Autonomous driving has bold vision

But mass production of such vehicles not close to realization, experts say

Autonomous driving remains more a popular concept than a reality, as demonstrated at the annual Consumer Electronics Show.

Entrepreneurs, manufacturers and investors might agree that despite technological breakthroughs and product advancement, commercialization and mass production of self-driving vehicles are not close to realization.

Good news about the concept, however, keeps bombarding the public.

Throughout the four-day CES 2019 carnival, executives from Audi, Toyota, Cruise Automation, chipmaker Nvidia and Waymo worked to convince the public that autonomous driving technology is close to maturity, and that the vehicles are safe.

Traditional automakers, smart vehicle companies and parts suppliers packed the North Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Industry heavyweights and rising stars from across the globe competed fiercely in a wide spectrum of market segments - robo-taxis, heavy-duty trucks and delivery vehicles.

Many of them brought the latest products, concepts or prototypes to the CES. Algorithms, machine learning, artificial intelligence and big data are the technology focal points of self-driving.

Lyft, the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company, offered self-driving BMWs to ease the traffic in Las Vegas during the trade show. The company said almost 30,000 paid rides had been recorded since it launched the autonomous driving taxi service at last year's CES.

On Jan 8, China's tech giant Baidu introduced its Apollo Enterprise, a suite of customizable autonomous driving and Internet of Vehicles (IoV) solutions for mass production vehicles.

The latest Apollo update includes a capability to manage complex urban and suburban environments including unprotected turns, speed bumps, clear zones, side passes, narrow lanes and autonomous parking.

Zhang Yaqin, president of Baidu, said at the CES that the company will "join hands with each and every Apollo Enterprise client to create safe, customizable and scalable solutions to accelerate the commercialization of intelligent driving and enhance the mobility experience for everyone".

He confirmed that Baidu will launch 100 robo-taxis equipped with Baidu's V2X (vehicle to everything) technology to operate in Changsha, Hunan province, on 200 kilometers of city roads this year.

Although choosing not to be present at the CES this year, autonomous driving forerunner WeRide sent an observation group. On Jan 4, the Guangzhou-based startup announced that it had received investment from SenseTime Technology and ABC International, a subsidiary of Agricultural Bank of China, worth tens of millions of dollars.

The new investments will reinforce WeRide's role in L4 autonomous driving technology and help expedite the commercialization of its business model, said Tony Han, founder and CEO.

This year, WeRide plans to increase its self-driving fleet to 500 vehicles for a projected accumulated length of 5 million km, mainly in Guangzhou, as well as Anqing in Anhui province and "any other possible places in China and the United States", said Han.

Challenges remain for autonomous driving companies worldwide.

They need a more transparent regulatory framework and restoration of public trust on safety.

Even before the deadly crash of an Uber test autonomous vehicle in Arizona in March, more than half of US public expressed concerns about the safety of self-driving vehicles and declined to try them even once, according to Pew Research.

Heavy-duty trucking, however, could be a segment where autonomous driving makes a major move.

In the US, the trucking industry is facing a shortage of 50,000 drivers, according to the American Trucking Association, which says the nation will need another 898,000 drivers in the next decade to meet future demand generated by the booming e-commerce and retailing industries.

The situation likely will stay that way in the short term for the $740 billion industry, where the average age of drivers is 49 and the yearly turnover rate at large carriers - fleets with more than $30 million in annual revenue - is around 94 percent, according to the American Trucking Associations.

junechang@chinadailyusa.com

(China Daily 01/12/2019 page7)