Self-Driving Cars Are Too Expensive for Mass Production

A panel of automotive experts at the Renesas DevConsuggested that the best solution to driver distraction lies in the use of autonomous vehicles, but added that the technology for such vehicles is still far too expensive to be practical.

”The algorithms are there,” noted Mike Grimes, Technical Fellow for microcontrollers and semiconductors at General Motors. “People are proving that with $50,000 sensors and $50,000 in electronics, you can do it. But doing it in a mass production vehicle is more of an issue.”

Grimes was one of eight engineers on the “Auto Industry Speaks” panel at the Renesas DevCon, a developer conference for engineers, programmers and electronics industry executives. Other panelists represented Harman International Industries, Visteon Corp., Symtavision GmbH, Altia Inc., SimuQuest, and Renesas.

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The panelists agreed that the technical challenges facing autonomous vehicle developers still include processors, sensors, software tools, and standards. “Yes, these (vehicles) will eventually come about,” said John Mills, founder of SimuQuest, an automotive supplier that specializes in model-based systems engineering. “But the auto companies don’t have a solution of how to get to market and how to make a profit.”

None of the panelists even ventured a guess as to when the technology would appear on roads in large numbers. “If you put it all together, you have an impossible equation,” Mills added.

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Senior technical editor Chuck Murray has been writing about technology for 31 years. He joined Design News in 1987, and has covered electronics, automation, fluid power, and autos.