Drivers set to take a back seat as the driverless car comes of age
Systems that enable cars to drive themselves and communicate with each other are on the way but face hurdles in cybersecurity and legal liability
An Acura RLX demonstrated an unusual way to tow another car last week - the vehicles were not physically attached. The second car drove itself, following instructions beamed over by the first in a feat of technology that indicates a new stage in automation is happening faster than many expected.
Systems that enable vehicles to communicate with each other have been developed in recent years in parallel with features that enable cars to drive themselves. Manufacturers and suppliers are now putting the two together in novel ways, with broad implications for vehicle safety and convenience.
General Motors, Honda Motor, which owns Acura, and other carmakers are working with traditional suppliers and start-up firms. Tech giant Google, with its pioneering work on driverless cars, and Apple, which is working with carmakers to embed greater connectivity in their cars, are accelerating the change.
"It is the mix of big companies - Apple, Google, the carmakers and the data aggregators - that starts to create momentum. Two years ago, it was different. It was a promise. Today, it's reality," said Laurens Eckelboom, executive vice-president of business development at Parkmobile, a smart-parking start-up whose investors include BMW and Ford Motor chairman Bill Ford's venture capital firm Fontinalis Partners.
A "truck platooning" application by Peloton Technology, a start-up based in California's Silicon Valley, is intended to save fuel and reduce collisions.