Full Auto
Electric vehicles have become a common occurrence on roads and with many of them “self-driving” has been a staple feature, however, when we refer to self-driving it’s not self-driving in the full sense. The term has much more nuance to it, in fact, there are 5 levels to self-driving and many companies are on a quest to reach all levels. For example, industry leaders such as Elon Musk have even claimed Tesla will achieve level 5 autonomy by the end of 2021, which would mean Tesla’s cars would not require human attention. Level 5 cars won’t even have steering wheels or acceleration/braking pedals. They will be free from geofencing, able to go anywhere and do anything that an experienced human driver can do.
Elon’s claims seem to be a bit of a stretch considering were halfway through the year and Tesla is still only at level 2 autonomy. However, other companies who are fully dedicated to self-driving cars are aiming to have fully autonomous cars on the roads within the next decade – or sooner. So far, few companies are ahead of level 3, and even then, the cars are still not out for the public. For example, Volvo and Baidu have a strategic partnership to jointly develop Level 4 electric vehicles that will serve the Robotaxi market in China, but this project is still in its infant stages. Another automotive supplier working towards level 4 autonomy is Mobileye and they have just revealed that they will be releasing prototypes in New York City. Currently, the company is testing its technology against hostile drivers, jaywalkers, and other common road obstacles. Mobileye’s CEO Amnon Shashua believes that self-driving cars will be in show rooms by the end of Bidens first term. Do you agree with Shashua? Or do you think it will take much longer before we see self-driving cars?
I am not a financial advisor and my comments should never be taken as financial advice. Investments come with risk, so always do your research and analysis beforehand.
