When will we see autonomous vehicles?
Self-driving cars, or autonomous vehicles (AVs) seem like science fiction to most of us. And it’s exciting to feel like we may be living in Back to the Future or the Minority Report soon. But fully autonomous vehicles may be a little way away. So, when can we expect them? And what’s coming in the meantime? SAE International developed the Levels of Driving Automation to explain the progression from human operated vehicles to fully automated vehicles. The levels detail the features required for each of the 5 stages of vehicle autonomy. Projections from PwC at the 2021 AASA Vision Conference give us a good idea of when we can expect different levels of AVs. Using projections from the US is a good indicator for Australia and New Zealand, as it’s considered that the US market influences development schedules for vehicle manufacturers.
Current hurdles to vehicle autonomy To understand when we will see AVs, it’s important to understand the challenges still to be overcome. As with any new technological development, how quickly we are able to jump these hurdles will impact when we can expect to see high level 4 or 5 AVs appear on our roads. Here are the four key hurdles facing AVs currently:
1 4 CAPRICORN IGNITION JUNE 2022
