We are wasting too much time, energy and money on autonomous vehicles. We know what to do and it’s not AVs.
According to Axios, global investors dumped $4.2 billion into companies working on self-driving cars (or autonomous vehicles, AVs) in the first 3 quarters of 2018.
The $4.2 billion figure doesn’t include all the funds automakers are investing into developing their own new tech. A Brookings Institution report last year estimated that from August 2014 to June 2017, a total of nearly $80 billion was invested in the area by the auto industry and venture capitalists.
$80 billion. For what? According to Volkswagen, we are still a long way away from true autonomy, and that “driverless vehicles have limited appeal and high cost.” From Reuters:
Autonomous cars require high-tech infrastructure, hugely expensive lidar and radar systems, as well as pricey deals with cloud computing and mapping providers, VW’s Thomas Sedran told Reuters on the sidelines of the Geneva motor show.
He compared full Level 5 autonomy to “a manned mission to mars.”
You need latest-generation mobile infrastructure everywhere, as well as high-definition digital maps that are constantly updated. And you still need near-perfect road markings,” he explained. This will only be the case in very few cities. And even then, the technology will only work in ideal weather conditions. If there are large puddles on the road in heavy rain, that’s already a factor forcing a driver to intervene.
Sources of added energy consumption from Ford Fusion’s autonomy system /University of Michigan/CC BY 2.0