Autonomous Pods: Introduction
- Autonomous pods are driverless technology driven vehicles that are used in mass transit or public service. Autonomous pods are beneficial in long-term service delivery, cost of maintenance, and urban commutation. These pods can be driven in a semi-closed environment up to 30 mph ferrying 4 to 12 people. The pod is equipped with cameras and sensors, including RADAR and LiDAR, which enable it to gather ambient information and helps assess its own relative position on account of the GPS system.
- In June 2019, fully autonomous, electric transport truck called T-Pod began operations in Sweden after receiving approval from the government. It uses a single public road in Jonkoping and travelling between a warehouse and terminal. Moreover, UK’s Heathrow Airport is taking services of Westfield AV driven autonomous pods since 2011.
Key Drivers of Global Autonomous Pods Market:
- Significant development in the ICT industry coupled with innovation in sensors, navigation, and information processing power is prompting OEMs to introduce driverless pods in road transit. Furthermore, research and development is transforming the automated vehicle technology and enabling application in new fields such as last mile mobility solutions. Demand for autonomous pods is also propelled by a rise in the demand for (MaaS), which uses AI to enable ride-sharing and transport on demand. Major automakers across the globe are shifting toward new future of mobility, i.e. CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared and Electric vehicles) for passenger as well as freights and goods transportation that is backed by the safer and pro-environment policies. Significant efforts are being taken for lowering emissions in highly urbanized areas and for lowering fuel bills; autonomous pod is already a proven practice and it is supplement to an existing transport networks.
- Rise in number of road accidents is prompting automakers and users to adopt autonomous vehicle technology in a freight or mass transportation. Thus, increased awareness regarding road safety and need for fuel efficient transit are key factors that are projected to drive the demand for autonomous pods during the forecast period.
Restraints of Global Autonomous Pods Market:
- Co-existence of human drivers and robotic drivers on the street can be notable issue, and it may lead to unanticipated safety risk. Furthermore, challenging environmental conditions such as harsh rain and snow fall can be difficult to adapt effectively for autonomous pods.
- Lack of regulatory frameworks and infrastructure for autonomous drivetrain is posing a challenge for the autonomous pods market across the globe. Autonomous pods are currently used only in confined areas with closely defined parameters, such as university campuses, technology parks and large sites
Opportunities in Global Autonomous Pods Market:
- Several emerging market players such as Nuro, Waymo, Easymile, Milla, Baidu, Aurrigo are investing high amount on research and development, making partnerships and raising funds. For instance, Nuro- the AV startup by two Google veterans and a supermarket giant Kroger are set with plans for an on-demand grocery delivery pilot program in this year. In June 2021, Google sibling company Waymo announced a US$2.5 Billion investment round, which was proposed to be used for advancing its autonomous driving technology and growing its manpower.
- According to the report of TechCrunch, heavy road freight transport causes 7-8 % of the global CO2 emissions. Considering this growing emission concerns, several AV automakers and startups are planning electric AV freight transport in the recent time. For instance, Einride, the Swedish startup is looking to electrify the autonomous freight industry and it will introduce its self-driving pods on public roads in the U.S. this year in line to its existing partnership with General Electric Appliances (GEA).
Global Autonomous Pods Market: Regional Outlook
- The global autonomous pods market is expected to be majorly dominated by Europe during the forecast period. Presence of several major players in the region, such as MILLA POD (France), Navya (France), Aurrigo (UK), Westfield (UK), 2getthere (Netherlands), Kamaz (Russia), and Next (Italy), are driving the autonomous pods industry. Growing concern around huge amount of CO2 emission by heavy freight transport sector and thereby implementation of the tightening emission and fuel efficiency regulations are prompting for larger adoption of autonomous pods in the region. Furthermore, Europe market will be closely followed by the North America and APAC. Dominance of AV automakers along with technology and service providers in the U.S., government’s focus on reducing carbon footprints and rising trend of fuel efficient freight and public transit are major factors dominating the North America pods market. The china will lead the Asia pacific autonomous pods market owing to heavy industrialization, technological advancement and higher investment in AV technology. Recently, Alibaba invested undisclosed amount in the autonomous vehicle industry in China. Additionally, Xiaomi promised to invest US$10 billion in the autonomous electric vehicle industry over the next decade.
Key Players Operating in Autonomous Pods Market:
The global autonomous pods market is in its early development phase. Several players with autonomous technology knowhow are looking to introduce their pods in the emerging market. Key players operating in the global autonomous pods market are:
- MILLA POD
- Nuro
- Easymile
- Navya
- Baidu / King Long
- Local Motors
- Aurrigo
- Westfield AV
- 2getthere
- Kamaz
- Capri
- Next
- Waymo
- General Motors
- Zoox
- Kodiak Robotics
- TuSimple
- Others
Global Autonomous Pods Market: Research Scope
Global Autonomous Pods Market, by Transit Type
- Public Transportation
- Freight Transportation
Global Autonomous Pods Market, by Drivetrain
Global Autonomous Pods Market, by Level of Autonomy
Global Autonomous Pods Market, by End-user
Global Autonomous Pods Market, by AV Company
- Automakers and Auto Parts Provider
- Technology Providers
- Service Providers
- Start-Ups
Global Autonomous Pods Market, by Region
- North America
- Europe
- Germany
- France
- U.K.
- Italy
- Spain
- Nordic Region
- Russia & CIS
- Rest of Europe
- Asia Pacific
- China
- Japan
- India
- ASEAN
- South Korea
- ANZ
- Rest of Asia Pacific
- South America
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Rest of South America
- Middle East & Africa
- GCC
- South Africa
- Turkey
- Rest of Middle East & Africa
