The future of driving is autonomous. Eventually, our cars will drive us everywhere we go. Here are some of the companies producing autonomous vehicles now.
Many drivers fear the day that cars can drive themselves, but that day is coming. It will take a lot of convincing to get drivers to give up control of vehicles, and there will likely be more accidents before self-driving cars are perfected, but there are benefits to these cars. Because it is the future and can make driving much safer, many companies are already producing autonomous vehicles.
What are some benefits of self-driving cars?
- Improved safety
- Reduced traffic congestion
- Increased accessibility and mobility
- Improved energy efficiency
- Increased commuter productivity
What companies are already involved?
May Mobility
This company was founded in 2017 and has delivered more than 335,000 autonomous rides in many public transit systems. May Mobility services the United States and Japan with the goal of building the world’s best autonomous system. This company partners with Toyota Motor Corporation to achieve the highest standard in ride safety, sustainability, and transportation equity.
Nvidia
Nvidia has decades of high-performance computing, imaging, and AI experience. This has led to the development of an end-to-end software-defined platform for the transportation industry. This is one of the top companies working with automakers that are producing autonomous vehicles. Nvidia has several partners, including BYD, Hyundai, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, NIO, and Volvo.
Baidu
Although robotaxi services haven’t expanded as fast as we would expect in the United States, the largest provider of these services in other countries is Baidu. This company has driven more than 40 million kilometers of Level 4 autonomous driving, which makes it a top company on this list. Baidu also holds 3,477 autonomous driving patents, which is a world record. Baidu was given the first license to test autonomous vehicles with no safety operators in the car in Beijing in 2022.
Motional
This company was formed as a joint venture between Hyundai and Aptiv in 2020. Motional is developing Level 4 autonomous vehicles to be part of a ride sharing fleet, which adds incredible mobility to the market. Motional has operated a public robotaxi in Las Vegas on the Lyft network for the past five years. These robotaxis have completed more than 125,000 autonomous rides, which should be proof positive that Motional’s program could work.
Mobileye
The idea of a simple sensor to help drivers came from Mobileye twenty years ago. Using relatively inexpensive sensors, a camera could be used to save lives and keep vehicles in the lane where they belong. To date, Mobileye has helped develop driver-assist solutions for more than 125 million vehicles, helping push technology forward. This is another one of the companies that are not producing autonomous vehicles, but it is a company that aids in the efforts toward AV systems.
Waymo
You might be familiar with Waymo. This company began as a part of Google’s self-driving project called Alphabet. Waymo was created in 2009 as a way to bridge the gap between self-driving cars and robotaxis. The company has been testing its autonomous electric vehicles in Austin, Texas since March 2023. This has expanded to Phoenix and San Francisco, which means Waymo self-driving taxis are available in three major cities.
Cruise
Although Cruise has had its troubles, it’s one of the most dynamic companies producing autonomous vehicles. Cruise was founded in 2013 and was acquired by GM in 2016. The autonomous taxi service was utilized in San Francisco, and more than one million driverless miles were logged in the city, which is the same as driving around the entire planet more than 40 times.
Tesla
Tesla is one of the only automakers on this list that doesn’t have a ride-sharing or robotaxi program. Instead, Telsa continues development of its Autopilot system which is technical the company’s proprietary advanced driver assistant system. This system has been a bit of a headache for the company because some drivers think it is autonomous, but that’s not the case yet. Still, its close enough that Tesla could be the first major automaker to the market with fully self-driving vehicles.
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