Writing The Rules For Autonomous Vehicles

Self-driving vehicles are a good idea. Why? Because a world that invests enormous amounts of energy and precious resources building complex machines that spend most of their lives doing nothing is hardly on the path to sustainability. Last year, analyst firm Statista reported that manufacturers assembled 94.7 million light vehicles (cars and vans), and that number is expected to grow to 111.7 million by 2023. This growth is driven in large part by the Chinese and Indian middle classes as they look for ways to spend their new wealth. And yet, in the US at least, cars do little more than adorn the drives of suburban homes, spending just 8 per cent of their operating lives moving people from Point A to B.

- Steven Keeping

Even while doing the job for which they’ve been designed, vehicles with a conventional (internal combustion) engine go about it in a compromised manner. According to The Atlantic, more than 80 per cent of the energy derived from gasoline is squandered by a car’s inefficiencies. There is nothing else in our lives that wastes more energy—or even comes close. Electric vehicles are far more mechanically efficient but still consume considerable energy in their construction, generate carbon during operation (unless the electricity for recharging has come from renewable sources), and are just as likely as conventional autos to sit idle in the garage.

There are signs that the latest generation of would-be drivers is indeed questioning the insanity of buying the most under-used asset they will ever own and paying around US$ 13,000 a year for the privilege. Moreover, young people find that online shopping, on-demand TV, and social media enables them to do many things for which previous generations needed a car. Besides, the majority of young people live in cities where congestion, lack of parking, and resurgent public transport systems conspire to keep cars off the road.

These millennials are the consumers of the future and a generation that thinks differently about transportation. Familiar with the gig economy, to them being able to hail a ride from a smartphone screen wherever and whenever seems the obvious answer to getting around. Spending a fortune on a steel box that’s typically stationary either in a parking lot or traffic queue, doesn’t make sense. That’s why car companies, ride-hailing firms, and Internet giants are climbing over each other to introduce fleets of autonomous vehicles that are only rented when needed.

The software is the challenge