84 AV companies operating in 120 cities across 30 states; 170 testing and commercially operational programs
Government framework required for wider deployment
Alliance for Automotive Innovation today released Ready to Launch: Autonomous Vehicles in the U.S., a new report surveying autonomous vehicle (AV) activity in the U.S. during the first half of 2022.
The report details a thriving AV industry in the U.S. and major progress toward testing and commercial deployment in many regions of the country.
Among the findings:
- 84 AV companies in 120 cities across 30 states today – includes 69 distinct companies with physical facilities and U.S. employees;
- 40 AV companies testing or transporting passengers or freight;
- Nearly 170 on-road autonomous technology programs (testing and commercially operational).
John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, said: “The AV ecosystem in the U.S. is active and growing. The question on everyone’s mind: When will AVs be on roads in large numbers? The biggest obstacle to achieving that kind of scale is not technology and not a lack of corporate investment. Government is the biggest obstacle.”
Alliance for Automotive Innovation has advocated for a federal regulatory framework with oversight from the U.S. Department of Transportation and a commitment to move beyond testing to more (and faster) commercial deployment.
Specifically, policymakers should:
- Update existing motor vehicle rules to accommodate AVs;
- Raise the cap on the number of AVs able to operate at a time; and
- Launch a national AV pilot or demonstration program.
Bozzella added: “The longer it takes to get that regulatory structure in place, the more skittish (and less patient) AV developers are going to get. Even if the U.S. government doesn’t get its act together, AV technology isn’t going away. Global AV leadership will migrate to China and other nations setting the right conditions to make AVs more available.”
Additional reading:
This month marks the two-year anniversary of the association’s AV Roadmap, a framework of policy priorities and recommendations to advance testing and deployment of AV technologies.
Keep Calm... and Ride On: AV Technology is Hard, But it's Here to Stay
More on AVs and the economic impact of the U.S. automotive industry in the recently released Driving Force economic impact report.