Fleeting chances: will autonomous trucks create new jobs?
Maja Stefanovic — 02 May 2025
4 min read
17 October 2017
As we make our way through what may possibly be the last decade of vehicular life as we know it, there is (understandably) a lot of talk around automated vehicles: When are they coming? Can they be trusted? What are they going to look like? But what if I don’t wanna?! We spoke with our Product Marketing Manager for Highly Automated Driving, Matt Preyss, to get his top five insights on what automation means to everyday travelers trying to navigate their way through the jargon and predictions.
While many of us default directly to envisioning an unmanned Uber showing up at our door, we’ve got a few stages to get through before we’re there (though, of course, that’s the ultimate goal). There are six levels of automation: 0 to 5. Of course, Level 0 means no automation, 1 and 2 we’re already driving, 3 and 4 are semi-automated, and Level 5 is full automation where you can sit back and let the car take the wheel… or whatever that saying will become since a Level 5 car won’t need a wheel.
In just a few short years, the first Level 3 and 4 semi-automated vehicles will be coming to a road near you – but don’t be surprised if you see empty cars in their testing phase zipping around before then. Though the car won’t look too different from what we already know, and we won’t be snoozing in the back seat just yet, for the most part, these vehicles have you covered thanks to sensor technology and advanced mapping systems like our HERE HD Live Map. Along your journey, they’ll let you know when they need you for things like getting on to freeways and more difficult parking tasks (so don’t give up on trying to be your best reverse parking self just yet).
That might sound confusing, but any forecasting beyond first launch will depend on how things shake out with the first release models. There will be learning curves, legislation, and trust to build with some, so beyond 2020, the pace at which autonomous vehicles make their way into our lives remains to be seen.
Just as roads were updated as the world progressed from horse and carriage to combustion engine vehicles, the same goes as we move on to automated vehicles. We’re set to see North America, Germany, China and Singapore debut the first cars of their kind, and these countries are assessing and progressing infrastructure and technology in preparation. This includes things like laying fiber optic cables for vehicle connectivity, and hypothesizing on changes to signage, road width, and traffic lights.
Automated vehicles need space to store all the information they process. For example, a human takes in about 4GB of data each day. Multiply that by 1000 and that’s around the amount of data an automated vehicle absorbs. For now, this information is stored within a computer in the trunk of the car. Compressing the current algorithm, creating efficient software, and improving processing capabilities are currently some of the biggest hurdles manufacturers are working on jumping as they create their vehicles. Because, although our cars might be changing, we’ll still need a place to put our luggage and beach umbrellas, right? Right.
Cass Megraw
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Cass Megraw
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