The UK is in pole position in the global race to market for connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), with a £62 billion boost to the UK economy by 2030 up for grabs, according to a major new report published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and Frost & Sullivan. Connected and Autonomous Vehicles: Winning the Global Race to Market,1 analyses the wide-ranging societal and economic benefits to be achieved by gradually increasing CAVs on our roads.
The UK is in a strong position to capitalise, with more than £500 million already committed by industry and government to CAV R&D and testing. Autonomous driving trials are taking place in our major towns and cities, we are home to four major CAV test beds and three additional sites focused on highways, rural and parking, with more than 80 collaborative R&D projects underway. The next game-changing step is to move from testing CAV technologies to deployment in the real world.
Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) such as Autonomous Emergency Braking and Collision Warning are already available on the majority of new cars registered in the UK.2 Combined with the gradual introduction of automated vehicles from 2021, this will deliver massive safety benefits. Over the next decade, the technology is set to prevent 47,000 serious accidents and save 3,900 lives. At the same time, some 420,000 new jobs will be created, including in the automotive industry and other sectors such as telecoms and digital services. Driving commuters, meanwhile, will gain back the equivalent of a full working week thanks to more ‘downtime’ and smoother traffic flows during their commute.
Please click here to view the full press release.
SOURCE: SMMT
