With a rising demand for self-driving cars, let’s take a look at some of the exciting choices that have already hit the market.
TESLA
Founded in 2003 by a group of engineers led by Elon Musk, the team wanted to prove that there is no need to compromise to drive electric. Today, Tesla manufactures a range of stylish all-electric vehicles, including the sporty Model S and futuristic Model X, designed to be practical, safe and fun and that offer a glimpse of a world without vehicle pollution.
Innovation is high on the agenda at Tesla, which has also pioneered the newly enhanced Navigate on Autopilot feature. Guided by ultrasonic sensors that collect data of the surroundings, this new feature helps the car to self-guide from a highway’s on-ramp to the off-ramp, including suggesting and making lane changes, navigating highway interchanges and taking exits.
Navigate on Autopilot can be customised to each driver’s preference and includes four settings for speed-based lane changes (Disabled, Mild, Average or Mad Max). Another feature on Autopilot is Autopark. To use this system, the driver must be driving at a very low speed on a street and must put the car into reverse alongside a parking space. At this point, Autopark will begin to manoeuvre the vehicle into the parking space by controlling the vehicle speed, gear changes and steering angle.
AUDI
Born at the behemoth German automaker, the latest Audi A8 range is already fitted with autonomous intelligent driving (AID), which allows vehicles to self-drive up to a speed of 60kph. Complemented by adaptive cruise control, the new feature minimises the risk of accidents while driving on a highway. Another feature to highlight is the Audi AI Parking Pilot, which frees up the driver to monitor the vehicle into self-park from a smartphone.
WAYMO
Google’s self-driving car project, Waymo, is the leading manufacturer of autonomous vehicles. With the aim of making it safe and easy for people to get where they are going, Waymo technology has been tested on the road for millions of kilometres to ensure a high level of safety. Using sensors and software that constantly scan for objects around the vehicle, it predicts the movements of all things around it based on their speed and trajectory.
Waymo One was the first self-driving ride hailing service to operate in the Phoenix East Valley area. The fleet has now expanded include the Toyota Prius, Lexus SUVs, Chrysler Hybrid minivans and, most recently, the Jaguar I-PACE, which is built with a fully integrated hardware suite for the purpose of full autonomy.
Asia Dreams May – July 2020
