24 AFTERMARKET MAY 2024 TECHNICAL/AFTERMARKET OF THE FUTURE www.aftermarketonline.net San Francisco self-driving car attack — isolated incident or worrying escalation? February saw one of the most violent attacks on a self-driving vehicle to date, as a Waymo Jaguar I-PACE was surrounded, vandalised and burnt-out in San Francisco’s Chinatown. The car was unoccupied, no one was hurt, and the incident appears to have been a one-off, according to KRON 4 local news. While the motive for the attack remains unclear, Aaron Peskin, president of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, told Reuters: “Most normal car drivers know that they have to avoid Chinatown during the lunar new year holidays. The computer doesn’t understand that.” Last summer, the UK’s SelfDriving All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) predicted that people will quickly become bored with protest actions like ‘coning’ — rendering an automated car inoperable by placing a traffic cone on the bonnet. However, with The Independent speculating that “battle lines have been drawn in the war on big tech”, let’s hope the APPG are right. Like a wily international manager giving a tournament debut to a wildly talented prodigy, The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) put self-driving front and centre of its eagerly anticipated Connected 2024 event. Lined up outside The QEII Centre, in the shadow of Westminster Abbey, on March 14 were some of the best British self-driving vehicles — a CAVForth bus, an Oxa modified Ford pickup, and an Aurrigo airport Auto-Dolly — alongside the impressive but not self-driving Ford Mustang Mach-E. The day started early with an 8am press briefing by SMMT chief executive, Mike Hawes. He set out why “the UK auto sector is calling for the swift passing of the Automated Vehicles (AV) Bill to deliver long-term economic and social benefits”, notably preventing 53,000 serious accidents by 2040 and delivering a £38bn economic boost… if the bill is enacted in this parliament. This set the scene for a lively Q&A with David Wong, senior technology and innovation manager at the SMMT, Oxa’s autonomy systems and regulatory expert, Bryn Balcombe (formerly of F1), and Prof David Keene, chief executive of Aurrigo. Wong referenced the launch of PAVE UK and the need to build public trust, while Balcombe urged vehicle manufactures to speed up the adoption of brake- and steer-by-wire in readiness for automation. Keene explained that, as well as being a tierone supplier to the likes of JLR and Bentley, and working on self-driving passenger vehicles, Aurrigo is now the world leader in automated baggage handling at airports. All this before the main conference had even begun! Upstairs, in an auditorium packed with 300-plus delegates, broadcaster Katie Derham introduced the first keynote speaker, transport secretary Mark Harper. Harper enthused about mobility “without the responsibility of driving”, his experience of travelling in a Wayve car in London, and the opportunity for “world leading regulation” to “transform the life chances of the disadvantaged”. Further highlights included Tom Stringer, product strategy director at JLR, predicting that personal ownership would remain the preferred option at the pricier end of the market, Robert Smith, of Digital Catapult, asserting that AI is “a goal rather than a technology”, and shadow transport minister Bill Esterson, confirming that “Labour will support the AV bill currently going through the Commons“. Esterson also reiterated Labour’s intention to reintroduce the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel car sales. Great British self-driving at SMMT Connected 2024 Neil Kennett looks at cutting-edge auto tech coming to a workshop near you soon AFTERMARKET OF THE FUTURE A commentator on the UK aftermarket since before Concorde was grounded, Neil is Editor of Carsofthefuture.co.uk, providing news and views about driverless vehicles, and Director of Communications at Selfdrivingpr.com, experts in automotive/autonomous media and public relations
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjQ0NzM=