Annual sales for self-driving cars to hit 11.8M units by 2035

There are a lot of automotive manufacturers and technology firms that are working on technology for vehicles that can drive themselves. There are two overall types of self-driving vehicles today, ones that require some driver input and those that are fully autonomous and need no driver. Google is probably the biggest name in the fully autonomous game right now.

Most major automakers are working on self-driving cars that do require some driver input. This is tech that allows the vehicle to take over braking and throttle in traffic to help prevent some rear end collisions. Some automakers also have tech that can steer for the driver in this situations as well.

A new report from IHS Automotive has been published and the report says that annual sales volumes for self-driving cars will reach 230,000 units by 2025 and by 2035 sales volume will hit 11.8 million units. By 2035, the report predicts there will be 11.8 million self-driving cars in use globally.

IHS predicts that by 2050 almost all cars will be of the self-driving variety. The report predicts the more self-driving cars that hit the road, the safer the roadways around the country will be. The first wave of self-driving cars is expected to have features similar to autopilot on aircraft. Later in the 2020 range, self-driving cars are expected to handle more complex conditions. Nissan has promised to have self-driving cars on the market by 2020. The tech is expected to add $7000 to $10000 to the price of a car in 2025.










SOURCE: Desmoines Register

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Nissan Leaf, Tesla EVs to replace entire Bhutanese fleet

The small land-locked 'country of Bhutan maybe the next Asian country to go on a major automotive' electrification drive.

According to a Financial Times report, the Bhutanese government' is seriously considering a switch over to electric vehicles' for its fleet vehicles. The country’s prime minister, Tshering Tobgay, has been talking to Nissan on supply' of charging infrastructure and vehicles. Its reported' that by March next year, the Nissan Leaf would replace' a few government vehicles.

Taxi cabs could be next on the list as the country’s 120,000 people depend heavily' on them to commute. On an average, a Bhutanese taxi driver spends 800 ngultrum' (800 rupees) a day on fuel. If operated on electricity, running the taxi would cost' him just 10 ngultrum (10 rupees), a Bhutanese official reports.

The country’s top export comes' from electricity which is generated through' hydro projects. The electricity is supplied to India, but the income' coming from selling power is spent almost entirely on buying power through' fossil fuel imports for the country’s transportation sector. Tobgay’s target' is to reduce the country’s oil imports by 70 percent.

The report adds that Bhutanese government officials' are speaking to various electric car companies like Tesla to bring in electric' vehicles into the country. Bhutan has banned personal' car imports, but the government is considering an exemption and relaxation' of import duties for electric cars.

Bhutan’s prime minister hopes that the capital' city of Thimpu could become a research and development centre for electric' cars, with financial support from overseas, and make' it an “electric city”.



SOURCE: Indian Autos Blog

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