Autonomous Cars are Very Expensive and Difficult to Make

The automakers are racing to invest more in the autonomous future of cars. However, it might not be the smartest idea right now. Certainly, the autonomous future is coming, but it’s still too expensive and difficult to create sustainable self-driving vehicles that the mass market would accept. 

Ian Robertson, BMW’s number one for global sales, spoke about this:

“Some automakers have claimed they are farther down the road than they actually are. Many have started to realize this will take more time.”

A big problem lies in standardization and safety of the autonomous vehicles. As Gill Pratt, Toyota’s Research Institute CEO said: “Historically, humans have shown nearly zero tolerance for injury or death caused by flaws in a machine.”

It’s estimated that the automotive industry has spent around $6.5 billion developing self-driving driving technology in the past two years, while another $20-$30 billion are expected to be spent this way in the next five years.