Many automakers and all other competitors promised the most awaited self-driving cars to be released soon in the market. Although Tesla, Uber as well as Alphabet are probably the best-known players regarding this matter, General Motors (GM) and Ford made it also clear just last week that they’ll likely be the major competitors in the field.
Uber And Ford VS Tesla On Self-Driving Car
As reported by Forbes, by 2021, driverless cars will be in mass production in almost all the automakers' company field. Racing towards the mainstream, all firms are expected to release those so called "driving" seats of much of their previous preoccupations. As researched by Harvard Health Watch, the average American spends a total of 101 minutes driving each day. So, the question is, what are they going to do to avoid getting bored on long journeys?
GM already started to plan and move for its most awaited self-driving car, confirmed in an announcement during its earnings call last week. GM's statement said that the firm is testing more than 40 self-driving Chevy Bolt electric vehicles on the roads. The company also said that fans can expect this car to be the first major manufacturer to make autonomous vehicles in the mass production assembly plant. GM also paid 1 billion for Cruise Automation and has invested in Uber-rival Lyft.
Ford has also made investments, as reported by Barron's Next. But until now, it had been more under the radar. Ford made it clear last week that the company is also planning to compete more aggressively in a self-driving car. It announces a total of $1 billion investment in a startup called Argo AI. It will become Argo’s majority owner, but Argo can still operate independently and have its own brand. The startup was founded by veterans of Google and Uber while Ford wants to deliver this kind of vehicle by the year2021.
Tesla is surely ahead of this autonomous cars battle, given the fact that the company announced its plan last October. The announcement made also states that all of the cars of Tesla will now have the hardware necessary to become autonomous vehicles. Still, more and more companies are entering the battlefield and will certainly have to compete on price as well.
Car Rides Will Become Like Flights
Tesla is said to be ensuring that every new car they will bring into the market will have the capability to drive itself. Because of these, other major auto firms such as Ford and Uber are also integrating driverless technology into much of their future offerings. "Increasingly, car brands are exploring an in-flight-type experience, with some even looking at turning doors and dashboards into screens to create an immersive 360-degree experience," Niall McBain, chairman and chief executive of Spafax Group, said.
McBain also said that the systems being explored on the cars will be almost completely voice-controlled and internet-enabled. "Wherever connectivity starts, entertainment quickly follows and this will be true for cars in very quick order," he added. "The next stage will be to move from an entertainment offer to a total lifestyle product. As companies like Vodafone and Uber are already in your wallet they are in prime position to provide car users with a service-driven lifestyle product."
