[sarathlal]

ET runs the report that says Mahindra's electric car subsidiary, Mahindra Reva, has submitted proof of concepts for driverless cars in the UK and Singapore. While the road tests would be carried out in the UK and Singapore, the software to control the car's movement and other aspects is under development at the company's research and development facilities in India.

Kudos to Mahindra's RnD for their strive for excellence in contributing to the future of automobiles. Its good to see Mahindra featuring with the group comprising of the likes of Google, Tesla, BMW, Audi, Benz.

Source: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/46461771.cms

[extreme_torque]

I am sure Tata will be looking at this too. They have got far more resources in the form of JLR and home grown TCS.

[GTO]

Just to clarify - Whether driverless cars become mainstream in North America or Europe is debatable. However, what isn't is that they will NEVER become the norm in India. Our infrastructure simply isn't feasible for driverless automobiles.

Mahindra seems to agree. From the article:

Indian roads are too crowded to test driverless cars at the moment. Currently, our focus is on the US, Europe and South-East Asian markets....

[srishiva]

Not sure if driver less cars can be used on all roads even in U.S or Europe. So we can have some roads like highways in India also where we could use these cars. Would be good test of their skills if they can work on our highways

[Urban_Nomad]

Good initiative.

But it would also be nice if they focussed on making niggle free "regular" cars as well

[Zappo]

Originally Posted by Urban_Nomad

But it would also be nice if they focussed on making niggle free "regular" cars as well

Everything should not necessarily be looked from a myopic vision of what is relevant from day to day perspective. Else wheels of progress will stop rotating. If one were to try and be the Mr. Perfection for evrything before they think of looking at a fresh new challenge then I am afraid that day may just never arrive. It's the same logic that many have forwarded for why government should not spend public funds on ventures like ISRO and it's audacious outer space ventures wwhen there are so many immediate pressing needs at hand, poverty to begin with. And yet the fact remains India's space program has yielded many technologies for you and me to enjoy in our day to day life.

Let Mahindra compete and develop newer technologies. That's the way they will learn, grow and of course will see a rub-off effect on many of their existing product lines.

[gomzi]

Originally Posted by GTO

Just to clarify - Whether driverless cars become mainstream in North America or Europe is debatable. However, what isn't is that they will NEVER become the norm in India. Our infrastructure simply isn't feasible for driverless automobiles.

Mahindra seems to agree. From the article:

Our roads are not made to any standard. Different road/lane markings, no road/lane markings, no standard road or lane widths, numerous potholes, sometimes no roads where one should be, and some times roads where there should be none . With all this, making sense of our roads to have driverless cars is next to impossible.

And then you have our road users on 2 wheels, 3 wheels, 2 feet, 4 feet, either immovable or swerving around too much, the list goes on.

Sometimes its a wonder that regular cars with drivers in them can get through our roads unscathed, but usually, none the wiser.

Although its commendable that Mahindra will be conducting this research, i'm finding it hard to believe that there is more to this than just a PR opportunity to grab headlines as the first indian manufacturer to head down this road.

[samabhi]

Originally Posted by gomzi

Although its commendable that Mahindra will be conducting this research, i'm finding it hard to believe that there is more to this than just a PR opportunity to grab headlines as the first indian manufacturer to head down this road.

+1.

As an e2o owner, I would strongly prefer that Mahindra concentrate on the domestic market to make the current e2o more affordable and increase its sales in India. At the end its the volumes that speaks a lot for any manufacturer. There are lot more areas that the current generation e2o has to be improved and instead I find this one as a pure PR opportunity. If this is part of their global expansion strategy, there is still a long way to get there.

[Poloprasad]

Originally Posted by GTO

Just to clarify - Whether driverless cars become mainstream in North America or Europe is debatable. However, what isn't is that they will NEVER become the norm in India. Our infrastructure simply isn't feasible for driverless automobiles.

Mahindra seems to agree. From the article:

Hello BHPian GTO

I completely agree with you on the above point. I couldn't imagine driverless cars inside metro cities like chennai where traffic is hectic. Sometimes even google navigation gets confused because of sudden change in No entry roads in few places. We live in India where traffic diversions change all of a sudden without any proper intimation.

[goingelectric]

I for one always thought that the technologies behind driver-less cars in the western world relied on structured and well thought-out infrastructure (as many have pointed out earlier in this thread). I can't help but imagine that if the same technologies were to be used in India the vehicle would remain stationary for most of the time (except, probably unearthly hours with no traffic) not going anywhere because the safety systems in place would just not let the vehicle move!
While Mahindra would be better off making the e2o trouble free, I also agree with a few comments that mentioned diving into new territory and reap the benefits of research in that area that could trickle into road vehicles in the foreseeable future. Come to think of it, I am not sure where I stand on this!

[luvtandon]

Originally Posted by GTO

Just to clarify - However, what isn't is that they will NEVER become the norm in India. Our infrastructure simply isn't feasible for driverless automobiles.

Originally Posted by Poloprasad

Hello BHPian GTO

I couldn't imagine driverless cars inside metro cities like chennai where traffic is hectic. Sometimes even google navigation gets confused because of sudden change in No entry roads in few places. We live in India where traffic diversions change all of a sudden without any proper intimation.

It is a blatant truth that the use of full-time driver less vehicles is not feasible in our country in the current scenario (and who knows even in Europe or the US of A) but then no one can say what the future holds as time is known to be unpredictable. In improved conditions or current conditions one thing is for sure that our roads (counting the four and six lane highways) are capable to sustain part time driver less vehicles i.e. vehicles that can be optionally driven manually and optionally without a driver.

At the end of it at least Mahindra has tried to make an attempt to enter into an uncharted territory, the worst outcome of which will still be better than not making an attempt.

[Rollingwheels26]

Come to think of it- If Mahindra, or some other car manufacturer, were to build a driverless car suitable for Indian road they would become market leader across the globe.


Why ? Well if you can build a car that can drive itself in the apocalyptic remains like Indian roads they can very well drive on picture perfect western roads

[im_srini]

Tremendous show of long-term vision by Mahindra here - investing in technologies & platforms that have relevance only decades hence !

First, investing & developing Reva, then sponsoring a Formula-E team, & now this !

I guess it helps to have a strong visionary at the helm of affairs - kudos to Mahindra

[amit]

I am wondering if 2 driverless car's have an accident in India then who the owner's/passengers will blame for that accident?