Self-driving robotaxis fleets likely to take 10 years to be on roads: Lucid CEO
The chief executive of electric vehicle startup Lucid Group Inc Peter Rawlinson stated that it might take a decade to see autonomous taxis on the road. The CEO, who was the former chief engineer at Tesla Inc, announced this at the Reuters Events Automotive Summit. “I think we're 10 years out before we see fleets of robotaxis. They ain't coming anytime soon even with the most advanced sensing systems in the world," he was quoted as saying in a report by Reuters.
Elaborating on it, Rawlinson explained that to achieve this feat, automakers will have to climb a mountain in terms of software. Lucid which is a competitor of Telsa started its production of Lucid Air luxury electric sedans that feature multiple sensors including one LiDAR and 14 cameras. He also conveyed that the current technology is a Level 2 advanced driver assistance system. “This is an unprecedented system in terms of its technical sophistication," he added.
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In 2019, Tesla chief Elon Musk had stated that self-driving robotaxis will become available in some US markets by 2020, however, this prediction has failed. Tesla's chief financial officer Zach Kirkhorn said recently it will be hard to give a specific deadline to achieve full autonomous technology. The EV major currently sells its advanced driver assistance systems known as ‘Full Self-Driving,’ for $10,000. Tesla also promises to offer more features with this system in the future.
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An earlier report had mentioned Hyundai's joint venture with Aptiv named Motional that declared that autonomous robotaxis will be available as early as 2023. Hyundai is banking on its Ioniq 5 Robotaxi to achieve this goal. The automaker had informed that these autonomous robotaxis are ready for mass commercialisation around the world.
