How will self-driving cars change the way people live?
The autonomous driving is on hype, and a lot of experts want to share their thoughts that sometimes are way too reckless. Let’s take the Wired article: “The Vehicle of the Future has Two wheels, Handlebars, and is a Bike.”
Would the author have the same opinion if challenged to ride 300km on a bike, even an electric or autonomous bike?
Moving up a gear to the future of transportation?
Riding a bike to work can be a good idea. But the reality is a lot different when you consider the extra time lost for the journey distance alone. Not to mention arriving to work dripping with sweat. Your appearance disheveled to say the least, and missing documents from the bag you’ve been carrying while trying to stay upright.
While you concentrate on your surroundings to navigate your bike through crowds, traffic and pedestrians, you’re left with little time to battle the weather, time constraints and even think about the day ahead.
Aside from the practicalities mentioned, is there any wonder why our generation has been striving to advance the automotive industry for decades?
How will self driving cars change the world: Cycling cities in the race to improve
The Dutch are renowned worldwide for their cycling. If the system worked so well, wouldn’t it be wise to improve and promote it?
Yet KPMG’s recent Automated Vehicles Readiness Index (AVRI) report revealed that The Netherlands are clearly the world’s most autonomous vehicle ready country. Their vision for the future of transportation is clear. They are now years ahead of other countries in embracing autonomous driving as the leading source of technological growth.
Readiness of countries to welcome autonomous vehicles
Source: KPMG – Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index
The convenience of autonomous cars
Now consider, arriving to work with your mental and physical state intact. Hidden from harsh noise and weather conditions, you’ve had the time to speak to colleagues on your built-in communications system. Maybe caught up on the latest conference in the integrated heads up display. Or had the chance to indulge in a 30-minute nap to unwind on the way home.
Extra time to concentrate on the important things
This concentration and hands-free journey lead to:
- An increase in work productivity
- Availability for conferences while in transit
- Precious time to spend doing exactly what you want
The average daily commute outside the U.S. is 38.6 minutes, and for the U.S. increases up to 53 minutes.
Comparison of time and money spent on commuting between the US and other countries
Source: City Observatory – Sprawl as City Observatory Sees It
Autonomous vehicles will travel up to 5 times faster than the current average of 33km/h of conventional transport. At the very least you get to have an extra hour of the day to spend on work, rest or play.
Autonomous vehicles will dispense communities to a wider range
In the future, people will live up to 300km away from work, due to overpopulation in urban areas. Thanks to autonomous driving, the journey will still take less than an hour with the advances in technology.
The stressful inconvenience of commuting will be over. It will be easier to order your ride from a professional car sharing service like Uber, than to navigate the headache of the public transport system for a 300km journey.
Other benefits of an autonomous transport system
Autonomous driving isn’t just beneficial for the individual, look at how it improves our society. Each progression in autonomous technology paves the way for a safer, faster and more economical way of living.
What else apart from a self-driving car?
- Hyperloops
- Higher speeds for traveling
- Reduced traffic
- Less traffic jams
- Lower risk of fatalities on the road
- Human error is diminished
- Cheaper to maintain
Hyperloops are on the horizon
Several companies, such as Hyperloop One, are working on autonomous driving pods that take the passenger from door to door of their journey. They plan to utilize the Hyperloop Tunnel by creating small, individual pods that can join onto the train and exit at their destination.
V2X connectivity
By communicating with other vehicles, infrastructure, and real-time cloud data, autonomous vehicles adapt to their surroundings to ensure higher speeds, less time sitting in traffic and a remarkable reduction in road fatalities.
Progress of V2X technology
Autonomous vehicles will play a big role in delivering a much safer environment because they follow the rules of the road, and disregard the possibility for human error, which is the leading cause of all car accidents.
I expect that our children will live in a world where humans are not allowed to drive. 1.2 million Deaths are caused by traffic accidents every year. 95% of those are due to human error.
The world is on the cusp of a transport revolution
Gone are the days where we rely on human judgment alone to progress our journey. We strive to find ways of how self-driving cars will change the world. That’s why Intellias build safe, adaptive and AI-based automotive software at the forefront of Automotive R&D. We accelerate OEMs and Tier 1 companies’ autonomous vehicle launches by expanding their in-house engineering capacity, to bring the most exciting autonomous ideas to life.
It is Autonomous Technology that will really transform our lives, because for the first time in history, mobility freedom will be available for everyone, everywhere.
Economic impact of autonomous driving proliferation is huge
Within ten years, the economic impact of autonomous driving will create up to $1 trillion for the US economy.
The World Economic Forum anticipates driverless vehicles will generate $1 trillion in “economic benefit to consumers and society” over the next 10 years, and autonomous driving features will help prevent 9% of accidents by 2025 with the potential to save 900,000 lives in the next 10 years.
Fast forward to 2040, autonomous vehicles are expected to amount to 25% of the global market. By 2050 revenue is projected to generate up to $7 trillion according to an estimate by Intel Corporation and Strategy Analytics.
Global service revenue generated by autonomous driving in 2050 (US$ millions)
A two-wheel utopian delusion
How will self-driving cars change the way people live? The utopian view of an electrical bike society can never be a reality, nor indeed become the main source of travel for any society, unless you are off the grid. But then it wouldn’t be electric. Bikes are a lifestyle choice, not a life-changing mode of transportation for the future.
However, a tangible future of transport is already here. And it comes in the shape of small, individual egg-like “cars”, operated by a professional car-sharing service similar to Uber. Creating a world where intelligent, driverless vehicles get us from A to B at higher speeds and with almost zero road incidents. What more could you ask for?
Intellias has been working with OEMs and Tier 1 companies for decades to accelerate autonomous vehicle launches by expanding in-house engineering capacity. Interested how self-driving cars will change the world? Want to get your autonomous vehicle to the market, on time, on budget, with a fully tested solution, contact us now.
