There is a page on Wikipedia that lists autonomous driving promises Tesla (US:TSLA) chief executive Elon Musk has made in the past decade. The first was in 2013, when he said Tesla would be doing 90 per cent of its miles automatically within three years. Obviously, this didn’t happen. In fact, of the 20 predictions listed, only two came to pass. Yet, the promise of autonomous vehicles (AV) means Tesla continues to be valued at more than the next 16 most valuable car companies in the world combined.
The commercial promise of AV is obvious. Most people own their car, but most of the time it is idly parked, and even when it is being used it is often stuck in traffic. In the autonomous future promised, cars will always be in motion and because they are aware of where every other car on the road is, there will be no need for constant braking and subsequent traffic.
At the start of January, Nvidia (US:NVDA) chief executive Jensen Huang announced that the wait for AV will soon be over. “After so many years with Waymo’s success and Tesla’s success, it is very, very clear autonomous vehicles have finally arrived,” he said at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. When the boss of Nvidia speaks, the market pays attention. Immediately after Huang had announced an Nvidia partnership with autonomous truck company Aurora Innovation (US:AUR), the latter’s share price rose 29 per cent.