
Eric Walz
Originally hailing from New Jersey, Eric is a automotive & technology reporter covering the high-tech industry here in Silicon Valley. He has over 15 years of automotive experience and a bachelors degree in computer science. These skills, combined with technical writing and news reporting, allows him to fully understand and identify new and innovative technologies in the auto industry and beyond. He has worked at Uber on self-driving cars and as a technical writer, helping people to understand and work with technology.
Articles
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China’s Baidu Granted Permit to Deploy Self-Driving Vehicles in Beijing Without Human Backup
Dec 07, 2020 1:00 PM WSTOn Friday, China's Baidu said it was granted a permit to deploy self-driving vehicles on public roads in Beijing without human backup drivers. The vehicles are being tested for Baidu’s planned commercial robotaxi service called “Apollo Go.” Baidu said obtaining the driverless testing permit in Beijing is a breakthrough that will help the company accelerate the large-scale deployment of autonomous driving technology across China.
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Lidar Startup Luminar Technologies Inc. Launches IPO, Making its 25-Year-Old Founder One of the World's Youngest Billionaires
Dec 04, 2020 11:50 AM WSTWith billions of dollars pouring into electric vehicle stocks and related technology for self-driving cars, companies are turning to Wall Street to raise capital. The latest IPO in the space is lidar startup Luminar Technologies Inc. The lidar company has completed its business combination with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Gores Metropoulos, Inc. to become a public company listed on the NASDAQ.
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Robotaxi Startup AutoX is Now Picking Up Passengers in its Autonomous Vehicles Without Safety Drivers
Dec 03, 2020 1:15 PM WSTAutonomous driving developer AutoX has launched its robotaxi service in China and the vehicles will be entirely driverless with no safety driver onboard, the company announced on Thursday. AutoX is one of the first companies to operate its ride-hailing fleet on public roads without drivers onboard. The AutoX fleet is made up of modified Chrysler Pacifica minivans.
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Hyundai Reveals its New Dedicated ‘E-GMP’ Platform to Support its Goal to Become a Global EV Leader
Dec 02, 2020 11:45 AM WSTHyundai Motor Group’s plans to introduce a total of 23 electrified models over the next several years, so the company built a dedicated EV platform to serve as the foundation for its future battery-electric vehicles. The automaker revealed its new modular Electric-Global Modular Platform (E-GMP) on Wednesday. The E-GMP represents an entirely new way of building vehicles for Hyundai.
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China’s Rising EV startup NIO Reports a Record Number of November Deliveries
Dec 01, 2020 4:30 PM WSTOn Tuesday, electric vehicle startup NIO reported it delivered 5,291 vehicles during the month of November, its highest number ever. The record deliveries represent a 109.3% year-over-year growth. NIO said it's in the process of accelerating its production capacity this month to accommodate the growing demand for its electric vehicles.
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Tesla Challenger Lucid Motors Completes Phase 1 Construction of its ‘Future Ready’ EV Factory in Arizona
Dec 01, 2020 11:55 AM WSTCalifornia electric vehicle startup Lucid Motors has completed the first phase of construction of its advanced factory in Casa Grande, Arizona, the company announced on Tuesday. The company calls the new facility “Lucid AMP-1”, which stands for Advanced Manufacturing Plant. Lucid says its Arizona factory is the first dedicated solely to electric vehicle production in North America.
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General Motors Signs New Agreement with Hydrogen Fuel Cell Truck Developer Nikola Corp, it Does Not Include Building the Badger Pickup
Nov 30, 2020 3:15 PM WSTNikola Corporation announced today the signing of a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with U.S. automaker General Motors for a global supply agreement for the integration of GM’s Hydrotec fuel-cell system into Nikola’s Class 7 and Class 8 commercial semi-trucks. Nikola said the MOU does not include GM's previously intended $2 billion equity stake or manufacturing the Nikola Badger electric pickup truck.
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Silicon Valley EV Battery Developer QuantumScape Debuts on Wall Street After its Merger with Kensington Capital
Nov 27, 2020 4:15 PM WSTSilicon Valley-based solid state battery developer QuantumScape is now officially a publicly traded company after its debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Friday. QuantumScape is also backed by automaker Volkswagen and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates via his venture capital firm Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which Gates founded in 2015 to help accelerate innovations in sustainable energy.
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Tesla is the Focus of Another Probe by the NHTSA for Suspension Safety Issues
Nov 27, 2020 12:45 PM WSTElectric vehicle manufacturer Tesla has been the focus of numerous investigations by the NHTSA in the past and now the California company finds itself under investigation once again. The NHTSA said on Friday it had opened a preliminary investigation involving 115,000 Tesla models after receiving 43 complaints about failure of the left or right front suspension fore links.
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Elektrobit Unveils an Industry First Software-based Vehicle Architecture Platform for Next-Gen Vehicles
Nov 25, 2020 2:30 PM WSTAutomotive electronics and embedded software supplier Elektrobit (EB) announced its new software platform called “EB xelor”, which the company says is an industry-first platform designed to streamline the development of next-generation automotive electronics architectures that will be based on high-performance computing (HPC). The xelor software platform can support features developed by different automakers.