At the end of May 2014, a California tech company announced plans to put its name to a low-volume run of quirky-looking prototype vehicles. The ‘cars’ will be prepared by an unconfirmed Detroit supplier, and will bear the name of an Internet search company with no automotive heritage and very little automotive swagger and style. Judging by the press pictures, the cars are unlikely to trouble the necks of many hardened ‘petrol-heads’.
So, nothing to see here – right?
Let’s reconsider: in announcing the latest in its self-driving car programme, Google has almost certainly changed the automotive landscape forever. Self-driving electric cars, designed in California, built in Detroit, and equipped with none of the controls traditionally associated with a ‘car’, will soon be making their way onto US public roads.
The news turns Google’s self-driving car from whacky, fantasy desert project into industry game-changer
Google played its hand weeks after media rumours of apparently failed attempts to find a mainstream partner for its autonomous car programme. That idea’s on hold: Google has found an anonymous partner to build the first prototypes of its ‘Googley’-looking self-driving car – its first (note the use of “first”) car – in Detroit, the heartland of the mainstream automotive industry.
The news turns Google’s self-driving car from whacky, fantasy desert project into industry game-changer. So, how will Detroit and its industry colleagues respond to what looks set to be the automotive industry’s ‘Kodak moment’?
The mainstream OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers have their own autonomous car projects under way, but Google has focused specifically on safety for this announcement, raising many questions. Are self-driving cars safe? And can safety legislation maintain pace with technological innovation? The involvement of former NHTSA man, Ron Medford, in the Google self-driving car project certainly adds gravitas to any moves to lobby for change.
The use of V2V and V2I technology is clear, but how about passive safety? How close are we to a world of fully connected cars? In such a world, all vehicles would speak to each other and their surroundings; there would be no collisions, so cars would need a fraction of current passive safety technology, meaning they could operate on less powerful drivetrains. Yet, in choosing to go electric, Google has added complexity to the already challenging sales case for EVs, and even for ADAS technology.
Google has swung early, and given Detroit a bloody nose. Retaliation from the mainstream is expected – but it will also be fascinating to watch the response of Google’s Silicon Valley counterparts
And here’s a big picture question: what are cars even for? With no controls other than start and stop, a vehicle becomes a transportation commodity. The impact on existing sales models hardly needs spelling out.
Thus we return to our starting point: that this is an industry game-changer. Google is looking to launch cars, but it isn’t looking to become a car manufacturer: it’s openly seeking friendly companies with which it can partner. So what will happen to the concept of the car brand? Do we even still need car companies to build cars?
The increased involvement of tech giants in the automotive industry has long been anticipated. How – and how quickly – it has happened has wrong-footed many in the industry. Google has swung early, and given Detroit a bloody nose. Retaliation from the mainstream is expected – but it will also be fascinating to watch the response of Google’s Silicon Valley counterparts as they gauge how to position themselves in the automotive industry of tomorrow.
Martin Kahl is Editor, Automotive World.
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