Automaker Daimler AG and parts supplier Bosch Group are teaming up to make driverless cars that they say could be on city streets at the start of the next decade.
The companies would combine expertise in car making, sensors and software so that people in a specific part of town could order a shared car through their smart phone. The driverless car would then come pick them up and take them where they want to go.
The companies said Tuesday the system would let people make better use of their time in cars and help those who do not have driver's licenses.
The auto industry and tech firms have been investing heavily in autonomous driving technology. Many basic elements of autonomous driving are already in use, such as driver assistance systems that can keep cars in freeway lanes or detect pedestrians ahead. But legal issues surrounding driver responsibility remain to be solved.
Other automakers are also working on the concept. Competitor Volkswagen showed off an autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel and facing sofa-style seats at the Geneva auto show last month. Alphabet's Waymo, the former Google autonomous car project, is testing autonomous vehicles on public roads in the United States with test drivers aboard.
In Soviet Russia, a car you don't drive is called a "taxi."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Tuesday April 04 2017, @10:21PM
The success of electric cars will be dependent on cheaper and denser batteries. We joke about the next battery breakthrough being perpetually 5 years away, but the pressure is on to at least double the energy density while making them safer, and the solution may already be available [soylentnews.org]. There's no reason not to pursue autonomous research, since there are already orders of magnitude more electric cars on the roads, and that will probably remain the case until autonomous takes off and autonomous and electric converge. Which could easily take more than 5 years due to legal, regulatory, and insurance issues.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]