Have generally been ignoring stuff about driverless taxis (and flying taxis
), but had a read of this for some reason. Pretty scary, but presumably the 2024 "full roll out to the public" is a tad ambitious
And not really sure what the significance of three-wheeler/two-seaters is. Presumably if the technology's there then nothing to stop full-sized driverless cars
Driverless three-wheel taxis could be on their way to Cheltenhamhttps://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/n ... ld-7493410Futuristic form of travel could be used in the town
Image: Gloucestershire LiveDriverless three-wheel taxis could be on their way to Cheltenham. A company has moved into the town to use a workshop to help build the vehicles.
Trilvee wants to develop a three-wheel electric vehicle, that has two seats, to transport people around in a quick and environmentally friendly way. It says that once a ride has been requested, the vehicle is driven remotely to the customer’s location.
The customer gets into the vehicle and self-drives to their destination. They then get out, end their ride and remote operators drive the empty vehicle to the next customer or for top-up charging.
Trilvee hopes that its service, which is accessed by requesting a ride via a smartphone app, will be trialled in 2023 and fully rolled out to the public in 2024. Although based in London, Trilvee is using a site in the AC Lloyd Space Business Centre in Tewkesbury Road, Cheltenham, as a hardware and design workshop to test and develop prototypes.
The plan is to bring the three-wheel vehicles to Cheltenham so that they can have mechanical hardware added to them, making them remote-controlled. Trilvee said there is potential to have its vehicles roaming about in Cheltenham at some point but that this was not confirmed yet.
That is because it is still working with the authorities on the matter of allowing driverless vehicles on public roads. The Government has yet to give the go-ahead for this to happen but has said it is keen to explore the possibility of it happening, not least to reduce traffic congestion and pollution.
A Trilvee spokesman said it was working with the Law Commission on the issue and expected it to go before Parliament in the next 12 months. The company hopes that what it says is its “innovative technology” will transform urban transportation.
It says its on-demand service will minimise congestion, the need for parking and cut emissions in UK cities while reducing costs for road users.
According to the company, its lightweight fully electric vehicle uses less energy per mile than standard EVs, without requiring the materials and energy of resource-intensive EV manufacturing. Trilvee says its small and slimline vehicle reduces space and energy compared to conventional taxis that have more seats.
Its research suggests that around two thirds of all car journeys are single occupant and most of the rest are two. James Campbell, co-founder and Director of Automotive at Trilvee, said: “Space Cheltenham is a perfect development location for us as we have been able to tailor the unit to our specific needs while we perfect our design and hardware.
“It is a very exciting project that started as a conversation among colleagues in the automotive industry and eventually transitioned into an ambitious but achievable means of transport as we explored the potential benefits of on-demand, space-saving travel and how we might be able to bring it to market.
“The work that we are undertaking at Space is vital to our progress in the coming months and years, and the location in general provides opportunities for us to develop our extra-urban network further down the line, with inner-city travel the priority for 2024.”
Lucy Iles, site manager at Space Gloucester and Cheltenham, said: “It’s been fascinating to see the work that Trilvee has been doing and we are thrilled that they have chosen Space Business Centres as an ideal location outside of London to house their workshop. We are excited to see what James and the team can achieve over the next few years.”
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