ProClip Roundup: Season 4 Episode 7
Hello everybody and welcome to the first ProClip Roundup of 2019! It’s the weekly news show where we bring you all the mobile and car tech news that’s worth talking about! Let’s get into this week’s stories.
Waymo Taxis Under Attack
Waymo’s fleet of self-driving taxis in Phoenix, Arizona has been under attack from the apparent revolution against the machines and AI. People have been slashing tires and throwing rocks at the Waymo vans, and one driver aimed a Jeep head-on to force the taxi to come to a halt. Self-driving cars do have a tragic history in Arizona, with a fatal accident involving a self-driving Uber in 2018. The COO of Phoenix’s Valley Metro transit system said, “Don’t let individual criminals throwing rocks or slashing tires derail efforts to drive the future of transportation.”
Tesla Drops Prices
With the start of 2019, the federal tax credit for purchasing a Tesla is officially no more. Tesla announced a $2,000 price drop on each of their models to counteract the rollback of the tax credit. Additionally, Tesla announced they delivered nearly 1,000 Model 3s per day to customers in Q4 and delivered 245,240 vehicles in 2018, which is below the target set by CEO Elon Musk. Tesla even kept 44 of their stores open until midnight on December 31 in an attempt to sell as many vehicles as possible in 2018.
The First Hydrogen-Powered SUV from Hyundai
As automakers continue to push for alternatives to traditional internal combustion engines, Hyundai has provided another option. The Hyundai Nexo is a hydrogen-powered SUV with a starting price tag of $58,300. Despite the limited infrastructure for hydrogen fueling stations, it is exciting to see automakers continue to innovate. The first Nexo was just delivered to a customer in Southern California.
Another Samsung Bixby Speaker
Even though we are yet to see the Samsung Galaxy Home smart speaker that was promised in August, it has been leaked that Samsung is working on yet another more affordable Bixby powered speaker. This means that Samsung will have two speakers that nobody will buy. The race to put listening devices in your home continues!
That’s it for this week’s ProClip Roundup! Check out the bonus story on Instagram, and be sure to subscribe on YouTube so you never miss the biggest news. We’ll be bringing you next week’s season finale from CES 2019 in Las Vegas!
