TLCMKT News (10.21.20): Elon Musk Envisions Drivers Owning Robotaxi Fleets, Uber Making Play for BMW/Mercedes Ridesharing Unit, Cuomo Discourages Travel from NJ/CT, New NYC Subway Map Released

Select TLCMKT news headlines for Wednesday, October 21st 2020

Photo Credit: Bram Van Oost

There Are ‘a Dozen Startups Effectively in Tesla,’ and 4 More Things Elon Musk Said on the Earnings Call (Barron’s / Tesla)

• Tesla held its Q3 earnings call on Wednesday and CEO Elon Musk gave a little more insight into his vision of the future re. self-driving and robotaxis.

• Musk believes self-driving is going to be ready relatively soon and also confirmed a very early version of Tesla’s full self-driving software has been launched.

• Tesla’s CEO also shared his vision of what an autonomous Tesla robotaxi network would look like.

  “You’ve got the car you [can] share with friends and family. You can add or remove it from the [taxi] network. You can have it be entirely in the network. I mean, if you’re an Uber or Lyft driver, you could be managing a fleet of 10 cars. This sort of seems like a shepherd tending the flock type of thing.”

• TLCMKT will have more on this story in the future (make sure to subscribe if you haven’t already so you don’t miss it!).

• Link to story

Uber has offered BMW and Daimler $1.2 billion for its ride-sharing rival, according to reports (MarketWatch)

• Free Now, jointly owned by BMW and Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler, is a major competitor to Uber in London, one of Uber’s largest markets.

• It is thought that Daimler is ready to sell the business, but BMW would rather only offer a stake in the company to Uber.

• Free Now merged with Kapten over the summer. Kapten at the time of the merger was the UK’s second largest rideshare service.

• Link to story

Cuomo urges against non-essential travel to NJ, CT (ABC NY)

• Governor Andrew Cuomo said enforcement for neighboring states is "not practical" while urging against non-essential travel.

• There are currently 39 states and territories on the Tri-State Travel Advisory quarantine list.

  "There are just too many interchanges, too many interconnections, too many people who live in one place and work in the another, it would have a disastrous effect on the economy…And remember while we are fighting this public health pandemic, we are also fighting to open up the economy. We are going to be working with Connecticut and New Jersey to see how we can help them with their spikes, and also talk to Connecticut and New Jersey about making it clear that to the extent that travel among the states or between the states is not essential, it should be avoided." - New York Governor Andrew Cuomo

• Link to story

Finally, a Subway Map With Real-Time Train Locations and Delays (NY Times)

• The MTA released a new real-time map, which will help riders navigate the system more efficiently, including informing riders of service disruptions caused by construction, train breakdowns and other interruptions. It will also show elevators and escalators that are out of service.

• ~30% of the subway’s usual 5.5 million weekday riders are using the system.

• Link to story

NYC Weather from The Weather Channel

The TLCMKT Newsletter is written by Dawood Mian, Founder & CEO of TLCMKT. I cover the NYC ridehailing industry and related news. Search TLCMKT for TLC cars, parts, service, accessories, professional services, reviews & more. Find great deals at TLCMKT.COM.