Fleet of self-driving trucks completes journey across Europe
Thomson Reuters
This story was delivered to BI Intelligence IoT Industry Insider subscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.
A fleet of self-driving semi-trailer trucks built by Daimler and Volvo completed a weeklong journey of more than 1,000 miles across Europe last week, Quartz reported. The trucks set off from three different locations in different European countries and then completed their trips in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, finishing off the first cross-Europe journey by self-driving truck convoys.
The convoys were participating in the European Truck Platooning Challenge organized by the Dutch government. “Platooning” is when trucks autonomously follow closely behind each other on the road. Using Wi-Fi connectivity and vehicle-to-vehicle communications, platooning semi-trailer trucks cut fuel usage by 15% while reducing traffic congestion and the risk of accidents, according to research from TNO.
The event was meant to bring together truck makers, researchers, and regulators to test out platooning with different trucks. The event’s program director told Quartz that logistics companies like Unilever are hoping to get self-driving trucks capable of platooning on the road by 2017. However, there are still regulatory and technology challenges to platooning, such as getting trucks from different manufacturers to platoon together.
While Google, Tesla, and a slew of other automakers are working hard to get self-driving cars on the road, autonomous trucks will likely be adopted much more quickly than self-driving cars for consumers. Self-driving trucks offer huge cost benefits as well as faster delivery for trucking and logistics companies, so these companies will likely implement self-driving trucks quickly once regulatory and technology challenges get worked out.
John Greenough, senior research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on self-driving cars that examines the major strides automakers and tech companies have made to overcome the barriers currently preventing fully autonomous cars from hitting the market. Further, the report examines global survey results showing where fully autonomous cars are highly desired.
Here are some key takeaways from the report:
- Three barriers have been preventing fully autonomous cars from hitting the road: 1) high technological component prices; 2) varying degrees of consumer trust in the technology; and 3) relatively nonexistent regulations. Howev
er, in the past six months, there have been many advances in overcoming these barriers. - Technology has been improving as new market entrants find innovative ways to expand on existing fully autonomous car technology. As a result, the price of the components required for fully autonomous cars has been dropping.
- Consumer trust in fully autonomous vehicle technology has increased in the past two years.
- California became the first US state to propose regulations. California's regulations stipulate that a fully autonomous car must have a driver behind the wheel at all times, discouraging Google's and Uber's idea of a driverless taxi system.
In full, the report:
- Examines consumer trust in fully autonomous vehicles
- Identifies technological advancements that have been made in the industry
- Analyzes the cost of fully autonomous technology and identifies how cost is being reduced
- Explains the current regulations surrounding fully autonomous cars
To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:
- Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
- Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT
The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of the emerging world of self-driving cars.