Autonomous Cars

                                                 Google's autonomous car

This year I completed nine years of my working life in the automobile industry.Over the past nine years I could witness many changes in the automotive industry.But I always felt that the conventional automobile manufactures less innovative.They were always working on incremental improvements.Like minor improvement in engine efficiency,weight reduction,aerodynamics,hybrid ,bio diesel,improving braking,steering controls etc.It been 130 years since the invention of automobiles.Since then the basic concept of automobile has not changed much.Even today cars have an internal combustion engine running on fossil fuels.Most conventional companies were working on increasing the sales of cars.But what was really need was to change the way we transport ourselves. The entry of Tesla and Google into the automotive industry has changed the coarse of automotive industry.

Tesla focused on developing fully electric cars to improve efficiency and reduce the emission of green house gases.Google by showing the prototype of autonomous cars has changed the whole concept of cars.I am personally very excited about these developments.A fully electric autonomous cars will have a big impact on the way we live in the coming decades.I will list down some of the major areas which will be impacted by these developments

1.Reducing pollution: Today global warming is a major concern.This is primary due to our over dependence on fossil fuel for our energy needs.A fully electric car will increase the efficiency of automobile which in turn will reduce our dependence on  fossil fuels for mobility.

2.No driver:An autonomous car will eliminate the need for a driver.This will result in lower no of accidents due to human errors.No driver means the cost of transportation will further reduce.

3.Connected cars:In future cars will be much more connected and will be communicating with each other.They will have artificial intelligence and emotions.A car will be doing all the things that we do with a smart phone and much more.

4.Lower car ownership:With autonomous car and app based taxi services the need for ownership of a car will reduce.As the cost of owning a car will be much higher than the expense of using an app based car service.People will save money by not buying a car and  by not spending money on its maintenance and fuel.

5.Reduce traffic: As people will be buying less no of cars we will have fewer no of cars on roads.Improvement in app based mobility services will increase the usage of car pooling.This will further reducing cost and traffic in our major cities.

6.No insurance:In USA and developed countries accidental insurance is a big industry.As the technology of autonomous cars improve the no of accident on road will reduce considerably.This is take away the need for having an insurance and further cut the cost of transportation.

7.Job loss:Autonomous cars and app based services will result in lower annual sales of cars.Conventional companies will have to scale down or close down.This will result in closing down of many automotive suppliers cutting down jobs.Lesser sale of cars will mean fewer dealership and service centers.

8.Economy:This heavy loss of jobs will result in a situation where money will be concentrated with only few people who will be controlling these technologies.In such a situation governments may have to think about distributing money to people to keep the economy going.But I think this will not happen.It is very difficult to keep human beings quite.When all this happens we will find out new areas and challenges to work upon.We may have more time to relax,meditate and for family when autonomous cars do become a reality.