TECHNOLOGY
Partnership is ready to drive into the future
The trial of self-driving vehicles by Uber turns the company’s business model on its head, writes Mark Smyth
You are all set for a night on the town and being responsible you order yourself an Uber. Now imagine that the app tells you that a Toyota Corolla Quest is on its way but in the area where the driver’s name usually is, there is just a blank space. How could this be, you wonder. Then the Corolla arrives and the driver’s seat is empty. You climb into the back seat. The car moves away. Normally after a couple of beverages you are more relaxed than usual, but now you are feeling sober as you put on your seatbelt and adjust your way of thinking. Is this the future? Well it might surprise you to hear that Uber is already trialling self-driving cars. In August 2016 the ride-hailing company announced it was partnering with Volvo to trial driverless vehicles and now that trial is under way in San Francisco after initial trials in Pittsburgh. Volvo supplies the vehicles with the necessary under the skin hardware for self-driving vehicles, but then Uber adds its own autonomous technology. Uber...
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