The Race Continues

The self-driving car race continues, with new entrants signaling that California remains the location of choice (or at least “a” location of choice) for autonomous vehicle development.

Wheego, an Atlanta-based assembler of low-speed, electric vehicles, has applied for a testing permit.

As has Valeo, a large French automotive supplier.

The encouraging sign here is that both Wheego and Valeo are out of the mold of previous California autonomous vehicle licensees. Whereas previous licensees have mostly been OEMs (Ford, Mercedes), tech companies (Google, Apple), or startups (Otto, Cruise, Drive.ai), these entrants are more esoteric.

Valeo, in particular, represents wider automotive industry coming to Silicon Valley, which is terrific.