Published , by Ozzie Mejia
Published , by Ozzie Mejia
As it turns out, auto manufacturers may have things all wrong when it comes to the idea of autonomous driving. At least that's what Chinese and electric car company BYD believes. On Tuesday, BYD addressed the subject of self-driving cars and FSD tech, believing the concepts to ultimately be flawed and noting that focus should instead be on manufacturing.
"When we think about [self-driving tech] from all aspects, from human psychological safety needs, from ethics, from regulation, from technology — including application in this industry — we haven’t figured out [the logic] and we think it is probably a false proposition," BYD spokesperson Li Yunfei said during the Shanghai auto show (via CNBC).
BYD is recognized as China's largest seller of electric vehicles and the company's perspective on autonomous driving comes from a variety of statistics. Li added that two million people are killed in traffic accidents every year and that self-driving vehicles would make it more difficult to determine responsibility. While some BYD models offer assisted driving tech, the company does not appear to be aiming for full automation and now appears to find it an impossible goal.
Instead, BYD would rather focus on autonomous tech going into manufacturing plants. Li added that an increased usage of autonomous technology could save the company a substantial amount on monthly wages and benefits. However, there's no timetable on how long it would take to perfect autonomous machines or workers in a factory setting.
Have automakers approached the question of self-driving technology the wrong way? This may be worth asking, even as companies like Tesla launch Full Self-Driving initiatives. We'll continue to follow this story as it develops.