Why Uber's Self-Driving Car Test Is A Big Deal

It's official: Self-driving cars are here. This week Uber's autonomous taxi fleet picked up its first passengers in Pittsburgh, while Ford announced that its self-driving car will have no steering wheel, gas pedal, or brakes. Ford is also working on cars that can harvest drinking water from thin air -- and then dispense it from a dashboard tap. In other auto news, the Chevy Bolt scored an EPA-certified driving range of 238 miles -- further than the base Tesla Model S. Tesla sued an oil exec for allegedly impersonating Elon Musk to steal trade secrets. And design studio Duffy London debuted the solar-powered super yacht of the future.

Ford also demonstrated what its self-driving cars can do this week. The company has been working on autonomous technology for over a decade, and recently committed to releasing a fleet of autonomous taxis in 2021. At its Dearborn, Michigan, headquarters Sept. 12 the company invited a group of journalists to try out its autonomous vehicles, and said that it will be making robot cars available to Dearborn employees in 2018. The company plans to start selling self-driving cars to the public in 2025, according to The Verge’s Tamara Warren.

The week also saw the reveal of Volvo’s first production-model autonomous SUV. The self-driving XC90 shocked some by looking pretty much indiscernible from a regular Volvo. Many self-driving cars shown to the public have been packed with radar, laser sensors, cameras, and other sensing equipment, or have been designed to look inherently different from the average car, such as Google’s koala-shaped self-driving car. But Volvo’s new robot car looks, well, just like a car. The company plans to begin a driverless ride-hailing service, similar to what Ford and Uber intend to do, in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2017.

Source: engadget.com ; qz.com