Driverless Cars Are Coming – Maybe Sooner Than You Thought

NZTech head Graeme Muller predicts hundreds of driverless cars will be seen on New Zealand’s roads by the end of next year.
He was commenting on the historic announcement today of New Zealand’s first research trial of a driverless electric shuttle which will begin next year.

Tesla Driverless car

HMI Technologies and Christchurch International Airport Limited have today announced a two-year research trial of a 15-passenger seat French-built Navya shuttle in Christchurch, starting in 2017.

“This is great news for New Zealand,” NZTech chief executive Muller says.

“We are starting to see driverless vehicle pilots in New Zealand – the Volvo pilot in Tauranga in November and now the Christchurch Airport trial – but we are certainly not leading the world.

“Driverless vehicle technology is developing at such a rapid pace that many cities around the world are already piloting the technology.

“The government has done a good job of opening up the opportunity for testing this technology in New Zealand but we should set ourselves some stretch goals if we want to lead the world.

“I would predict that by the end of 2017 there will actually be 100s of driverless vehicles in New Zealand at various stages of trail and commercial operation,” Muller says.