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Waymo to Partner With Insurance Startup For Self-Driving Car Passengers

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Jennifer van der Kleut

Waymo, Google’s self-driving spin-off company, is reportedly forming a partnership with an startup out of Danville, California to insure passengers of its future self-driving car-hailing service, according to multiple news outlets including the Wall Street Journal.

The startup, based in Danville, California, is called Trov, Inc. Trov CEO Scott Walchek said the company will be working with Waymo “behind the scenes” to insure riders for any medical expenses, property damage or lost property. Walchek also said that, in most cases, the passengers won’t even be aware, since passengers won’t be charged for the service.

Waymo previously said it hopes to launch a test of its driverless ride-hailing service — which will be similar to apps like Uber and Lyft but with a driverless fleet — with at least a few vans in the Phoenix Metro area by next year.

Apple Invests $1 Billion in Didi Chuxing, the ‘Uber’ of China

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Jennifer van der Kleut

Apple made a decision last week that has many industry experts scratching their heads-they announced the company has invested $1 billion in a ride-hailing company called Didi Chuxing, which many call the Uber of China.

It’s an unprecedented move that has left many asking, why?

The Washington Post has two theories.

Firstly, the Post explains that Apple has billions in revenue tied up overseas, and bringing that money back to the U.S.-such as, by investing in an American company-would come with a costly tax bill.

Secondly, we’ve all heard the rumors that Apple is quietly working behind the scenes to nab a piece of the driverless transportation pie. By investing in Didi Chuxing, Apple is looking toward making progress on that goal.

There’s even a third reason. Didi Chuxing has made no secret of their goal of surpassing other countries like the U.S. when it comes to automotive and technological innovation. By partnering up with Didi Chuxing, Apple is joining forces with one of its biggest potential competitors, as China is second only to the U.S. in those industries.

Xinhua Finance Agency reports that Didi Chuxing completed 1.43 billion rides in China in 2015.

The Post also theorizes that Apple’s monumental investment in a Chinese company will help ease tensions with the Chinese government. Just last month, Apple’s iTunes and iBooks stores were shut down across China over regulatory arguments. In addition, sales of Apple iPhones in Asia have declined by at least 26 percent in the past year.

Though Apple has been largely silent as to their reasons behind the $1-billion investment, CEO Tim Cook did tell Reuters, “We are making the investment for a number of strategic reasons, including a chance to learn more about certain segments of the China market.”

America’s First ‘Truly Sustainable’ Town, Babcock Ranch, Will Run on Driverless Transit

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Jennifer van der Kleut

A former ranch in Florida is aiming to be America’s first truly sustainable town, powered by solar panels and natural gas, and run on driverless transit through a public ride-hailing app.

When the expansive property first went up for sale 10 years ago, the owners received offers from all around the world, according to FastCoexist.com. But the owners decided to sell it to Kitson and Partners, a developer who had a very special plan in mind.

After selling 74,000 acres to the state of Florida to be a nature preserve-the Florida Panther and black bear are found on the land, according to TIME Magazine-Kitson and Partners set about designing the town of Babcock Ranch, which could soon be home to 50,000 pioneering residents.

Babcock Ranch will reportedly be an optimally planned city that is largely walkable. A majority of homes will be close enough to downtown that most people can walk or bike to work or shopping. For those that need to go longer distances, or who will need to commute to another city for work, will be able to hail a driverless electric car through a public app similar to Uber or Lyft, explains Syd Kitson.Babcock Ranch plans

Kitson and Partners have other revolutionary plans in the works as well. Eventually, they want homes to be equipped with tele-health and graywater-recycling infrastructure, and they will be built to withstand all types of weather, so that residents can shelter in place during tornados or hurricanes without having to be evacuated out of town.

They are also researching the newest technology in energy storage. The current plan is that solar energy will power the town during the day when the sun is out, and at night, it will switch over to a grid powered by natural gas. Eventually, Kitson says they want to find a way to store up energy created by the solar panels during the day so that they no longer have to rely on the grid at night.

“The holy grail for renewable energy is figuring out how to store it so you don’t need to turn to the grid at night,” Kitson says. “We’re talking to several companies about how we can do that, even at a neighborhood scale, almost like a micro-community of a system,” Kitson told FastCoexist.com.

Excitingly, construction on the town is already underway. The driverless electric public transportation system is already in the works, and homes should start being built this summer, FastCoexist reports.

TIME Magazine says the town is approximately five times the size of Manhattan, and will be powered by a solar energy plant that features more than 350,000 panels.

Kilson says starting a town like Babcock Ranch from scratch is easier than trying to transform a already existing town.

“How you design your roads—thinking about pedestrian walkways and bike paths, if you’re making it walkable and bikeable and pedestrian-friendly—doing that from the beginning is much easier,” he told FastCoexist.com.

“Babcock Ranch will exemplify what it means to be a town of the future,” he told TIME. “The first residents will be settling into a whole new way of life—one that is conscientious, engaging and connected.”

Images of renderings created by Babcock Ranch.