Skip to main content

Leaders call for US to accelerate autonomous cars

A group seeking to improve American oil security through domestic production, fuel competition, driverless technology and anti-cartel measures has called on policymakers to remove regulatory hurdles in order to accelerate the deployment of self-driving cars, as well as revise tax incentives to boost sales of less expensive electric vehicles. Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), chaired by FedEx Corporation chairman, president and CEO Frederick W. Smith and retired US Marine Corps Commandant James Con
May 20, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
A group seeking to improve American oil security through domestic production, fuel competition, driverless technology and anti-cartel measures has called on policymakers to remove regulatory hurdles in order to accelerate the deployment of self-driving cars, as well as revise tax incentives to boost sales of less expensive electric vehicles.

Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE), chaired by FedEx Corporation chairman, president and CEO Frederick W. Smith and retired US Marine Corps Commandant James Conway, has released a report, recommending the removal of federal regulatory obstacles to the deployment of autonomous vehicles and allow broad commercialisation once they are as safe as today’s cars.

The report also recommends that federal rules on autonomous vehicles should pre-empt state standards and regulation on automotive safety should evolve to a more flexible and collaborative model based on performance-based standards.

It also proposes the establishment of autonomous vehicle deployment communities to test the technology and encourage public engagement.

These recommendations were supplemented with policy recommendations to accelerate the adoption of advanced fuel vehicles powered by diverse energy sources, including restructuring federal tax incentive for electric vehicles to remove the 200,000 vehicle-per-manufacturer cap and phase down beginning in 2021.

SAFE also proposes reducing the value of the federal electric vehicle tax credit for vehicles over US$40,000 and removing it completely for vehicles over US$55,000.

“We’re on the cusp of the largest ground transportation transformation since the invention of the Model T, and we must ensure that unnecessary and outdated regulations don’t encumber its potential. Through a wholly new value proposition that promises a fundamental shift in how we move people and goods, autonomous vehicles will accelerate the adoption of advanced fuel vehicles while making our roads safer and our transportation system far more efficient,” said Smith.

Related Content

  • Advanced Driver Assistance Systems: a solution or another problem?
    November 27, 2013
    Do Advanced Driver Assistance Systems represent a positive step forward for safety, or something of a safety risk? Jason Barnes discusses the issue with leading industry figures. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are already common. Anti-lock brakes or electronic stability control are well understood and are either fitted as standard or frequently requested by new vehicle buyers. More advanced ADAS features are appearing on many top-end vehicles and the trickle-down has already started. Adaptive
  • America’s legislature to consider the future of 5.9GHz
    September 26, 2014
    Colin Sowman catches up with the latest moves in the 5.9GHz exclusivity debate. The Wi-Fi Innovation Act, recently introduced to both the US Senate and its House of Representatives, moves into a new phase in the debate over the exclusive right of the 5.9GHz band for Vehicle to Vehicle (V2V) communications. If the Act comes into law, it would require the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to conduct tests across the whole 5GHz band to determine if the spectrum can be shared without interfering with curr
  • Cars reinvented: huge new opportunities and dangers, says IDTechEx
    December 2, 2016
    The new IDTechEx report, Electric Car Technology and Forecasts 2017-2027 finds that the biggest change in cars for one hundred years is now starting. It is driven by totally new requirements and capabilities. They will cause huge new businesses to appear but some giants currently making cars and their parts will spectacularly go bankrupt. Cities will ban private cars but encourage cars as autonomous taxis and rental vehicles. Already 65 per cent of cars in China are bought by businesses. The Japanese wa
  • ITF Corporate Partnership Board projects highlight ways forward
    October 29, 2014
    The findings of the first four projects launched by the ITF Corporate Partnership Board (CPB), the organisation's platform for engaging with the private sector, have been announced. CPB projects are designed to enrich policy discussion with a business perspective. They are launched in areas where CPB member companies identify an emerging issue in transport policy or an innovation challenge to the transport system. Led by ITF, work is carried out in collaborative fashion in working groups consisting of CP