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What a couple of weeks for autonomous vehicles. One CEO says this is the year self-driving cars on our roads become a reality, as another CEO takes a first ride in her company’s self-driving effort. That sentence alone should tell you where we are right now. All this as government investigations and inquiries increase.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk surprised analysts on the company’s quarterly earnings call last week. After outlining huge profits, which Musk says make Tesla a “real company,” he said there will be no new vehicles this year.
Tesla's prototype of its Cyber Truck. (Credit: Tesla)
No cyber truck, nor roadster, nor semi-truck (the chip shortage is part of the reason) will be released in 2022. Instead, Tesla will concentrate on two other projects; its humanoid robot called Optimus, and its autonomous driving system that it has dubbed Full Self Driving (FSD). Musk says he’s now convinced FSD is “achievable,” and he personally believes it will come to fruition, “this year.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaking on 4th quarter earnings call with analysts about FSD and Opitimus. (Credit: Tesla)
Using the name FSD continues to infuriate regulators, investigators, and some lawmakers, because it is not a full self-driving system. While the CEO touts FSD, Tesla claims on its website it is what is called a Level-2 system that only includes driver assist systems. The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is, “reviewing Tesla’s use of the term “Full Self-Driving.” The DMV is also now reviewing whether Tesla has added features to FSD that exceed what it is permitted to test on public roads.
Tesla video highlighting its FSD system. (Credit: Tesla)
California State Senator Lena Gonzales wrote to the DMV after seeing videos of drivers not engaged with their vehicles, asking if Tesla’s latest FSD is a danger to public safety. In its response, DMV says it is reviewing the possibility that Tesla is overstepping its permit. Tesla is not permitted to conduct driverless testing on California roads.
Portion of DMV letter to CA. Sen. Lena Gonzales of the Los Angeles area. (Credit: DMV)
Cruise, an autonomous company backed by General Motors, is allowed to test driverless vehicles and last week gave the GM CEO and President a “midnight ride” in the backseat of a fully autonomous (Level 3) vehicle. CEO Mary Barra seemed blown away. “This is going to change the way people move in such a positive way,” she said on a video released by Cruise.
GM CEO Mary Barra and company President Mark Reuss take a first ride in Cruise's autonomous vehicle. (Credit: Cruise)
Concern about advances and deployment of these autonomous features is driving two other developments. The House Transportation Committee will hold a hearing this coming week. The Chairman of the committee, Rep. Peter DeFazio of Oregon says, “Congress must ensure they are deployed in a way that’s safe- for all road users.”
Only one company will testify. Aurora makes an agnostic autonomy system that can be integrated into vehicles, unlike the proprietary systems of Cruise, Tesla, Waymo, and several others.
(Credit: Aurora)
One witness will be from the autonomous vehicle industry association. If anything tells you about concern over deployment of these systems, it could be the fact that the association changed its name last week. The group will leave the “self-driving” moniker to Tesla. The “Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets, created in 2016, is now the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association.
It may be a year of change, but will it be the year fully autonomous vehicles move from testing to operating?