Skip to main content

Autonomous vehicles are everywhere says report

A new IDTechEx report, Autonomous Vehicles: Land, Water, Air 2015-2035 claims autonomous vehicles are successful here and now but you are unlikely to meet one because the successes are in the upper atmosphere, open cast mines, nuclear power stations, underwater and in other relatively inaccessible places. It goes on to explains that the primary technology of an autonomous vehicle is that which confers autonomy and the powertrain, which is usually electric. The powertrain and navigation and control technolo
March 20, 2015 Read time: 3 mins
RSSA new 6582 IDTechEx report, Autonomous Vehicles: Land, Water, Air 2015-2035 claims autonomous vehicles are successful here and now but you are unlikely to meet one because the successes are in the upper atmosphere, open cast mines, nuclear power stations, underwater and in other relatively inaccessible places.  It goes on to explains that the primary technology of an autonomous vehicle is that which confers autonomy and the powertrain, which is usually electric.

The powertrain and navigation and control technology of autonomous vehicles are rapidly evolving with every element likely to change radically and many merging; indeed it is already happening right through to structural electronics where the load-bearing bodywork doubles as electrical and electronic components and circuits.
 
This is good news and bad news for autonomous vehicles. Good news in that functionality and affordability will improve but bad news in that long term testing is irrelevant when everything is frequently changing disruptively. What use is a five year test on a radar when a Lidar replaces it? What to do with long term tests on a battery when it is replaced by one of the new lithium-ion capacitors? All this vast number of new innovations can bring initial lack of reliability and predictability with them yet if anything has to be superlatively reliable and predictable it is the autonomous vehicle operating near people. The more people are in close proximity, the greater the challenge. AVs are particularly lethal if flying over a crowd of people or navigating a crowded road with pedestrians crossing.
 
From 2015-2025, most forms of autonomous vehicles are and will remain electric land and air vehicles. Electric powertrains are exceptionally controllable and they can directly activate and collaborate with other functions of the vehicle that are autonomously managed in coordination with steering and navigation. For example, an autonomous electric tractor will operate implements with great precision when they are electrically driven from the electric powertrain of the vehicle. This is invaluable in providing autonomy.
 
In numbers and probably market value, the report finds most substantially-autonomous vehicles will be pure electric in number, notably robot vacuum cleaners at the order of one million yearly. However, if we consider minimally autonomous vehicles, then, from 2015 - 2025, the largest numbers and market value will include cars at the order of one million yearly averaged through the decade.
 
The emphasis of the report is on lessons of success and failure and what comes next, with lead indicators of such success. Timelines to 2040 of market, technology and allied advances are given and detailed forecasts of sales of autonomous vehicles from 2015-2025 particularly concentrate on numbers, unit value and total market value.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Connected vehicle data promises advanced weather warning
    August 29, 2012
    Connected vehicle research and development is being aimed at improving driver safety and mobility, but is also promising advanced weather monitoring and warning systems. Sheldon Drobot reports. Over the last few years, the United States’ Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Research & Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) have joined forces to promote safety, mobility and the environment through a new connected vehicle initiative. This aims to enable wireless communication between vehicles, infra
  • Tolling is still stuck on the sidelines says ASECAP speaker
    August 19, 2015
    Geoff Hadwick attended ASECAP’s 2015 Study Days meeting in Lisbon and found a frustrated European tolling sector undertaking some soul searching. The international road tolling industry its failing to make it case and the sector is losing out to a range of other socio-political lobby groups according to International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA) chief executive Pat Jones. Speaking at the recent 2015 ASECAP Study Days conference in Lisbon, Jones issued a stark warning: “Tolling is still o
  • Do we need a new approach to ITS and traffic management?
    January 31, 2012
    In an article which has implications for the European Electronic Toll Service, ASECAP's Kallistratos Dionelis asks whether the approach we currently take to major ITS system implementations is always the best or healthiest. I was asked recently to write a paper on the technology-oriented future of transport. To paraphrase, I started with: "The goal of European policy-makers is to establish a transport system which meets society's economic, social and environmental needs, satisfying in parallel a rising dema
  • High Speed 2 should be part of integrated transport policy
    September 13, 2013
    The UK’s Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) is calling for the High Speed 2 (HS2) proposals to be reassessed to become part of an integrated transport programme of metro, rail, bus and road projects to revitalise the cities of the Midlands and North. The call comes as the Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin reasserted the case for the new rail line. Prof Phil Blythe, chair of the IET Transport Policy Panel, said: “We are supportive in principle of high speed rail, but we believe that