2023 was supposed to be the year of the autonomous car. Elon Musk was convinced of this, seeing Tesla already equipped with vehicles that reached level 4 or even level 5, the complete robot taxi, without anyone at the wheel. But the facts, for the moment, do not agree with him.
Tesla Autopilot
Tesla has been offering Autopilot technology in its cars for several years, but this super driving assistance assistant is not ready yet. The manufacturer had to recall two million cars from the market in the United States in December due to a risk related to assisted driving. According Washington PostAutopilot is said to be responsible for 40 fatal accidents since 2016.
Tesla continues to test its most advanced version of autonomous driving in the United States, the FSD (Full Self-driving) system. Although the different beta versions of the software have already traveled nearly 800 million kilometers since the start of testing at the end of 2016, the activation of the technology among customers does not yet seem to be planned.
Cruise and its robot taxis banned in San Francisco
Concrete applications through robotaxi services suggest that some adjustments are still necessary. In October, a robotaxi from Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, dragged a pedestrian under its wheels for about twenty meters in San Francisco. Cruise was banned from entering the city, its founders resigned and the company laid off a quarter of its staff.
General Motors is not the only one fighting in this race for autonomous cars. Alphabet (Google) subsidiary Waymo and start-up Embark have also made heavy layoffs this year. Many companies have launched the autonomous car, seeing it as a kind of Holy Grail, but there will be damage, believes an industry expert, who nevertheless predicts that in 2030, 50% of cars will be able to drive hands-free.
And in Europe?
Perhaps particularly in the UK. This Wednesday, Mark Harper, the British Transport Minister, estimated that autonomous cars will soon be able to circulate on the roads of the United Kingdom. The first models will arrive “probably from 2026”, while the legal framework should be clarified in 2024.
In France, level 3 autonomous driving (with a driver at the wheel but authorized to take his hands off the wheel in certain circumstances) has been authorized since September 2022 on certain road sections.
Source: BFM TV
