Ford has vowed to build a totally self-driving vehicle by 2021 specifically designed for commercial services such as taxis, as the auto giant seeks to revolutionise the industry once again.
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The announcement came as the company also announced a $300 million effort with the Sweden-based automaker Volvo Cars to develop driverless cars.”If that sounds like a big deal – well, it is”, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said in a statement.
There was no timeline given for the alliance, but the source said the goal is to develop a fully self-driving auto by 2021, and that Uber, which does not plan to make its own vehicle, will align with other automakers over time.
The move will begin in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as part of a tie-up in Volvo. A driver trained to handle the autonomous cars will be behind the wheel to step in if needed.
“Even if Uber was confident enough in the technology to dispense with a human, neither Pittsburgh nor any other city is ready to adapt its regulations to allow completely autonomous driving”, he said. Automakers such as Tesla, Ford and GM have announced plans to operate autonomous ride services.
The investment will go towards researching and developing both hardware, such as sensors used to detect traffic and obstacles, as well as software for the self driving cars. Standing at a bus stop, Anthony Fielder of the suburb of Carnegie was open to the idea. “We can only rely on technology so much or it’s going to bite us”. But at least for now, said the source familiar with the Uber-Otto agreement, Uber will expand its driver network, which now stands at 1.5 million globally in more than 450 cities.
Carone expects Uber competitors will now accelerate self-driving tests or merger plans. He thinks they will adopt the same risk-management approach as Uber. Only 48% of Americans are willing to try a fully self-driving auto, according to research the Boston Consulting Group released this summer.
Though the Google vehicle project just lost its director, Chris Urmson, it has a big head start on Uber and others.
“Both Uber and Volvo will use the same base vehicle for the next stage of their own autonomous auto strategies”, the Volvo statement reads. Eventually the SUVs will be part of the self-driving fleet in Pittsburgh. Uber’s news comes just days after Ford held a press conference at its R&D facility in Palo Alto to announce its intention to build fully autonomous cars by 2021, using a growing fleet of Ford Fusion Hybrids as test mules.
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“It’s probably for the best”, he said.
