<p><b>While passenger cars are a ways off, trucking and taxis are making progress.</b></p>

<h4>In the news</h4> <p>Self-driving vehicles are the perennial next big thing; always just around the corner, never quite here.</p> <p>Recent setbacks prompted Bloomberg to run an article entitled, “<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-10-06/even-after-100-billion-self-driving-cars-are-going-nowhere" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Even After $100 Billion, Self-Driving Cars Are Going Nowhere</a>.” That may be harsh, but recently <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/tesla-flags-its-cars-not-ready-be-approved-fully-self-driving-this-year-2022-10-20/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tesla admitted its cars</a>, even those with the “full self-driving” (FSD) option, aren’t ready to gain the regulatory approval that would allow drivers to nap in the backseat—human oversight is still required.</p> <p>Experts pointed out that regulatory hurdles are less of a problem than the functionality itself, which is not ready for prime time. &quot;The impediment is the technology. It is not about approval of that technology,” one said.</p> <p>Meanwhile Xpeng, a Chinese maker of electric vehicles, has a system similar to Tesla’s FSD and is <a href="https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3192916/xpeng-launches-city-level-autonomous-driving-system-piling?utm\_source=substack\&amp;utm\_medium=email" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">boasting about approval</a> for true autonomous driving. But the fine print bears study; Xpeng vehicles are only genuinely autonomous in certain urban, fully mapped situations. And Argo AI, an autonomous vehicle startup backed by Ford and VW, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/26/ford-vw-backed-argo-ai-is-shutting-down/?guccounter=1\&amp;guce\_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8\&amp;guce\_referrer\_sig=AQAAANGb\_eenMKkOPO5reE7sYdjPYNNPDjCajNNhdHwrrHplllfOI6K12-lXKFvd7yaq\_JBXGkQJLO9dGxnM35YOcxgWOXT5\_GPAis\_jOXDtpJkbDMPMdyGyYD1UoQcifJ7mRfSagRXN00Nda2XYhqDomOUlp-wtRj-WRVWiUENQU9S9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has just shut down</a>. Even one analyst who is generally optimistic admits, “There is still a long way to go before fully autonomous cars can be built.”</p> <h4>The Cognizant take</h4> <p>Aditya Pathak, Cognizant VP and Head of Auto, Transportation &amp; Logistics, Americas, is less bearish on self-driving vehicles. Despite the acknowledged setbacks in autonomous passenger cars, he notes, “there is also steady progress being made.” Honda recently introduced its Legend, the world’s first <a href="https://torc.ai/understanding-levels-autonomy-3-4-5/#:\~:text=A%20Level%203%20ready%20autonomous,quickly%20upon%20the%20driver%27s%20command." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Level 3</a> autonomous car, and the Mercedes EQS has also earned Level 3 autonomy certification in Germany.</p> <p>But even more interesting developments are shaping up in point-to-point long-haul trucking, Pathak says, “where the total addressable market is 10 times that of self-driving cars.” Companies like Torc, Samsara, TuSimple, Aurora and Embark are all working with truck OEMs to bring self-driving trucks to reality for point-to-point, long-haul use.</p> <p>In the US, Pathak expects a 2024 debut of self-driving trucks that run between transfer hubs on certain highways.&nbsp;“This approach side-steps the technical complexity of reliably solving self-driving in urban, first and last miles,” he says. It could also unlock significant wage expense reductions (40% to 50%), increase daily miles driven (by 20% to 30%) and alleviate the chronic driver shortage in the US.</p> <p>“By some estimates,” Pathak adds, “we could see 90% of long-haul miles become automated in the not-so-distant future, unlocking tremendous cost efficiencies and improved safety—and transforming the entire logistics industry.”</p> <p>He also points to the global “robo-taxi” market, which is expected to grow <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/10/10/2531029/28124/en/Robo-Taxis-Global-Market-to-Reach-11-01-Billion-by-2026-at-a-CAGR-of-59-3.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">from $1.71 billion this year to $11 billion in 2026</a>. “Players like Waymo, Cruise and Zoox are making steady progress and are now in the process of growing their operations in current markets and expanding into new cities,” he says.</p> <p>So maybe those who are crowing because you can’t yet nap in your Tesla while being whisked to the office are missing the bigger point.</p>