Following CES 2018, anyone would be forgiven for thinking that the extinction of privately-owned, manually-driven passenger vehicles was imminent. The optimism on show at the Las Vegas event bordered on intoxicating – driverless pizza delivery courtesy of Ford and Toyota, the steering-wheel free Mercedes EQ fortwo concept on the Las Vegas strip, and self-driving rides from Lyft and Aptiv all lent the impression that the future is now. Indeed, Lyft and Aptiv have extended trials in the area, following 400 rides to 20 pre-programmed destinations over the course of the show.
However, Swamy Kotagiri, Chief Technical Officer at Magna International and President of Magna Electronics, urges sobriety, and points to a long list of obstacles that will need to be overcome on the way to Levels 4 and 5.
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