Driverless tow cars
Now I know much of the discussion about the future of vehicles is geared toward the electric but what of the evolution of driverless vehicles. Can we see the day in the near future when driverless tow cars, and their caravans, will be a common sight on our roads?
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I doubt it. I see the cost of developing the algorithms to move on from a solo vehicle to one towing a whole range of different caravans that we might choose, will be simply too expensive for the few of each combination being purchased.
One that can tow a unique caravan might be on, but I expect low on the priority list.
I actually get some part of my motoring pleasure from driving including towing so can't see myself a happy bunny sat there void of any involvement. I can see many more auto protecting features coming in but not a complete take over of towing during in what for me must be only a few years.
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There are a few serious considerations, whether towing or not, concerning driverless and electric cars and I wonder if the powers that be have given these issues any thought.
- If electric/driverless vehicles ever become popular, there will obviously be complete control of travelling speed, so will it be like a train ride with a long nose to tail queue of cars?
- Will visiting drivers' conventional vehicles be allowed on our roads and will fuel and service be available?
- Will our vehicles be allowed in countries that do not allow driverless vehicles?
- Will our electric vehicles be usable in countries that have differing mains supplies - both voltage and cycles per second?
- Will our electric vehicles be maintainable in countries that do not have electric vehicles?
- Very importantly, is the National Grid able to supply the power to charge all the batteries of these vehicles?
These are just a few of the potential problems which I've never heard champions of these vehicles discuss. Food for thought?
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I don't know about driverless tow cars but there was a programme with Guy Martin and a driverless electric car racing round the Stowe circuit at Silverstone, a track I've driven round myself.
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Only the one which took out the A. frame of a coachman before trundling into the awning. OK it was an embarrassing accident so stretching the point! Car left in Drive, Handbrake not activated and unhitching from a unit whose handbrake was on created an unforseeable circumstance. Apologies - Perhaps not a useful addition to a serious thread.
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My passion is enjoying driving, including towing and now it seems to me that these driver less car people want to end my pleasure. So far as I can tell the electric car brigade haven't produced a decent tow car yet and all existing engines seem to be getting smaller. So does this mean that our hobby is under threat ? Maybe an electric aeroplane is the future, I see Airbus is already starting with a hybrid BAE 146 maybe 10 years away.
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I will be surprised that if in the lifetime of most CT members you are not allowed to actually drive a car....
There is clearly a difference between a car that is capable of driving itself, and an enthusiast actually choosing to drive their own car...
Whilst the pace of change is fast, I dont think it is that fast....
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Towing trailers will not be complicated. It will be a piece of cake for the manufacturers to work out the dynamics etc and program this into driverless cars. Already cars with stability control recognise if they are towing and take this into account, and some cars reversing facilities take into account a trailer. They will just be coupled with some 'intelligence' in the trailer/caravan too. Probably unbraked/unintelligent trailers will be disallowed on the roads, and no bad thing too in my opinion.
Caravans are of course of prime interest to us on this forum, but they are only one example of trailers that it is vital to continue the use of on a variety of tow vehicles - so in actual fact the facility will be solved maily for commerical reasons, and caravanning will benefit.
I guess most of us enjoy the experience of driving, our own choice of cars and their difference characteristics, are all elements of interest to us. And we enjoy towing too. But eventually this will become as arcane a skill as riding a hosr (or driving a horse and carriage).
A big part of the impact on us (I mean the general driving populace) will be that cars become available as utilities, part of the reason for this will be, akin to the Windows operating system - you will not want (or be allowed to be) too many steps behind the 'latest cersion', this will mean a huge hike in motoring costs for us, but that will be OK (in the opinion of the industry) because we will be able to afford them through endless/lifetime PCP schemes! These are all elements the car industry is getting ready for.
Cars will either go two ways: (1) designed and manufactured to NOT LAST, i.e. to pretty much self-destruct asfter three or four years (becuae the self-driving tech will be out of date) or (2) upgradable in terms of the driving tech/satnavs etc so they can keep up with standards. I personally think it will be the dumbed-down approach that industry will prefer to take in order to keep the (robot-staffed) factories busy!
Another aspect will be that driving, since it will become an arcane skill, will make it a specialism pretty much just for the military and police (like riding cavalry horse for ceremonial duties).
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Whatever happens - not in my lifetime !
Not even going to waste my time thinking about it .
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Hmm, the PCP lending schemes are already being brought into question due to mounting debts in the motor industry, similar to the mortgage bubble that took us to the brink.
Driver less tow cars, yes when suitable tow bars can be fitted to EV frames.
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I can only see one advantage of a driverless towcar. That would be when the outfit needs to reverse. From what we see on campsites, few drivers have learned to reverse their outfits properly and give up on this task as it's too skilled for them, they resort to unhitching and having the caravan pushed into the pitch either manually or mechanically.
K
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wasn't that what the motor mover was designed for. I am sure that you never made 1 mistake when you first towed. everyone's an expert and everyone's a learner at sometime. some can only learn when onsite but please don't have a go at them for trying. some of us cannot take a towing course due to personal circumstances at home.
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I cannot help but think that the driverless vehicle, in terms of being the norm on our roads, are a fantasy which will not happen for many reasons. The very last sentence (above) rather sums it up. Talk to anyone who does believe in them, and they don't want to listen if you mention system failures which could cause such a vehicle to "go awol". No matter how good is the quality control in the assembly of the vehicles, it is impossible to achieve absolute certainty that a fault will not occur whilst the vehicle is under way, and the last thing we need on our roads are vehicles that might become 'robot killers'.
Think about the frequent happenings where most of us have had to act to avoid a collision by another driver behaving badly. Imagine trying to write a program for every situation that might occur, and every conceivable reaction likely to be taken by a driver trying to avoid a rogue driverless vehicle.
If you were riding "watchman" in a driverless vehicle, and a driven vehicle put you on a collision course with your vehicle, could you simply sit and watch your driverless vehicle "do its stuff" without automatically taking control yourself? Doubt that I could!
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It will need a complete rethink in terms of rules of the road, much as Tinny has said. Mixing smart technology with some pretty stupid human beings is never going to be a winner, you only have to look at automatic train barriers to realise the potential for disasters! A lot of cars are already way too smart for a lot of their owners, and some aspects, if used incorrectly, can actually kill. Poor young Anton Yeltsin who played Checkov in the Star Trek movies was killed in such a manner, awful tragedy.
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