Currently reading: Bosch says it could launch an autonomous car tomorrow

Technology and hardware is here, says tech giant, citing non-technical factors such as inconsistent regulations as the major obstacles

Bosch blames the delayed roll-out of autonomous vehicles on a jungle of red tape and a wave of consumer scepticism rather than the limitations of the systems.

The German supplier’s senior vice-president of automated driving, Kay Stepper, told Autocar that its engineers have already cleared the technological hurdles.

“We need to differentiate between technical and non-technical problems,” he explained at CES. “At the moment we can honestly say from the technological, hardware and software sides that we have what we need to roll out [autonomous technology] tomorrow. It’s here. Yes, we have much more testing and validation to do and more refinement to do, but we’re there.”

Despite this, no self-driving cars are available commercially in 2020.

“The major obstacles are the non-technical ones, like the regulatory framework in different regions,” said Stepper. “It’s very different in Europe than in China or the US, and that will very much impact the timing of the roll-out.” Stepper added that American lawmakers cast the technology in a more favourable light than others.

Consumer acceptance is another hurdle that Bosch, its partners and its rivals need to collectively clear.

“I’m excited about autonomous driving, and many of our customers are, but not everyone is,” Stepper pointed out. “There’s a good level of animosity in parts of the population. Some have a hard time accepting this as an everyday reality.”

Stepper believes self-driving vehicles will hit the road by 2025 but they won’t be ubiquitous. He identified ride-hailing services and commercial haulage as the likeliest areas of application.

It will take more time for a firm to sell the public a car without a steering wheel or pedals. The industry will get there, Stepper believes, but he stressed that Bosch’s goal isn’t to make driving illegal.

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405line 6 February 2020

What they didn't say

Bosch pays 90-million-euro fine over diesel scandal.The penalty may be significantly less than the ones handed out to Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche, but auto parts supplier Bosch has become the latest big-name casualty of the Dieselgate scandal. 

Cobnapint 6 February 2020

Lol

405line wrote:

Bosch pays 90-million-euro fine over diesel scandal.The penalty may be significantly less than the ones handed out to Volkswagen, Audi and Porsche, but auto parts supplier Bosch has become the latest big-name casualty of the Dieselgate scandal. 

Brussels have got to find some post Brexit revenue from somewhere.

Pietro Cavolonero 6 February 2020

Post brexit revenue..

That'll come from tariffs on UK goods....
CarNut170 7 February 2020

Pietro Cavolonero wrote:

Pietro Cavolonero wrote:

That'll come from tariffs on UK goods....

Really though? When the EU have a substantial trade deficit with the UK? Meaning the UK have more goods to tax than the EU do, damaging the EU worse than the EU can damage the UK.

Cobnapint 6 February 2020

And the public say....

That would be a complete waste of time.
Pierre 6 February 2020

A Problem That Must Be Solved

Autonomous vehicles could bring fully-fledged mobility to countless people who, for a variety of reasons, cannot drive and who can't rely on public transport or taxi services.

Particularly but certainly not limited to rural areas, AVs would do a lot to improve the quality of life for very many people. 

IAnd given the appalling driving we see all the time, and the numbers of accidents that happen every day, I expect the roads would actually become safer, as well as almost certainly more energy-efficient.

So despite the negatives and the potential problems that are easy enough to predict (and everything is a trade-off of one sort or another) I hope people start to think more about the benefits than the disadvantages, and find solutions that can satisfy the majority of people who are nervous about such a big change to the way we move around.

CarNut170 7 February 2020

Pierre wrote:

Pierre wrote:

Autonomous vehicles could bring fully-fledged mobility to countless people who, for a variety of reasons, cannot drive and who can't rely on public transport or taxi services.

Particularly but certainly not limited to rural areas, AVs would do a lot to improve the quality of life for very many people. 

IAnd given the appalling driving we see all the time, and the numbers of accidents that happen every day, I expect the roads would actually become safer, as well as almost certainly more energy-efficient.

So despite the negatives and the potential problems that are easy enough to predict (and everything is a trade-off of one sort or another) I hope people start to think more about the benefits than the disadvantages, and find solutions that can satisfy the majority of people who are nervous about such a big change to the way we move around.

So the mobility service will provide a robot that walks to your door?