Toyota will first deploy its advanced self-driving features in commercial vehicles, before finally installing them in their passenger cars, said one senior official earlier this week.
According to James Kuffner, chief of Toyota Research Institute-Advanced Development (TRI-AD), applying self-driving tech to taxis and non-passenger vehicles will be easier, as they do not require constant and direct human monitoring, reports Autonews Europe.
The Japanese carmaker is developing autonomous tech in areas that include on-demand ride services, mobile shops and even ambulatory hospitals, where operators should be able to control when and where the vehicles are deployed, while also overseeing their maintenance, added Kuffner.
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“It will take more time to achieve ‘Level 4’ for a personally owned vehicle,” he said, while referring to the automation level that allows cars to drive themselves under certain conditions. “Level 4 is really what we are striving for to first appear in mobility as a service.”
Up next for Toyota is releasing a ‘Level 2’ autonomous model, capable of driving itself on the highway. Toyota is clearly interested in adopting a longer view towards self-driving tech and artificial intelligence, as opposed to certain competitors who already sell cars capable of driving themselves autonomously on the highway – like Tesla, for example.
Of course, just because a vehicle is able to do something, doesn’t necessarily mean that it should. Case in point – the multiple accidents (some of which have been fatal) that have shown just how complex of a situation this is.
