By Jeff Sanford
Toronto, Ontario — June 18, 2017 — In this week’s Autonomous Report, we take a look at the first automated bus to go into service, GM becomes the first company to produce autonomous vehicles (AVs) in a mass-production facility and much, much more!
– A report by Jalopnik on this week’s US Senate hearings on autonomous vehicles (AVs) heard one of the witnesses warn officials: “Don’t believe the hype about a driverless society being just a few years away.” During testimony before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, Mitch Bainwol, President and CEO of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group representing Ford, General Motors, FCA, BMW and others suggested the hype around AVs has gotten a bit ahead of itself. In written testimony submitted to the committee ahead of time Bainwall said that, “… retail sales of fully-automated vehicles aren’t expected to begin until 2025 at the earliest …” For self-driving technologies, “… the future is here but will take a while to be fully realized,” according to Bainwell.
“Few debate where we are headed. However, there is significant debate about the length and even nature of this journey. Keep in mind, even small introductions of self-driving technologies can reduce fatalities and traffic congestion. The first driving automation systems – so called… Levels 1 and 2 – are on sale today. Introduction of Levels 3, 4, and 5 self-driving technologies, or Highly Automated Vehicles, has yet to begin … Level 3 features, such as automated driving in freeway traffic jams, are expected to be introduced soon, perhaps within a year … Level 4 geo-fenced self-driving vehicles that can only be operated by an Automated Driving System will probably begin around 2021. But, retail sales to consumers of so-called Level 5 vehicles that can operate anywhere a person can drive a conventional vehicle today is unlikely to happen until around 2025 or after. Given how much vehicles cost and how long they last – more than 20 percent of cars on the road today were produced before 2002 – vehicles equipped with Level 5 systems will likely not be a majority of the fleet for three more decades. Ubiquity is not projected to occur for at least four decades. largely due to the fact that over 260 million light duty vehicles are registered in the US.”
– The members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation managed to come up with a set of prescriptions to guide any forthcoming legislation, according to a report by Mass Transit magazine. The hearing was called, “Paving the Way for Self-Driving Vehicles.” According to another report on the hearings, “… the statistic that 94 percent of crashes are caused by human error or decision was referenced many times, as was the potential in automation to drastically reduce this figure.” Even so the Senators came up with a set of six legislative principles for future autonomous vehicle legislation to follow:
• prioritize safety
• promote continued innovation and reduce existing roadblocks
• remain tech neutral
• reinforce separate federal and state roles
• strengthen cybersecurity
• educate the public to encourage responsible adoption of self-driving vehicle.
– Another AV-related event this took place this week in Montreal, according to a report by Truck News. Marc Garneau, Canada’s transportation minister, spoke at Michelin’s Movin’ On conference on mobility and sustainability. Garneau repeated many of the claims he aired during his recent appearance at an AV conference in Toronto. According to Garneau, “Canada is on the brink of an automotive revolution, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since the introduction of the automobile … We are going to see smart vehicles on smart roads in smart cities … We are going to see seamlessly integrated multimodal systems with traffic flow management systems to optimize efficiency.” The former astronaut went on to ask, “What is government’s role in all this? It is our duty to have a modern and efficient road system which will safety integrate novel technologies,” he said.
– One of the panel discussions at the Movin’ On conference in Montreal discussed the state of the AV industry. Dan Galves, a Senior Vice President at AV tech maker Mobileye, described the AVs on roads now as “small fleets of infants.” These cars cannot yet, “… discern aggressive drivers from conservative drivers and make choices about when to move into the roundabout like humans can,” according to Galves. The performance of the cars will improve as the “detailed mapping necessary for fully autonomous driving will be ready by 2020, or 2021.”
– Also on the panel was Joachim Damasky, Managing Director of a German AV-focused company. According to a report on his remarks, “… [it would] take seven or eight years before fully autonomous cars would be able to tackle urban areas. But automated vehicles — which he was very particular to differentiate — would be ready by next year. These automated vehicles will be able to operate basic functions like steering and speed in controlled situations, such as a divided highway, where everyone is driving the same direction (or is supposed to be) and at roughly the same speed.” Damasky was quoted as saying, “We’re not trying to take away driving function if you want to drive, but [we are trying] to make it safe.”
– GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra recently announced that the company has, “… built 130 self-driving Chevrolet Bolt EVs at its Orion Assembly Plant …” The test vehicles will be deployed in San Francisco, Scottsdale, Arizona and Detroit. Barra was quoted by the Detroit News as saying, “Production of these vehicles began in January, making GM the first — and to this date — the only automotive company to assemble self-driving vehicles in a mass production facility.” According to the report, “GM is building autonomous versions of the Bolt EV in the same plant it builds the pure electric small crossover that has an estimated 238 miles of electric range.” GM has said it plans to spend about $150 million a quarter on autonomous vehicle development.
– A Norwegian shipping company said this week it plans, “…to deliver cargoes by sea on unmanned vessels from 2020.” The vessel, the fully electric, ‘zero emissions’ YARA Birkeland will set sail next year in Europe according to a report by Bloomberg. According to the company, “By 2019 it will be able to work by remote control and at the start of the next decade it will be able to deliver on a fully automated basis.” The report says the container ship will transport fertilizer. Currently the company relies on, “… more than 100 diesel truck journeys a day to haul products from its Porsgrunn plant, in Norway, to the domestic ports of Brevik and Larvik from where it ships to customers around the world,” according to the CEO of Yara. The company, “… estimates that the new vessel will reduce truck-powered haulage by 40,000 journeys a year.”
– Not to be outdone by announcements from Norway, the city of Helsinki, Finland, announced this week it will debut “regular autonomous bus service this fall.” The statement was made by city transportation officials. According to a report by Curbed, the city began trials last summer, “which carried up to 12 public passengers along a fixed route in Helsinki’s Hernesaari neighborhood … With an operator on board in case of emergencies, the bus traversed a quarter-mile course at a leisurely 11 kilometers per hour. Now, the city feels confident enough with early results to move from the experimental phase to regular, scheduled service. The buses were previously tested on closed roads in the Netherlands and in a small Finnish town just north of Helsinki. But the successful urban trial, one of the first in the world, has now led to a potential first: regular autonomous transportation service.”
