Less than a decade - that’s how long we have to wait until no-hands driving will become an everyday reality, according to the latest autonomous driving estimate from automotive supplier Aptiv.

Private individuals are on track to be able to buy vehicles that can drive largely autonomously by 2030, Aptiv chief technology officer Glen De Vos said on the sidelines of the tech trade fair CES, that took place online this year.

The first robotic taxi services in cities, on the other hand, are expected as early as 2023.

Among other things, Aptiv unveiled a new driver assistance platform at this year’s CES on Monday. The supplier expects to see a gradual expansion of assistance functions to cover more and more driving situations in the coming years.

This will supply the foundation for the wider use of autonomous driving systems, De Vos said. Over time, more information will have to be processed from sensors and even more safety will have to be created by additional components.

At the same time, he said, the robotic car systems currently being developed will be improved and will also be able to be manufactured industrially at a reasonable cost in a few years.

Aptiv’s current platform is designed up to Level 3 in the common classification of autonomous driving - this refers to driving assistance systems that can perform certain tasks but require monitoring by the driver.

At level 4, the vehicles act completely autonomously under given circumstances - for example on the motorway, in the city or in restricted areas. However, the driver must be prepared to take control when the car gives a prompt.

Only at level 5 will the vehicles be able to drive autonomously under all circumstances. However, De Vos emphasised that it will still be some time before this is the case. “Ultimately, people are not always Level 5-capable either.”

 - dpa