In 1870 Siegfried Marcus created the first gasoline powered car. From there engines were further developed, there were different sources of power such as gasoline and petroleum. Years later in 1897 the first motor car was developed in Czech. Once motor cars were developed, the creation of some of the cars we know today began to become popular as early as 1920. Some of these cars were: BMW, Nissan, Bugatti, Ford and much more. Into the 1960’s racecars were beginning to be built. Now, in the modern era, 2012 to present day, there has been a big development in electric cars. The development of electric cars has made just the thought of self-driving cars possible.
Progression of Self Driving Cars
It is estimated that by 2030 25 percent of driving in the United States will be done by self-driving cars. Some may see this as a long time for a minimal percentage reached, but driving is extremely tedious when trying to develop a feat as such. In 2016 driving accidents were classified as the fourth leading cause of death in the United States. Knowing this, when trying to make self-driving cars, the testing must be extremely accurate. If a product comes out that causes more harm than good then it would be deemed as useless. The reason self-driving cars are being created is because there has been a huge increase in the interest of electric vehicles. These self-driving cars will also include a huge price increase. It is estimated that those who decide to purchase a self-driven car over a man operated car will be paying around 60 percent more. Due to this, it is also believed that the car sales market will not suffer a bit. There will still be the same amount of interest in man operated vehicles as there was before the self-driving cars.
Testing of Self Driving Vehicles
As stated before, these cars need to be as close to perfection as possible. To ensure safety, there is a thirty month trial of these vehicles. This testing is funded by an 8.6m euro grant. This amounts to a little over 10 million U.S. dollars. There are also re-insurer XL Catlin, and Nominet and the Atomic Energy Authority. These trials began in the beginning of May 2017 in the United Kingdom. They plan to gather data from multiple aspects of these autonomous vehicles. This data can show what needs to be fixed and how. They are being tested on public roads between London and Oxford. The reason behind testing these cars on public roads is to verify that they are able to succeed in real conditions on regular roads. Thus far, it looks as if they are being precautious and considering various factors to ensure the crucial safety expected from higher technology.