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Two Cruise autonomous automobiles driving on the streets of San Francisco. | Supply: Cruise
Autonomous car (AV) firms, with the right permits, drove 9,068,861 take a look at miles in autonomous mode from Dec. 2022 – Nov. 2023, in line with the California Division of Motor Autos (DMV). The group just lately launched its annual disengagement studies.
The DMV’s annual studies summarize when automobiles disengaged from autonomous mode throughout testing, primarily based on the businesses’ self-reported information. Of the over 9 million miles recorded, 3,267,792 miles have been fully driverless, and 5,801,069 have been with a security driver. In complete, California noticed a rise of about 3.3 million autonomous miles pushed from the earlier reporting interval.
Whereas the studies can present insights to raised perceive the size of autonomous car (AV) testing within the state, they’re not a very good indicator of how these firms’ operations examine to one another. The numbers are all self-reported and don’t embrace insights about what sort of driving these AVs are doing. For instance, some firms are testing their automobiles on much less dynamic public roads, in order that they run into fewer points than an organization testing in busy downtown areas.
There are at present 38 firms with legitimate permits to check AVs with security drivers. Six of them — Apollo, AutoX, Nuro, Waymo, WeRide, and Zoox — can take a look at with out security drivers. Pegasus Know-how Holdings didn’t submit a disengagement report, and the DMV says it’s suspending the corporate’s allow.
Autonomous car disengagements in 2023
A disengagement happens when a failure of the know-how is detected or when the security driver takes quick management of the car. The report consists of the entire variety of disengagements for every firm, the circumstances or testing circumstances, the situation, and the entire miles traveled in autonomous mode on public roads for every allow holder.
Disengagements could be a tough metric to maintain monitor of. Every firm is left to find out what a disengagement is for them and studies accordingly. For instance, security drivers could take management of a car in instances once they assume the AV system is failing, however simulations of the incident present the car would have responded appropriately. On this case, some firms would possibly report the disengagement, whereas others could select to not.
AV firms reported 6,570 disengagements in 2023, with three firms, AutoX, Cruise, and Mercedes-Benz, reporting none. It’s unclear why these firms reported no disengagements for the yr, and it doesn’t essentially imply their techniques had no disengagements in the course of the reporting interval. In the event you’ve adopted Cruise, for instance, you’re nicely conscious of its struggles.
Of the businesses that did report disengagements, Zoox automobiles averaged probably the most miles pushed per disengagement at 177,602 miles. Following Zoox is WeRide with 21,191 miles, and Waymo with 17,311 miles. It ought to be famous that of those three firms, Waymo has the most important and most diverse service space, which might contribute to a bigger variety of disengagements.
For the primary time, AV firms reported what number of disengagements got here from a security driver, what number of got here from the AV system itself, or each. Zoox, for instance, reported solely 4 disengagements, all coming from a security driver.
Waymo reported 191 disengagements from a security driver and 21 from the AV system. Apple, which drastically ramped up its AV testing in 2023, reported 2,391 disengagements from a security driver and 803 from the system.
Waymo, Cruise, Zoox have largest fleets, most miles
In complete, there have been 1,603 autonomous automobiles in operation in California in the course of the 2023 reporting interval. Round 76% of these automobiles have been operated by three firms: Cruise with 510, Waymo with 438, and Zoox with 281. Cruise’s permits have been suspended in October, a month earlier than the recording interval ended.
Regardless of Cruise having probably the most automobiles, Waymo lined probably the most distance in 2023. In complete, Waymo automobiles traveled 4,858,890 miles. Of these, 3,669,962 miles have been with a security driver and 1,188,928 miles have been driverless.
Cruise got here in second. Its automobiles traveled 583,624 miles with out a security driver and had probably the most driverless miles at 2,064,728 miles. Zoox automobiles traveled 710,409 miles with a security driver, and 11,263 with out.
With solely 67 automobiles on the highway, Apple drastically elevated its miles pushed in 2023. In the course of the reporting interval, its automobiles traveled 452,744 miles with a security driver, an over 261% enhance from the 125,096 miles it lined in 2022. Apple doesn’t have a allow for driverless testing.
