and Hill S; Road Accident Research Unit Adelaide University [infrastructure.gov.au]

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  Starting Score:	1		point
  Moderation		+2
  Interesting=2, Total=2
  Extra 'Interesting' Modifier		0
  Total Score:		3

• Re:Can't wait .. (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 29, @04:18PM

  by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 29, @04:18PM (#1422706)

  > ... head protection for car occupants/ordinary motorists.

  c.1980 I had a clapped out step van (ex-commercial delivery truck) that had been sort-of converted to a camper. It came with no seat belt for the driver, and the passenger seat was a very sketchy bench added by the previous owners. One of my more sensible passengers always wore a motorcycle helmet while riding with me.

  Parent