GETT OFFER £20 RIDES IN UNLICENSED PORSCHE

Imagine a world where taxi drivers liked Uber and Uber used Porsches instead of hybrid Toyotas. That’s not as fantastical as it sounds, as Uber-rival Gett has announced a partnership with Porsche that will see 100 of its cars available ‘on demand’ in London from tomorrow.

Don’t get too excited; you won’t be able to race across London in a GT3 RS. Porsche says its models being provided as part of the deal include the Panamera 4 E-Hybrid, the Cayenne S E-Hybrid and the not-yet-available-as-a-hybrid Macan. Unfortunately, they won’t be available via the Gett app to everyone – the deal’s limited to high-value customers who may consider buying a Porsche in the future.

If you are eligible for a taxi ride in a Porsche, Gett is offering a flat-rate fee of £20 for any rides within a certain area of central London. Rides ending outside of central London will be charged accordingly, says the firm.

All drivers will have been specially trained at Porsche’s experience centre at Silverstone, meaning you don’t have to worry about being made travel sick as you’re driven across London.

“We’re delighted that our customers will be able to travel in Porsche cars in central London with chauffeurs,” said Porsche GB general manager marketing, Ragnar Schulte. “This premium travel initiative will last six months with results being used to inform our future strategy for ‘on-demand’, premium transportation. We invite all users to give feedback on this new service.”

The offer will run until May 2018 and will be available for on-demand pick-up in an area of central London between 11am and 11pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and between 3pm and 3am on Friday and Saturday.

https://www.motoringresearch.com/car-news/porsche-gett-taxi-rides/

UPDATE AND APOLIGY: Gett have licensed the Porsche used for the £20 rides in London

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Explosive testimony from an Uber whistleblower forced a delay in the landmark Uber-Waymo trial on Tuesday, a day before jury selection was scheduled to begin.

In a rare move, the US Attorney's Office last week alerted the federal judge overseeing the case to the existence of the "Jacobs Letter", a previously secret 37-page letter filled with allegations about Uber's behavior and security practices from a former employee.

It was sent to Uber by attorneys for Richard Jacobs, Uber's former manager of global intelligence who resigned from the company in April. Uber later settled with Jacobs over his allegations for $4.5 million in August.

On Tuesday, Jacobs took the stand in the Waymo-Uber case. In testimony that could prove damaging to Uber, he said his former colleagues' in the intelligence group had been given a mission to steal trade secrets and confidential information from rivals overseas in an attempt to understand the company's foreign competitors. The team's "successes" included acquiring leaked confidential company code that had been posted publicly on GitHub, getting information on drivers overseas, and acquiring general metrics about its competitors overseas, Jacobs said.

"I did not believe it was patently legal," Jacobs said. "I had questions about the ethics of it."

According to Jacobs, Uber's lawyers also trained and coached employees on how to communicate securely using ephemeral messaging apps and "non-attributable" devices that wouldn't show as belonging to Uber. This was used for market research, Jacobs said, but the attorney's letter also alleges that it was designed to "impede" and "obstruct" any potential litigation.

In the Jacobs letter, his lawyer claimed Uber employees specifically went to Pittsburgh, home to Uber's autonomous vehicle efforts, to teach employees about secure communication -- "with the specific intent of preventing Uber’s unlawful schemes from coming to see the light of day."

Ed Russo, another Uber security employee, denied during his testimony that he and two other employees tried to teach Uber's self-driving employees about how to evade discovery in litigation. Instead, he claims most of the discussions revolved around good security practices, including basics like using a password on computers.

"None of the testimony today changes the merits of the case. Jacobs himself said on the stand today that he was not aware of any Waymo trade secrets being stolen," an Uber spokesperson said following the conclusion of the hearing.

The new testimony from Jacobs prompted U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup to delay the trial, which was scheduled to begin next week. No new date has been set. Testimony related to the Jacobs Letter will continue on Wednesday when Uber's in-house counsel, Angela Padilla, will take the stand.

Alsup berated the attorneys for Uber, both for the information that was represented in court and how the letter was concealed from the court until a week before trial.

"You're just making the impression that this is a total cover-up," Alsup told Uber's attorneys. "Your client is in a bad way now."

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LONDON (Reuters) - London’s black-cab maker could strike a deal soon on the second overseas market for the new electric version of its famous taxi, the boss of the Chinese Geely-owned firm told Reuters on Wednesday.

The London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) picked Amsterdam earlier this year as its first foreign destination, where around 225 vehicles will be used as part of a service which transports the elderly and disabled.

Chief Executive Chris Gubbey told Reuters the firm was hoping to conclude talks with a second European location soon, potentially by the end of the year.

“Quite soon hopefully there will be an announcement on the second one after Amsterdam. We’re getting very close now,” he said.

LEVC is undergoing a major expansion plan which will see it sell around half of around 10,000 vehicles abroad by the turn of the decade, including a new van.

http://reut.rs/2j31qtV