CleanTechnica•22 days ago
Why Autonomous Vehicles Need Billions of Miles Before We Can Trust the Trend Lines
Key Takeaway
The extensive safety validation required for autonomous vehicles signals a potentially slower but still transformative shift in transportation energy demand and sustained, massive growth in datacenter loads for AI/ML processing.
AI Summary
- •Widespread autonomous vehicle (AV) adoption hinges on proving safety over 'billions of miles' of real-world data, suggesting a prolonged validation period akin to clinical trials.
- •This extended validation implies a potentially slower or more uncertain ramp-up for AV deployment than some projections, impacting long-term load forecasting for grid planners and IPPs.
- •The continuous need for massive data collection, processing, and AI/ML training for AV development reinforces the projected substantial growth in datacenter demand, a critical load for power developers and utilities.
Topics
datacenterpolicy
Article Content
Jonathan Slotkin’s recent analysis of Waymo’s safety results in an oped in the New York Times has sparked a new round of discussion about how society should think about autonomous vehicles. His framing is direct. He argues that the data looks like the kind of early clinical trial result that ... [continued] The post Why Autonomous Vehicles Need Billions of Miles Before We Can Trust the Trend Lines appeared first on CleanTechnica .