UK: Autonomous Vehicle Technology. This Telegraph article is a must read.
Though it’s now 8 months old, I came across this article by Alan Tovey, Telegraph Industry Editor wrote a very good piece about the development of autonomous vehicle technology and the issues associated with adoption.
While quite a lot of the article was about the development of tech in the UK and the associated economic development opportunity, much of the article focused on the tech development and tech adoption timeline.
Mark Rothoff, Volvo’s Director of Autonomous Driving was quoted and one statement in particular stood out to me. Rothoff said, “Volvo has set out something it calls “Vision 2020” – a target that in five years’ time no one should be killed or seriously injured in a new Volvo. It’s essential that customers accept this as a given if the company is to fulfil its aim of having 100 driverless cars being used by real customers – not company test drivers – on the streets of Gothenburg in 2017.” This is happening fast and we will be going through a fascinating period of adoption and adaption over the next decade or so.
It will be interesting to watch the technology further develop. As is stated in the article, much of the pure tech exists today, but from here on out it’s a matter of blending together steering, braking and acceleration and now the ability to properly “sense the environment” so that the vehicle can anticipate real-life road conditions, which are often not predictable.
GLDPartners is enthusiastic about the metamorphosis of the automotive industry. We see the changes happening now and over the next 10 years as overwhelming what has been a fairly stable industry in terms of fundamental advancement. We’re working with companies that are navigating these changes and it’s a fast world.
This is now about technology and generally the kind of tech that the traditional automotive powerhouses are not comfortable with. They are trying very hard to “play the game” now but frankly it’s ultimately about non-traditional players – including a range of tech specialists like Mobileye, Nvidea, Google and Baidu. What will be most interesting is how the large OEMs partner and build alliances, something that is not comfortable to many old-line players that have been the ones to call the shots. Now the tables are turned a little bit.
The impact to regional and national economic development is enormous. The UK isn’t the leader in this right now, but there is a very good base of tech capability in the country. The key though won’t be about one country, it’ll be about the tech and trade amongst leading players. I think the economic development question for the UK is whether the reshaping of the “new definition automotive sector” can provide a new story about automotive for the next couple of decades. Now is the time that these foundations are being formed, so while Nissan in Sunderland is great, the sector will look so different in 10 years – can there be new centres created with an entirely new structure – around tech manufacturing?
Let’s look at the Telegraph article from another angle. It didn’t really mention the US tech scene, where the Silicon Valley area alone is probably the global capitol of such, with almost every global OEM setting-up shop there to tap the creative juice of the region’s software genius. I’d offer that the UK’s future might be related to how well it can embed in these kinds of circles. This is about a world so much larger then the UK – and to demonstrate how global this industry is, the article quoted an expert from a Swedish company, that is now owned by the Chinese. Could the UK become a specialized hub for Europe for autonomous vehicles? We think the answer is yes, but it’s not your Grandfather’s automotive industry and longer and the same goes for economic development.
