The system notes of Uber drivers soon be obsolete? The firm has made several announcements demonstrating its ambition to market vehicles without drivers. First, it has an agreement with the Swedish automaker Volvo, controlled by the Chinese group Geely, providing for a joint investment of $ 300 million and use the same vehicle for their tests.
Uber and Volvo are already familiar with to be part of the same lobby in the United States whose goal is to accelerate the development of autonomous vehicles, which raises not only technical problems but also legal and legal. Volvo started in 2014 to test an autonomous vehicle in the streets of the Swedish city of Gothenburg, and Uber did the same in the United States in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (east), even if it is in the case of a model of the Ford brand. It is in this qu’Uber City installed its research center on autonomous vehicles in 2015.
A pilot project at the end of the month
this partnership will soon have practical implications because Uber says to deploy by the end of this month a pilot project using autonomous cars. There will be a vehicle in the co-pilot but it will not lead, content to monitor operations.
Uber did not specify how many cars will be deployed, but the Wall Street Journal evokes a hundred Volvo XC90, the “Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV)” of the Swedish manufacturer . According to Uber, there will not be as Volvo, but also Ford. The announcement, however, seems a bit premature since the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has not yet heard. “We expect to be informed by Uber of their projects. We have requested information but we have not received a request from them,” said Nils Hagen-Frederiksen, a spokesman. He stressed that this service could be implemented without the approval of the PUC.
“A big shot”, with the purchase of Otto
The decision to partner with Volvo in the autonomous car takes account of the acquis this manufacturer in the sector, but also its image linked to security, recognized Uber Thursday. “Over a million people die in car accidents each year (in the world, Ed). These are tragedies that autonomous driving technologies can help avoid, but we can not do it alone. It ‘ Therefore our partnership with a manufacturer like Volvo is so important. Volvo is a leader in terms of development and the top of the class when it comes to security, “said the boss of Uber, Travis Kalanick.
But Uber does not stop there. He also announced Thursday the acquisition of the California start-up Otto, which develops software for autonomous vehicles. The amount of the acquisition was not specified, so Uber Otto is not publicly traded, but the American press evokes nearly 700 million. Otto, which employs about 90 people, was known in May by announcing that he was working on an autonomous driving software for trucks. “If it looks like something big is that it is one,” said Travis Kalanick. “Together, we have one of the best teams of engineers in the area of autonomous vehicles in the world.”
An autonomous truck equipped with the technology developed by Otto, August 4, 2016.
REUTERS / Alexandria Sage
the autonomous cars are one of the most advanced research in the automotive sector, ads competing manufacturers to introduce cars able to drive and to direct themselves. The American Ford and the German BMW have recently set the goal of mass production in 2021.
In addition to traditional manufacturers, Internet giants like Alphabet (Google) and Apple are also in the running. Many of these actors have said consider using autonomous vehicles in the framework of services on demand (taxi, carpooling or car sharing). According to their promoters, such vehicles will not only reduce road deaths, but also to improve traffic flow and reduce traffic pollution.
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