Are EVs Essentially Robots on Wheels?

Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more popular with each passing day. Around the world car manufacturers are doubling down that the leading edge of the age of electric transportation is finally upon us. 

But, are EVs really just robots on wheels? And, are consumers ready to accept our physical limitations to fully hand over driving–and by extension so many other tasks–to robots?

Is Self-driving Technology Ready?

There’s an important question that must be answered about this technology. Are we ready to trust it yet? We’ve seen too many high-profile cases of self-driving cars getting into accidents, even if it wasn’t their fault. 

To reach mass adoption, and thus larger investment and more rapid advancement of this technology, it needs to be better out of the gate.

Image credit: NotATeslaApp.com

Public Acceptance is Half the Battle

Interestingly enough, we’ve all seen high-profile, self-driving car scenarios on YouTube where drivers were doing everything but paying attention to the road. Some were found in the back seat, others watching videos or having sex, still others were asleep as their virtual driver sped along. 

None of these point to people not trusting the AI robot driver taking over the wheel. If anything, it shows too much trust at this stage. But with 1.35 million people being killed in car accidents annually around the world, the argument that humans—not robots—are better behind the wheel is getting harder to justify.

Uncanny Valley Skews Perception & Fear

There’s a concept in robotics called the “uncanny valley.” It posits that as robots become more and more human-like in their appearance, people will have an increasingly negative reaction to them. The theory goes that we are hardwired for this reaction because it was beneficial for survival. If you couldn’t tell if something was friend or foe, your body automatically prepared for it to be harmful. 

There’s a reason people reacted favorably to Honda Motor Company’s ASIMO humanoid robot. It was short, a bit cuddly and, by painstaking design, had a non-threatening face. It became the most recognizable robot in the world for more than two decades.

Then there’s Boston Dynamics’ famous four-legged robot Spot. The thing is downright creepy, especially when you see it open doors, walk up stairs or even run across a field. It’s too animal-like for comfort and our mind reacts accordingly.

At What Point do Cars Become Robots?

Today’s cars are not necessarily threatening, at least to the driver. To a pedestrian in front of one speeding along, however, it’s another story.

This can apply to self-driving cars. We are used to seeing cars as inanimate tools. But, when they become animate and start making choices for us that we probably wouldn’t personally make as humans, that’s where robotics integration with humans will get interesting.

Will there be a day when sliding into the backseat of an AI-driven machine is as commonplace as catching an Uber or a Lyft is today? Some experts say yes, but it will take time. “People are going to have to get used to the idea that these things can drive better than we can,” said Sam Abuelsamid, principal analyst for Navigant Research. “It’s going to be a long road.”

As EV mandates increase, more self-driving technology buried deep in our cars will be waiting to be switched on by manufacturers and governments. It’s clear that road is getting shorter by the day.