Driverless cars not as close as you think
There’s no legal hurdle to self-driving cars in New Zealand. But that doesn’t mean they’re coming soon, writes David Linklater.
Here’s a little did-youknow about New Zealand: there is absolutely nothing in Kiwi legislation that explicitly states a vehicle on a public road must have a driver. That’s quite unusual.
So while carmakers are working hard in major global markets to have certain areas of public road approved for the operation of autonomous/ driverless vehicles, New Zealand is pretty much good to go in terms of legal framework.
Because there isn’t really one, beyond the stipulation that vehicles must be operated safely.
The New Zealand Government is right behind the idea of autonomous vehicles. The Intelligent Transport Systems Technology Action Plan 2014-18 recognises the importance and potential of technology like this and supports its presence on our roads.
Now, consider this: Audi New Zealand plans to launch the allnew A8 in the second half of this year. It’s a very expensive luxury sedan available only to a fortunate few, but in future years it may be remembered as one of the most important cars ever made.
Because it’s the first production vehicle in the world to have Level 3 autonomous-drive capability.
Level 3 means a car can operate itself in certain circumstances and the driver is free to do something else, like check Tinder or do some knitting.
However, they must still be available to take over with advance-notice from the car - if there’s a difficult/modified roading layout coming up, for example.
The A8 is one thing.
You may also have read that in the United States, General Motors has co-developed a car without steering wheel or pedals, with a company called Cruise Automation. It intends to massproduce it in 2019.
Or that both Hyundai and Volkswagen (Audi’s parent company) have partnered with self-driving specialist Aurora to develop autonomous cars; Hyundai says it will have one on sale by 2021. And so on.
So: driverless cars in NZ by Christmas? Not so fast.
It’s true that the A8 will be launched here this year, but it won’t have Level 3 technology active.
It’s not currently available anywhere in the world as a selfdriving vehicle and won’t be for at least a year.
Probably much longer for NZ. ‘‘The factory is working through the legal side [globally] and fine-tuning all the systems at the moment,’’ says Audi NZ sales operations manager Jarrod Ho.
‘‘The technology will always need to be adapted to local local conditions - checking road signs and that kind of thing.
‘‘But the legal part is the most time-consuming - which countries will allow it, what changes need to be made.
‘‘That’s why we’re quite lucky in NZ: the Government is quite positive around a lot of this technology. Effectively they say you can do it, as long as you do it safely.’’
The Level 3 A8 is not technically that different from Level 2 cars on the road now.
It has radar, cameras all-round and lots of sensors.
The software running it all is more complex and it has a very high-powered computer processor called a ZFAS, which stands for... something in German.
Audi NZ’S sat-nav systems also have to be upgraded for greater accuracy, but that’s happening right now.
One unique feature for the new A8 is long-range laser scanning, called LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) - the first production car to have this technology.
LIDAR is important because laser is highly accurate, even in adverse weather conditions.
So what’s to stop Audi NZ putting the autonomous A8 on the road right now? Legally, there’s nothing holding it back. If it can work in Spider-man: Homecoming, why can’t it work here?
‘‘Well, you’ve got a couple of angles, ‘‘ says Ho.
‘‘One is the Government, but we don’t appear to have big hurdles there. The other is the factory and it won’t even give us the [Level 3] car until it’s satisfied.
‘‘The other thing holding NZ back is its size. Testing costs money and that’s something the factory must always consider. How many cars with this technology will we sell? That may count against us.
‘‘In large markets like the US it’s a different story. Because of the sales potential, they’ll have hundreds of people dedicated to making it happen.’’
Read between the exciting autonomous-drive headlines and there’s also a bit of a reality check needed.
The A8 might be the most automated production car in the world, but its Level 3 capability is within very narrow parameters.
To drive itself, the A8 must be travelling at less than 60kmh, on a highway with multiple lanes with a dividing barrier, at least one car ahead to follow, no cyclists or pedestrians present.
In fact, the gee-whizz A8 doesn’t do a whole lot more than a really good Level 2 car that you can buy right now from the likes of Audi itself, BMW, Mercedes-benz, Tesla or Volvo.
The biggest difference is that the driver doesn’t have to pay attention.
So while the A8 is an important step on the road to driverless cars, we’re not there yet.
‘‘As time goes by, the situations and speeds will increase,’’ says Ho.
It really is baby steps at the moment.
It’s likely to be the same baby steps for more futuristic autonomous cars like those promised by makers like GM.
City ride-hailing services (that’s really just futuristic talk for ‘‘taxis’’) are a key focus for many makers and while they may happen in the next couple of years, these Level 5 (no driver at all) cars will likely run on designated routes to start with, which have been carefully evaluated and monitored for every possible situation and potential problem.
Like a more wide-ranging version of the driverless shuttle currently being trialled at Christchurch International Airport.
Think of these driverless taxis as slot cars, just with a massive track and multiple route options.
Having cars on pre-prescribed routes will also enable them to talk to each other about possible problems on the road.
But don’t put your licence away just yet.