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The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) announced later this week that it plans to streamline the Part 555 exemption process to make it faster for automakers who want to deploy self-driving vehicles built without human control, such as steering wheels and pedals.
The letter sent to “stakeholders” (meaning companies working on AVS) is still fairly unclear. Manufacturers must also provide a level of safety equivalent to a vehicle with no traditional steering wheel, driver-operated brakes or rearview mirrors, demonstrating that the exemption is in the public interest.
The main point here is that NHTSA argues that the current Part 555 exemption process is not very suitable for vehicles equipped with autonomous driving systems, and is a long and complicated process. In short, agents want to speed things up.
In other federal agency-related news, Trump has issued several executive orders related to drones and rapid supersonic travel.
Side note: I see that my prediction (from previous edition) is correct that Trump Elon’s musk fallout will turn into one of the repetitive relationships that correspond to those on.
Let’s get into the rest of the news.
Little bird
Last week I shared a scoop about Johnny Eve’s Love From Furum company, who works with Libian designers, and the skunk works team that also drives them to micromobility startups.
Well, a little more few birds popped out to share a little more and clarify the relationship. I learned that this project is an Inder for codename. Libian actually applied for a trademark named Inder, but later abandoned it. Sources also shared that while the LoveFrom team worked on industrial design expertise, bringing it to obviously cool motor design, it’s not involved in UI/UX.
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Great deal!
JetZero, a zero-emission jet aircraft company based in Long Beach, California, is working on Blendwing Aircraft, and is set to build a factory in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company, which supports various venture capital firms (such as truck VCs) and strategic investors such as United Airlines and Alaska Airlines, said it will invest $4.7 billion over the next decade of the project. Construction of the facility is expected to begin in the first half of 2026, with first customer delivery going to take place in the early 2030s, the company said.
This transaction has important details. This includes more than $1.1 billion in state performance incentives, subject to Jetzero, which will be paid for nearly 40 years and create more than 14,000 jobs between 2027 and 2036.
Other deals worth noting…
Battery materials startup Mitra Chem has raised $15.6 million of the planned $50 million funding round.
Notable readings and other information
Self-driving cars
Waymo Rides costs more than Uber or Lyft. And according to Obi, an app that aggregates real-time prices and pickup times across multiple ride services, people are paying anyway. The company has published what it called “the first detailed investigation of Waymo’s pricing strategy.” TL;DR: Waymo’s self-driving vehicle vehicles are consistently more expensive than Uber and Lyft’s comparison products. That doesn’t seem to matter.
The Waymo Robotaxis became a symbol of the LA protest after images showing some unmanned vehicles – anti-ice graffiti and shattered tires. Waymo has planned to remove remaining vehicles from downtown LA area, pursue criminal prosecutions for those who destroyed Robotaxis, and collect damages. The incident raises several important surveillance questions about how numerous cameras and sensors on Waymo vehicles are being used, and whether they are providing camera footage to authorities to identify protesters. Waymo did not answer our questions about it.
At least according to Tesla CEO Elon Musk, June 22nd is the Big Tesla Robotakshi release date, held in Austin, Texas.
Wayve and Uber have announced plans to launch a completely unmanned Robotaxi service in London. However, this didn’t happen anytime soon, and the timing is worth noting here. The UK government recently announced an acceleration framework for autonomous driving commercial pilots for deployment in the second half of 2027 and spring 2026.
Electric cars, batteries, charging
Infinite Machine, a New York-based micromobility startup backed by the A16Z, has revealed a sitting scooter called OLTO, which costs $3,495 if it starts shipping later this year. The OLTO features a 40-mile range pulled from an easily replaced 48V lithium-ion battery.
In-car technology
Apple’s WWDC 2025 event revealed several car-related items, including the company adding widgets and message tapbacks to CarPlay on iOS 26.