Will shared rides be part of the future of autonomous vehicles? Navya believes the answer is yes, as autonomous, connected, electric and shared was the premise behind their demonstrations at International CES2018. Since late 2017, Navya has been supplying the vehicles for the AAA-sponsored, Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada and Keolis North America (Keolis)-operated trial (learn more about the operations aspect at this link).
In the above interview, Navya’s Chief Business Development Officer, Henri Coron, discusses that trial and the associated shuttle which serves a 0.6 mile loop in downtown Las Vegas. The intent of that vehicle, which can hold as many as 15 people, is to serve as a high-frequency, first and last-mile mobility solution. Although its maximum speed of 25 MPH may appear slow, this is still double the speed of the average bus route and is ideally suited for campuses and other environments where frequency of service is more important than top-speed.
For longer distant applications, Coron describes their soon-to-be released robo-taxi, which is intended for point-to-point and longer distance drives as compared to their shuttle. Navya’s AUTONOM CAB is summoned by an app, like current ride-hailing services, and travels at speeds of up to 55 MPH. Like Navya’s shuttle, this is a Level 5 vehicle, as there are no operator controls, such as a steering wheel or pedals. Coron explains that they are operating these as Level 4.5 today, as they have an operator in the unit during the trial.
The shuttle is being produced in their factory in Saline, Michigan and the AUTONOM CAB will be produced in that same factory as it moves from proto-type to commercial deployments. Valeo, the giant, France-based OEM, supplies much of the technology, although Coron indicates that an American-based company is supplying the induction charging that provides a boost to these electric vehicles (see this interview for a brief background on one induction charging solution). Vehicle propulsion is from in-wheel motors (see this video for background on a supplier of that technology).
Currently, both vehicles have a range of about 130 kilometers (80 miles) and can operate up to 11 hours. Part of their management system is managing the shuttles and cabs to optimize their use and maximizing their comfort for the passengers. Coron emphasizes that understanding and perfecting security and safety are the priorities in today’s trials and after that they will focus on cost reduction.
It’s not too difficult to believe that a cost in the $40-$70k range is achievable in the near-term, as there are several electric vehicles in that price range with the sensors and computing necessary that provide the functionality necessary for self-driving (that still have the expense of steering columns and pedals). Even at the high-end of this range, investors in an autonomous taxi service could achieve a 43% return on investment, according to research done at the University of Texas by Dan Fagnant (see interview here). Indeed, it looks like Navya is on to something with their premise that shared can be a big part of an autonomous future.
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