General Motors (GM) has made a significant move in bolstering its autonomous vehicle division by appointing Steve Kenner as the safety director. Kenner, a former executive at Apple and Uber, brings decades of automotive industry experience to his new role, with a focus on enhancing safety measures in autonomous driving technology.

Kenner oversaw safety and regulatory activities for Apple’s secretive “Titan” car project

Kenner’s tenure at Apple, where he played a pivotal role in overseeing safety and regulatory activities for the secretive “Titan” car project, underscores his expertise in navigating the complexities of developing cutting-edge automotive technologies. Before his time at Apple, Kenner held prominent positions at major American automakers, including Ford and Chrysler, accumulating nearly 40 years of invaluable experience in the field.

Having begun his automotive career at General Motors in 1978, Kenner’s extensive engineering background and leadership roles at Chrysler and Ford further solidify his credentials as a seasoned industry veteran. His diverse skill set encompasses not only technical expertise but also strategic management, honed through various managerial positions throughout his career trajectory.

Kenner’s stint at Apple saw him advocating for updated policies to facilitate the testing of self-driving cars on public roads, highlighting his proactive approach to regulatory engagement and industry collaboration. His subsequent role at Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group further enriched his understanding of the evolving landscape of autonomous vehicle development and deployment.

In his new capacity at GM Cruise, Kenner is poised to leverage his wealth of experience to advance safety initiatives and regulatory compliance within the autonomous driving realm. His statement regarding the importance of partnership with regulators underscores GM’s commitment to prioritizing passenger safety and fostering trust within the broader ecosystem.

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Tesla finds itself in legal hot water with two upcoming trials that raise questions regarding the safety of its Autopilot system in fatal accidents. The cases could have ripple effects on public trust in self-driving technologies.

Tesla’s full driving and self driving technologies have a lot of gray areas that need to be addressed

The first lawsuit will unfurl this September in California. It centers around the tragic loss of Micah Lee, whose Tesla Model 3 veered off a highway, collided with a palm tree, and caught fire. The plaintiffs, which include injured passengers and Lee’s estate, argue that Tesla knew about Autopilot’s flaws but didn’t address them.

Tesla counters that Lee had been drinking and it’s uncertain if Autopilot was engaged during the accident in 2019.

A second case in Florida next October adds fuel to the fire. It involves another fatal accident where Stephen Banner’s Model 3 went under a truck’s trailer, tearing off the car’s roof. The claimants assert that Autopilot failed to take evasive action. Internal documents suggest that Elon Musk and his team were aware of Autopilot’s issues but did not rectify them. Tesla has continually defended its technology, asserting that when supervised by humans, Autopilot is safe.

The public, however, is skeptical. Critics argue that the terminology—“Autopilot” and “Full-Self Driving” (FSD)—is misleading. Though Musk has repeatedly promised fully autonomous driving, the reality has fallen short. Tesla’s Autopilot and FSD are only Level 2 driver assistance features, not fully autonomous systems.

The upcoming trials are more than a legal obstacle for Tesla; they’re a moment of reckoning for the self-driving tech industry. While Tesla pushes forward with its FSD Version 12 software, claiming it enables autonomous driving without human input, the question remains: How safe is “safe enough” when human lives are at stake?

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Autonomous driving technologies are becoming more widespread with each passing day. Today, many companies are testing their self-driving vehicles in cities where they have permission to operate. However, this technology also brings up some problems. For example, who is to blame when these not yet perfect cars make a mistake? In China’s Hangzhou province, there is growing concern about the increasing number of self-driving cars, authorities are considering the idea of penalizing vehicle owners or managers for traffic violations committed by these cars. Here are the details…

Who’s Responsible When Self-Driving Cars Breaks the Law?

As self-driving car technology continues to develop rapidly, fully autonomous driving is becoming increasingly popular. For example cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, Beijing, and Hangzhou have even started self-driving car trials. But there’s a lingering question: If a self-driving car breaks a traffic rule, who’s to blame? The passenger or the car’s owner? Should they be fined?

A recent report reveals that the city of Hangzhou has submitted a draft proposal focused on the testing and use of smart, connected vehicles. This draft outlines two key points:

• All smart, connected vehicles must link to a central management platform.
• A liability framework is established to handle legal and regulatory issues.

If a self-driving vehicle without passengers commits a traffic violation, the owner or manager of the vehicle will be fined as per the law. Additionally, the organization responsible for testing and using the vehicle will have to cover the costs of any accidents they’re liable for. Of course, this idea is not new; in the U.S. car owners are already held responsible for any accidents caused by their self-driving technology. The rules in Hangzhou are still a draft and may change, but they show the city’s plan for regulating these vehicles.

However, the debate is not over. Some say it’s unfair to blame the owner for mistakes made by a car they’re not driving. Others argue that since the owner is in charge of the vehicle, they should be held accountable for any mistakes. It remains to be seen how these new rules in Hangzhou will actually work, but they’re a big step toward making self-driving cars safer for everyone. Especially when you consider how advanced China is in this area.

What are your thoughts on this subject? In the event of an accident, who do you think should be held responsible: the owner of the vehicle or the person who developed the technology?

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(soource)

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Work on autonomous driving technology is moving fast. Many companies, including Tesla, BYD, and Xpeng, are working hard day and night on self-driving cars. Luckily, these efforts are paying off, and now some cars even have test versions of this technology available. One such company is Cruise, owned by General Motors. In fact, they’ve been testing their self-driving cars for a while. However, a self-driving Cruise car got stuck in wet concrete in San Francisco. Here are the details…

General Motors Cruise Car Makes Silly Mistake, Drives into Wet Concrete

GM Cruise is a self-driving car company that is majority-owned by General Motors. The company is developing a fleet of fully autonomous vehicles that it plans to deploy as robotaxis. Cruise has been testing its vehicles in San Francisco since 2016, and it has also received permits to test in Phoenix and Austin. The company was doing well with all its tests until now. Cruise personnel quickly acted to get the car out of the concrete. They were able to extract the car and take it back.

Recently, a GM Cruise self-driving car made a silly mistake. It drove into wet concrete on a street in San Francisco named Golden Gate Avenue. It’s like the car stepped in wet cement! Thankfully, there were no passengers, so everyone was safe. Just a week ago, state of California said it’s okay for companies like Cruise to have their driverless vehicles on the roads any time of day.

This was a big win for the company. But, there are some people, like police and neighbors, who are worried about these cars causing trouble. Moreover, after the last event, the number of worried people increased. In fact, right after getting the green light, ten Cruise cars caused a mini-traffic jam on Vallejo Street. Cruise said it happened because of a phone signal problem. Of course, these misfortunes won’t stop progress, and one day autonomous driving technology will be widely used.

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Apple’s much-anticipated electric car project has taken a significant step forward with reports indicating that the company has made strides in developing its self-driving system. According to sources, Apple is expanding testing and has heavily relied on LiDAR sensors to improve the vehicle’s self-driving capabilities. The company may source automotive-grade LiDAR sensors from Chinese supplier Wenmao, which already provides LiDAR scanners for the iPhone and iPad Pro.

Reports also suggest that Foxconn, one of Apple’s suppliers, has partnered with German industrial giant Siemens to make advanced driver assistance systems that could align with Apple’s automotive strategy. As Taiwanese companies like Foxconn are believed to have the sufficient production capacity to build the vehicle, this partnership could prove significant.

Apple’s long-rumored electric vehicle is expected to feature some form of self-driving facility that the tech giant has been testing for several years. The vehicle is expected to be priced under $100,000 and may have limited self-driving capabilities, allowing it to drive itself on highways.

Apple’s use of Wenmao’s LiDAR sensors is a significant development, as the company may take some time to develop capacity for automotive-grade LiDAR sensors. However, Wenmao’s quality and existing relationship with Apple could make a partnership likely, especially as Apple is likely to choose long-term supply chain partners like Wenmao early in the development process.

While reports suggest that Apple has scaled back its initial vision for the vehicle, the company’s advancements in developing its self-driving system and partnerships with suppliers like Foxconn and Siemens indicate that the project is moving forward. With testing ongoing and a launch date set for 2026, Apple’s electric car project is sure to be one of the most highly anticipated tech releases of the decade.

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Earlier this week, WeRide announced that its autonomous technology enabled minibus was the first to officially obtain the road test license in Beijing. The bus is equipped with L4 self driving technology and is a major milestone for the brand.

As per official notes, the company’s unmanned minibus can be driven on public roads with autonomously in Beijing. The region of its license specifies a total area of 60 square kilometers. Unlike certain minibuses that still feature a steering wheel, the WeRide is a completely unmanned shuttle bus that has no built in steering wheel, no brakes, and no driver’s cockpit. In other words, the license signifies that the minibus’ autonomous technology is capable of safely operating on actual roads in Beijing.

Furthermore, the company has also reached the mass production levels for this design of its minibus. Notably, this is the first time that a high level autonomous vehicle was approved for the road test license in Beijing. In other words, this is also the first time that an unmanned L4 grade self driving behicle will be legally driven on the road in the city. WeRide’s shuttle bus will be run purely on electric power.

The WeRide minibus offers a maximum speed of 40 km/h and can be flexibly deployed in various kinds of public or closed traffic scenarios. These EVs can also operate on urban open roads around the clock. So now, the minibusses will follow the company’s existing fleet of self driving taxis and is currently available in Guangzhou, Beijing , Shenzhen, Nanjing, Wuxi, Boao, Riyadh and other cities.

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Apple has been working on its electric vehicle for years, which is currently being referred to as Apple Car. Internally, this vehicle project is called Titan, and it appears to be in limbo for the past few months.

According to the latest report, Apple Car is expected to launch in the year 2026, and the pricing will be under $100,000. It is also reported that the tech giant is scaling back its vision for the vehicle.

Earlier, the Apple Car was expected to go official by 2025, but now it has been delayed by a year as the Cupertino-based technology giant scales back its ambitious plans for a self-driving electric vehicle.

The company initially planned to design a car where passengers could face one another in a limousine-style car with no steering wheel or pedals. But the project has now been scaled back to have a more traditional design with a driver’s seat, steering wheel, and pedals.

Also, the fully autonomous driving or self-driving feature will not be available, but the car will be able to use a self-driving mode on highways. It will offer enough autonomy for users to play games or watch videos on the highway but ask to take control when driving on city streets or through adverse weather. The hands-free tech may debut in North America and expand to other regions over time.

Apple Car was originally planned to cost over $120,000, but it will now cost under $100,000 as the company has scaled down the features and technologies for the vehicle.

Currently, the company has not finalized a design for the Apple Car, but it plans to have it finalized by the end of next year, i.e., 2023. After that, the list of features for the vehicle is set to be completed by 2024, and the testing will begin sometime in 2025 ahead of the planned launch of the Apple Car in 2026.

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XPeng, one of the leading smart electric vehicles maker in China, has announced that the company has launched the pilot program City Navigation Guided Pilot (City NGP), making it the first Chinese auto company to launch such a high-level Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) functions for complex urban driving scenarios.

The system is now available in the area of Guangzhou, China. The ADAS platform is made possible by XPeng’s combination of sensors to deliver a 360-degree fusion perception through cameras, LiDAR, millimeter-wave radars, and high-precision positioning units.

A cohort of Guangzhou-based XPeng P5 customers can now access City NGP through over-the-air updates before launching to other cities. To ensure sufficient knowledge of safety procedures, City NGP requires a seven-day familiarization period, and 100 km of driving before its functions can be used on all available roads.

When City NGP is activated with a set destination, the vehicle itself can perform the full range of driving tasks. The driving tasks include cruising at a safe distance from leading vehicles, changing lanes due to navigation or vehicle overtaking decisions, handling merging/splitting roads, getting around stationary vehicles or obstacles, and maintaining an appropriate speed.

It can also automatically detect and react to traffic lights, make lane change decisions and inform drivers, take a left or right turns, navigate through intersections, roundabouts, viaducts, and tunnels, as well as avoid obstructions.

The approach of XPeng is contrary to Tesla, which has abandoned LiDAR in favor of one single vision perception. Tesla FSD continues to expand and improve through the beta phase, but the company has been deferring the wide release, keeping the customers waiting for it to make good on its promise of fully-autonomous driving.

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Earlier this week, US regulators issued the final rules that removed the requirement on  autonomous vehicles makers that mandated the companies to equip self driving cars with manual driving controls.

For those unaware, the autonomous vehicles sold in the US were required to feature human driving controls to meet the crash standards. Hence, automobile manufacturers and even tech companies faced challenges in developing automated driving systems (ADS) without any manual driving controls (Via Gadgets360). These standards were set decades ago, but have now been removed in America. Just last month, automobile giant General Motors and its self driving unit Cruise petitioned the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to build and deploy a fully autonomous vehicle that do not feature steering wheels or brake pedals.

Notably, the revision in the rules also assume that cars “will always have a driver’s seat, a steering wheel and accompanying steering column, or just one front outboard passenger seating position.” But the regulators added that “For vehicles designed to be solely operated by an ADS, manually operated driving controls are logically unnecessary.” These new rules were first proposed back in March 2020 and have finally been adopted.

NHTSA Deputy Administrator Steven Cliff stated that “As the driver changes from a person to a machine in ADS-equipped vehicles, the need to keep the humans safe remains the same and must be integrated from the beginning.” Although, the NHTSA added that children should not occupy seats that are typically reserved for “drivers.” So now, we can expect to see more autonomous cars that do not require any human interaction from their passengers.

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During CES 2022, Volvo has announced that the company will debut its Ride Pilot, an autonomous driving feature in California by the middle of this year. Once the feature has been approved for use on highways, it will be offered to customers.

The company says that the Ride Pilot feature will be offered to customers as a paid add-on for a new electric SUV that it plans to announce later this year. The feature is also planned to be released in other markets.

For creating Ride Pilot, Volvo worked with Zenseact and LiDAR developer Luminar. The feature is currently being tested in Sweden. Volvo says that Ride Pilot utilizes a Luminar Iris LiDAR sensor complemented by eight cameras, 16 ultrasonic sensors, and five radars to enable the software to judge depth.

The company also says that it will push out continuous over-the-air updates to ensure the feature is safe to use. Martin Kristensson, Head of AD and Mobility at Volvo, said: “When we say self-driving, we mean self-driving. So this will be a feature or function where the car is actually responsible for the driving so you will not need to keep your hands on the steering wheel and you will not need to keep your eyes off the road.”

Ride Pilot is described as a hands-off, eyes-off system, which means that a driver will be free to do other things when the system is activated. This is different from existing self-driving systems which require constant monitoring from the driver.

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JETOUR Motors has just announced a new hybrid vehicle. It is the Jetour X-1 Hybrid SUV crossover, which is powered by the Huawei L3 autonomous driving assistance system and more.

For those unaware, the Chinese company is a sub brand of Chery Automobiles. Now, the automobile maker has launched the X-1 from its Jetour brand. It features its self developed “Kunlun” architecture platform that is powered by Huawei’s high end L3 autonomous driving assistance system along with the latest technologies like the Smart Cockpit 3.0 and Healthy Cockpit 4.0. The new crossover SUV was announced on the 1st of January 2022.

Through the Chinese tech giant’s L3 self driving assistance system, the car can drive on its own in a number of scenarios, although, the drive would still have to take control in some situations like emergencies. Under the hood, the X-1 is equipped with the Chery Kunpeng DHT hybrid system and Chery core fuel powered platform. In other words, it is a hybrid that is powered by both fuel and electricity.

Notably, the four wheel drive version of the car is also equipped with a rear mounted single motor that supports 9 different modes like pure electric drive, extended range mode drive, parallel mode drive, engine direct drive, and more. This enables users to switch between power and fuel efficiency modes based on their requirements. Looking at the car, it features a unique radiator grille, which is part of the bumper along with an angular overall design. Unfortunately, finer details like specifications, pricing, and availability are still unknown at the moment.

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Apple’s most-awaited self-driving electric car was in the news a few months ago and now once again, the upcoming vehicle from the technology giant, which has not yet been officially announced, is in the news, hinting at the Apple Car roadmap.

A new report coming from Bloomberg, citing sources aware of the development, claims that the upcoming Apple Car — an electric vehicle with support for a fully autonomous self-driving feature — will debut by 2025.

It is being reported that this Apple Car project from the Cupertino-based tech giant, which is called Project Titan, being headed by Kevin Lynch, will be a fully automated self-driving offering without any pedals or steering.

Earlier, it was claimed that the company was stuck between two different developments paths — a traditional EV with some enhanced driver-assist features, or a more sophisticated EV capable of truly autonomous driving with no input from its passengers. It now seems that the technology giant has chosen the latter option.

However, there’s a possibility of Apple adding some kind of an emergency takeover mode for the car, which is still being discussed internally. It is said to have open-concept seating and a larger iPad-like infotainment system.

The company has still not locked in the business model for this project. The Bloomberg report hints about Apple considering to have its own fleet of self-driving cars operating like Uber or Lyft instead of selling the cars to individuals. However, it is more likely that Apple will sell its car to individuals.

Apple is reportedly not looking to develop a proprietary charging system for the car as the company could make it compatible with the “combined charging system” or CCS standard so that it is possible to charge the vehicle at most public fast-charging stations.

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Samsung Electronics is reportedly in talks with electric carmaker Tesla for the next-generation self-driving chips based on the South Korean giant’s 7-nanometer (7nm) chip production process, as per the new reports.

The report, coming from Korean Economic Daily, claims that both the companies — Tesla and Samsung, have discussed chip design multiple times and have also exchanged chip prototypes for the upcoming Hardware 4 self-driving system from Tesla.

If Samsung gets the contract from Tesla, then the company is expected to start production using the 7nm process. This is likely to happen as Samsung is already producing Tesla’s current-generation Hardware 3 computers.

Samsung is manufacturing 5nm chips but will be using the 7nm process to manufacture chips for Tesla’s Hardware 4 self-driving computer to ensure higher production yields and stable functions of the chip when installed.

While the timeline for the production of the Hardware 4 is not yet known, but we expect it to get started in a couple of months given that Tesla CEO Elon Musk revealed during the AI Day event last month that the new hardware for its self-driving technology for the Cybertruck will be released in about a year or so.

Samsung is currently the second-largest contract chip manufacturer in the world, just behind TSMC. While Samsung holds 17.3 percent of the market share, Taiwan-based TSMC is miles ahead with a massive 52.9 percent market share.

In the past few years, the South Korean giant has picked up pace when it comes to chip manufacturing and is trying to catch up with TSMC. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset is being manufactured by Samsung and the company is also opening its doors to other companies and other types or non-smartphone chips.

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Apple has been working on its self-driving car technology and the Cupertino-based tech giant was recently in the news related to efforts in forming partnerships with automakers for the Apple Car, but nothing has been materialized yet.

Now, we are hearing news about two incidents where Apple Cars with self-driving technology were involved in an accident, according to the report from MacRumors based on the data from California DMV.

Both the reported incidents happened last month, i.e. in the month of August 2021. The first incident occurred in San Diego, California in the Hillcrest area on August 19th. The Lexus RX 450h was stopped in traffic and was hit by a Hyundai. The accident was described as minor with no injuries.

The second accident happened on August 23 in Cupertino, California, near the Apple Park campus. The vehicle with Apple’s self-driving equipment was in manual mode and it was stopped in traffic when it was rear-ended by a Subaru Outback.

It’s noteworthy that in both of these incidents, Apple Car with the self-driving technology or the person operating the vehicle was not at fault. The technology has been in testing mode since 2017 and this is the first time since 2019 that we are hearing about Apple Car being involved in an accident and interestingly, both the incidents happened last month.

According to the report from California DMV, Apple’s Lexus SUVs that are equipped with self-driving technology, have traversed more than 18,000 miles in 2020, which represents a steep increase compared to previous years.

As noted above, Apple has been testing its self-driving software since early 2017, using the Lexus RX 450h vehicles. Autonomous driving technology is one of the long-term projects for the tech giant and based on the rumors, Apple is expected to launch its first vehicle with self-driving technology in a few years.

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Tesla, one of the leading electric car manufacturers, has officially launched its Full Self-Driving (FSD) subscription which costs $199 per month. Those who previously bought the Enhanced Autopilot package will get it for $99 as the package is now discontinued.

The company is currently selling the Full Self-Driving package for a one-time payment of $10,000 but those who don’t want to pay such a large sum of money upfront can now opt for the monthly subscription plan.

The Full Self-Driving package currently includes several automated driver-assist features, including Navigate on Autopilot, Auto Lane Change, Autopark, Summon, Full Self-Driving Computer, and Traffic Light and Stop Sign Control.

Tesla notes that FSD is not the same as fully driverless technology, and adds that “the currently enabled features require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.” Ultimately, the company hopes to deliver a true full self-driving system but people buying the package can only hope and wait for Tesla to achieve that goal.

It’s noteworthy that the new subscription plan requires version 3.0 of the FSD hardware, and upgrading to that will cost $1,500. That hardware — containing a new, more powerful chip — has been standard in Tesla cars since mid-2019.

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Huawei is going through very rough times as the United States has imposed several sanctions on the company, restricting the Chinese giant in various businesses. It shut down its high-end chip production and is also losing marketing share in the smartphone business.

While its telecom and mobile business is suffering, the company is moving ahead to establish itself in the next major thing — Electric Vehicles and Self-Driving Technology. In line with this, Huawei will invest about $1 billion for the development of such technologies under its brand, reports Bloomberg.

Huawei is now aiming to take on the likes of Tesla and Xiaomi, among others with its own self-driving car technology. The company has already clarified that it has no plans to make its own car but will supply its tech to carmakers.

It has already partnered with three automakers — BAIC Group, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co, and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. Eric Xu, the rotating chairman of Huawei also revealed that the cars launched will carry the Huawei name as a sub-brand.

Huawei’s autonomous-driving technology has already surpassed Tesla’s in some aspects of technology. For instance, the company’s cars have cruised for more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) without human intervention.

Commenting on this, Eric Xu said: “The smart car business unit receives one of the heaviest investments from Huawei. We will invest more than $1 billion in car component development this year. China adds 30 million cars each year and the number is growing. Even if we don’t tap the market outside of China, if we can earn an average of 10,000 yuan from each car sold in China, that’s already a very big business for Huawei.”

Huawei has already launched smart car connectivity products and the company’s info and entertainment technology can already be found in Mercedes-Benz sedans. It has also teamed up with companies like BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology Co. to develop smart car systems and the first model under the partnership — the Arcfox αS HBT will be unveiled at Auto Shanghai in April.

Apart from Huawei, other tech giants like Apple and Xiaomi are also targeting the automobile industry as companies race to make vehicles more environment-friendly, autonomous, and connected goes on. According to the report from Canalys, EV sales in China may climb more than 50 percent this year alone.

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Earlier today (28th January 2021), AutoX officially launched its driverless taxi service, RoboTaxi, in China. The service is currently in its pilot program and is available to the public in Shenzhen.

Back in December 2020, AutoX had launched the service in the region for its final phase of testing. Now, the company is now fully open to the general public that can now book a completely autonomous RoboTaxi. The self driving taxis are capable of running on regular public roads in the city and can even take “unprotected left turns at busy intersections, makes side passes on streets, deals with a scooter running traffic lights, and more.”

At the moment, people interested in the pilot program can sign up through the AutoX RoboTaxi registration page. Once selected, the pilot users can use the AutoX membership credits as well for the RoboTaxi rides. Those riding in the RoboTaxi are also able to speak to a customer support agent to ask any question that they wish to enquire about. These customer care agents will also be able to check the status of the vehicle in real time to provide any necessary assistance.

For those unaware, AutoX has been conducting various trials and tests regarding its driverless taxi service in China since mid 2020. At the moment, the company advanced operations center that is built in Shanghai and other major cities. These sites are equipped with “ultra reliable Internet connectivity from multiple suppliers, fortified with fiber-optics, and supported by a back-up power system.”

Through this system, the company guarantees seemless passenger support and communications. Currently, AutoX is operating over 100 RoboTaxis in the cities of Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Wuhan. This has enabled it to accumulate vast miles of road data in the Asian cities, especially ones with a high population density that suffer from challenging urban traffic conditions as well.

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The popular drone making brand, DJI, is apparently building a new team that will be working on developing self driving or autonomous technologies. The company has put up various job listings and has already begun hiring as well.

According to a BTTransport report, the Chinese tech giant is hiring engineers from various fields and backgrounds like the auto electronics, autonomous driving, in car software, and automobile industry, as per its recent job posts. People close to the matter added that DJI is planning on selling driver assist technology as well. This includes technology like LiDAR sensors, which is a crucial component of self driving vehicles, and other packaged solutions for autonomous driving functions.

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At the moment, the drone maker has yet to publicly announce this move. Although, the company has apparently been working on LiDAR technology and cameras for years now, as per the sources. Notably, the move from DJI arrives as various hardware and software based firms are racing to get a foothold in the automobile industry, especially in regards to autonomous vehicles and their future. Huawei is a great example of this with its HiCar initiatives along with its work in developing Smart Roads in China.

Currently, DJI dominated the global small drone market with a massive share of 69 percent. Research and analytics based firms recently estimated that the market’s overall value is worth about 8.4 billion US Dollars and is even expected to grow further. For those unaware, the company got placed on the US Commerce Department’s Entity List back in December 2020, for allegedly facilitating human rights abuses in China.

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Self-driving or autonomous vehicles have prevailed for a while now. But their usage has only come into the light now during the COVID-19 pandemic. Neolix, a Chinese self-driving delivery company has been transporting medical supplies and food in its autonomous vans to the most affected areas like the epicenter in Wuhan. Seeing its potential, the Chinese government has announced to subsidize up to 60% of the total cost of the vehicle’s price to the companies willing to purchase them.

Neolix started manufacturing its self-driving vans only in May 2019. Since then, the company has only produced 125 units. But now, due to the vehicle’s potential amidst the coronavirus outbreak, the company has received over 200 orders for its vans. Further, after the Chinese government’s announcement of subsidizing the cost of the self-driving vans to any firm purchasing them for the greater good, the company now expects to manufacture and sell more than 1,000 units of them by the end of this year.

Autonomous vehicles have always been thought to be dangerous on roads with normal vehicles and pedestrians. However, as most of the regions in the world are now facing forced shutdowns, the roads are mostly less congested and thus advanced self-driving vehicles can be used in a large manner without hesitation to transport necessities to affected areas.

(Source)

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