NEW YORK–How soon will truly autonomous vehicles be on the road?
It’s a question of great interest to credit unions, which have a wary eye on a threat to their biggest loan category. Now, Mary T. Barra, CEO of General Motors, said GM is “on track” to introduce a ride-sharing service in 2019 that would rely on autonomous vehicles.
If GM meets that target, it would be a fast advance in a competitive market to bring autonomous vehicles to the road. Many in credit unions are concerned fleets of autonomous vehicles that are used on a subscription basis only when needed will collapse the market for auto loans. But other analysts, as CUToday.info has reported, have suggested such a scenario is at the very least more than a decade away.
During Dealbook’s Playing for the Long Term Conference, Barra said it will be entering the autonomous vehicle market “next year” and that it has a strategy to show how its vehicles are safer than human drivers. It should be noted, however, that the vehicles GM plans to put on the road currently run safely at speeds of up to about 30 miles per hour, and the service will be limited to a small geographical area, according to Barra, the New York Times reported.
The vehicles use “a suite of sensors,” including radar, cameras and a technology known as lidar, which uses near-infrared light to detect the shape of objects around it. GM is focused on advancements to lidar, which will drive down costs and enable the vehicles to travel at higher speeds, Barra said, according to the Times.
GM’s Autonomous vehicle unit, Cruise