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It’s been a sad but momentous week in the Fowler household, as my 89-year-old father has decided to hang up his car keys for good. It was entirely his choice, but he no longer felt as confident behind the wheel as he once did. So, for the good of other road users and for himself, he decided it was time to stop – and yours truly was called into action to dispose of his lovely, much-loved Lexus LBX.
Once the Lexus had rolled off the driveway, I headed to the airport for my annual trip to Los Angeles, where I was judging cars for the World Car Awards before heading on to the LA Auto Show.
LA was full of all-electric Jaguar I-Paces operated by autonomous cab firm Waymo. The cars are covered in sensors and drive themselves. You book them on the app, you’re greeted on the screen by name, and the car will even play your choice of music – but there’s no driver on board. The system works well, with Waymo proving increasingly popular in LA and other cities across the US.
I’m now in Arizona staying with friends for a few days, being driven around in – and sometimes by – a Tesla Model Y using what Tesla calls Full Self-Driving.
We can’t yet use Full Self-Driving in the UK, although many cars have what’s known as Level Two autonomous tech. This allows a car to stay in lane on the motorway and handle the accelerating and braking to keep up with traffic. I use it a lot to take the stress out of long, dull journeys, but I still have to hold the wheel and be ready to take over at a moment’s notice.
Not with Tesla Full Self-Driving. This remarkable tech – which I first experienced last year in a Tesla Cybertruck – took us from the fourth floor of a car park on a 40-mile journey back to my friends’ house without my host ever touching the wheel.
Legally, as in the UK, you’re still in charge and must be ready to intervene if needed. But for the system to operate, you simply have to be looking at the road – you don’t even need to have your hands on the steering wheel.
I couldn’t resist visiting a friendly Tesla retailer in Glendale to try out the latest Model Y for myself. I drove for about ten minutes, deliberately getting lost after multiple twists and turns, before pulling into a parking lot.
After setting the retailer as my destination on the big touchscreen and selecting Self-Driving, the car took over. It reversed out of the space, drove itself to the exit, and gently merged onto the street.
It’s an eerie but extraordinary sensation letting the car negotiate junctions, stop signs, parked cars, red lights and crossing traffic. It even slowed for speed humps, took itself back to the dealership and parked neatly in an empty bay. All I had to do was sit there and look at the road ahead.
Full self-driving won’t be for everyone, and for most people it will take some getting used to – a leap of faith is needed the first time you let the car take control.
I’m sure there will be hiccups along the road to fully autonomous cars, where you won’t even need a steering wheel – but they will come.
And the benefit is clear. If we already had fully autonomous cars in the UK, my father would still be mobile in his own vehicle. He might no longer be driving it, but he could travel wherever and whenever he chose with complete independence.
Waymo is heading to the UK next year, though full autonomy for private cars may still be some way off. Even so, I fully believe – and hope – that by the time I have to stop driving, technology will be advanced enough that I’ll never have to give up owning and enjoying my own car.
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