Car Autonomy

impaired, disabled, or elderly, so there’s plenty of people who need these services. “There’s going to be a need for humans to help with things like accessibility and just because someone’s not driving doesn’t mean there can’t be human assistance (Raj Kapoor, Lyft’s Chief Strategy Officer).” All the possible jobs that could be created from autonomous cars will aid the economy and improve the total value of goods produced and services provided in the U.S.( a.k.a the GDP). Car autonomy will also help lots of companies branch out and make their services better.

The three main types of companies that would benefit from pursuing car autonomy are taxi services, commercial companies (any company that uses trucks to transport goods), and car companies.

This move may seem detrimental to General Motors normal car sales but with their new business model it is not. They intend to write the codes and sell the rides instead of selling the car itself which will give them a continuous stream of revenue. According to Sam Abuelsamid, Transportation Analyst with Navigant Research, “The potential ways [for car companies] to make money are almost limitless.” General Motors already has Cadillacs on the road that have an “Autopilot” setting and they are testing their cars in California, Michigan, Arizona, and eventually New York (Valdes-Dapena). Also with the 4 billion dollars car companies received from the federal government for the research and development, their cars will have many more capabilities. Most importantly the ability to collect data. Whether it’s witnessing a fender bender or confirming testimony, their cars can share the video with the police and insurance agencies. Their goal as of now is to adding “Cruise Automation” to their current Bolt EV model. These autonomous cars will also have electric engines which will do wonders for the

Conventional cars release carbon emissions into the air which has proven to contribute to global warming. Global warming negatively affects many ecosystems, for example: polar bears’ habitats in the arctic regions are slowing melting and global warming may contribute to their extinction. Carbon emissions also affect the acidity, or the pH, of rainfall. An increase in pH doesn’t sound like such a big deal, but in reality it is. Let us use a typical pond as an example: If a certain type of fish can only live in water at a certain pH level and the increase in pH from acid rain kills these fish, the other fish that consumes this fish will soon have nothing to prey on and will die off as well. Acid rain destroyed the ecosystem in that pond just by increasing its pH. Since autonomous cars have electric engines, they will not release carbon emissions and will not contribute to acid rain or the destruction of any ecosystems. “Among the technology’s greatest benefits would be likely reduction in the horrible smog caused by city traffic (Wadhwa).” The U.S. Federal government requires these autonomous cars to have electric engines in order to prevent anymore environmental