The Future of Driverless Cars

I wrote a blog a few years ago about the future of the autonomous car, when it appeared just around the corner.  In the past few years, auto makers have invested billions of dollars in driverless cars, and it hasn't quite developed as they first thought.

First, defining a driverless car has become more complicated, so developers have created five phases of driverless car from phase one, where the car can do such things as monitor your car's ability to safely change lanes and control speed, to phase five, which does not require a driver and the car does everything.

Driverless vehicles are in operation in a variety of situations, but it will probably be another decade before the technology is fully developed and your Uber will arrive sans driver.  Farms and mines have been using driverless vehicles for decades.  Short route vehicles in very controlled downtown routes are available in several major cities, like Detroit.  Driverless shuttles are being used in senior communities with little traffic in California and Arizona.

It will be some time before the fully autonomous vehicle is available.  One problem is that the robot used in testing are extremely expensive, which increases the cost of development.  Tesla promises to have an autonomous car on the road by late 2020, and we'll see if that actually happens.  The reality is that in the forseeable future we will begin to see cars with some autonomous capabilities, but will still need a driver.

All major automakers are working on driverless vehicles.  Hopefully in the next decade we will see this technology reach the mass market.  Then, when I no longer drive, I can have my autonomous Uber pick me up every morning and take me to Starbucks.