Driverless cars from $20k

[J o h n S m i t h]

There are endless articles devoted to driverless cars and which manufacturer is closest to going commercial with their model.

With stories of fatal crashes during testing, uncertainty over regulation and an innate fear of technology we’re not quite in control of, having your own self-driven car seems a long way off.

What you may not realise is that they’re a lot closer to being on our streets that you might imagine – in fact, you may even be driving a car which is largely autonomous already.

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Last year Honda announced a model available in the US is already capable of driving autonomously and costs as little as US$20,400.

What’s in a name?

Many models in the Australian market offer a variety of autonomous features – or what are generically referred to as Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS). Broadly speaking these include:

blind spot monitoring,
adaptive cruise control,
following distance warning,
lane keep assist,
lane departure warning,
self-parking,
adaptive headlights,
fatigue warning, and
traffic-jam assist

But in an effort to market these features as unique and proprietary for a competitive advantage, some manufacturers create their own names. Mazda for example calls this suite of ADAS “i-Activsense” and Volvo’s brand is “IntelliSafe”.

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Models which carry some or all of these features as optional extras include Australia’s most popular brands: Nissan, Ford, BMW, Volvo, Honda, Jeep, Holden, Mazda, Audi, VW, Toyota, Subaru and Mercedes Benz.

What does no driver cost?

Far from being the big-ticket item it once was, the creeping advancement of ADAS means that you won’t need to pay $100,000 for a top-of-the-range Tesla to own a driverless car.

With Google, Apple and other technology companies making serious plays in the space, along with traditional manufacturers, competition will lead to rapid development and competitive pricing.

Optional ADAS packages available in the market now add between $1500-$3,000 to the sticker price of a car and a fully automated car is estimated to add between $7,000-$10,000 by around 2025, dropping to $3,000 by 2035.

When will I be able to buy a fully autonomous vehicle?

While the technology is essentially available now for autonomous vehicles, there are still so many regulatory hoops manufacturers will have to jump through that a fully driverless car is unlikely to hit roads commercially anywhere in the world before 2020 according to IHS Automotive, which published a report forecasting 600,000 sales, growing to 21 million sales globally by 2035.

Even then, would you buy one?

https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/the-r ... 14817.html




It's interesting to think were we are going.

[Black Orchid]

Even then, would you buy one?[/i]

No, absolutely not.

[J o h n S m i t h]

No, absolutely not.

like all modern technology, the younger will take it up first until, as they get older, it becomes the norm.

I suspect you'll have far fewer accidents than you do now.

When facebook first came out most people laughed claiming who would be stupid enough to put up their private lives where everyone can see.

[Black Orchid]

Modern technology is great in some ways but it is going too far in others. Pretty soon we'll be pushing buttons on a screen, our food order will just pop out ready made and we won't have to cook. Our washing will be done automatically and we already have robotic vacuum cleaners, robotic lawn mowers and now robotic cars.

All this will achieve is generations of lazy and overweight people who won't have a clue how to do anything themselves. Their brains will shrink along with their senses and muscles and they will probably all die younger with Alzheimers.

If it takes away our ability to think or do ... I can't see too many benefits really. Too many people don't want to think or do already.

[J o h n S m i t h]

All this will achieve is generations of lazy and overweight people who won't have a clue how to do anything themselves.

no it takes away the mundane, which they won't need to do anyway. How many people can shoe a horse today? Once aupon a time it was a necessary skill

If it takes away our ability to think or do ...

no it doesn't, it just redirects your thinking to other, less mundane tasks

[AiA in Atlanta]

some people enjoy driving. others don't. i am one of the later. i find the whole thing draining. i look forward to riding in a driverless car, hopefully, one owned by a rideshare company and not by me ... the sharing economy, an idea whose time is coming ...

[Raven]

Raven is unsure of the idea of completely driverless cars because sooner or later the car is going to have to make an ethical decision.

Scenario: You are in your driverless car and about to have a massive collision, this collision will be fatal.

The only option the computer in the car has is to swerve on a footpath where three people are walking. The car has to decide if it sacrifices the life of it's sole occupant or swerve and kill three people.

Essentially one day you will buy a car that is programmed, in certain situations, to kill you.

[AiA in Atlanta]

Essentially one day you will buy a car that is programmed, in certain situations, to kill you.

i think you are on to something ...

[Raven]

Essentially one day you will buy a car that is programmed, in certain situations, to kill you.

i think you are on to something ...

Skynet is insidious.

[Black Orchid]

no it doesn't, it just redirects your thinking to other, less mundane tasks

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