Focusing on safety could finally take AVs beyond the hype

The end of 2022 saw the autonomous vehicle (AV) sector undergo a sequence of funding disappointments, start-up closures, and investor scepticism. Going in to 2023, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk’s frequent assertions that the deployment of fully autonomous passenger cars (SAE Level 4+) is imminent were coming under industry scrutiny.

So, how can the AVs move ‘beyond the hype’ of recent years? This was the main question considered on 14 September during The Autonomous 2023 event held in Vienna, which brought together industry executives, analysts, and thought leaders to determine a potential roadmap for the sector. For Ricky Hudi, Chairman of The Autonomous and Member of the Supervisory Board at event initiator TTTech Auto, industry expectations over the past decade have swung like a pendulum.