They’re coming, and there won’t be anything we can do. Autonomous vehicles have been under development for years, and we’re coming upon the cusp of the technology.
While we may be on the cusp, driverless cars aren’t here yet, and it will likely be some time before they’re commonplace, especially when taking legislation and legal battles into account.
GoAuto discussed the driverless landscape with Holden director of corporate strategy and planning Anthony Riemann, who predicts a hefty premium over standard vehicles.
“Most are talking around the $4,000 to $6,000 range, not $20,000 to $30,000. It will be more incremental, the initial cost of hardware and, over time, you’d expect that to come down.”
He goes on to state that by the time the technology does reach the consumer, the cost could come down dramatically as it evolves from its relative infancy.
“By the time it gets to that level of the market, who knows what the cost will be? It could be very different. Remember, it was the 7 Series and S-Classes that first introduced the seven-inch touchscreen, and now we’ve got it across the range on our Spark.”
The discussion evolved into what the future roads could look like with autonomous vehicles, with Riemann stating he envisions the ability to take back control of the car should the roads open up.
“I think you have always got to have the capability for those that want to drive a car to drive a car. In an urban environment there is a lot more benefit for people to be in an automatic car where they can get around without having to worry about the driving.”
“But when you get out to an open, regional road, there are people who are going to want to drive. If you look way way into the future, there are definitely going to be cars that people will be able to drive,” he added.
Comments
In this distant future, when autonomous driving will be a usual norm, insurance companies will put a hefty premium for the people who still want to drive themselves. So, at some point, driving by the human driver (and not by the computer) will be a sort of sports like horseback riding – few enthusiastic people are dealing with horses today, while a lot did even a century ago.
Before autonomous vehicles take the road, V2V (vehicle to vehicle) communications must be mandatory for all new vehicles. V2V allows the autonomous vehicle talk and negociate with others in situations where one vehicle must take a lead and other follow. That alone can avoid many accidents.
And, as posted above, non-autonomous vehicles will have to pay higher insurance rates to protect themselves and others, since most accidents are caused by the humans driving the vehicles.