Promised for a glorious future, the autonomous car takes time to materialize on our roads. Blame it on legislation that is slowly evolving and practices that are still struggling to convince. This does not prevent many companies from continuing to bet on the driverless car to develop their technology.
This is particularly the case of Cruise, a subsidiary of General Motors, which since the beginning of June can offer paid trips in the city of San Francisco with a fleet of 30 vehicles, a first. But shortly after being commissioned, six robotaxis service vehicles failed to stop in the middle of a street. It was the company’s technicians who had to move the cars… not so autonomous anymore.
An error that remains anecdotal given that there were no passengers on board and that Cruise cars have since resumed normal activity, but which reflects the difficulties of establishing an operational service in a complex urban environment.
Other players are also testing their autonomous vehicles for similar passenger transport uses in San Francisco or other US cities, such as Waymo (a subsidiary of Google) since 2018, or Zoox (which belongs to Amazon).
A future rather in delivery?
Major players are finally refocusing on another use: the delivery of meals, packages and merchandise, as one article points out. echoes.
Waymo has just partnered with Uber Freight, the division of the giant VTC dedicated to cargo launched in 2017. With the ambition of eventually offering autonomous heavy vehicles for the transport of goods over long distances.
The business daily also cites an American start-up, Argo AI, supported by Ford and Walmart, which started its activity in Miami and Austin, with an economic model that would be easier to implement to generate profitability.
“We are increasingly interested in delivering goods, which marks a strategic shift,” Ford boss Jim Farley told analysts last April.
With Walmart, Argo AI will soon test self-driving grocery delivery in self-driving cars. But the startup is still fragile and just laid off 150 employees, or 6% of its workforce.
Instead of autonomous cars, wouldn’t the future be more open to multifunction modules? What the concept presented by Toyota in 2018, capable of both carrying passengers, but also to deliver pizzas or to move a kind of mobile store. A vehicle that could be more suitable and versatile for large urban centers, while autonomous heavy vehicles would provide long-distance travel.
Source: BFM TV
