If you think the leap to Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) and advanced ADAS is just about software, think again. Fleet software specialist FleetCheck has issued a reality check for fleet operators exploring autonomous mobility, citing findings from Nature.
The research revealed that prototype autonomous robotaxis consume only around 57% of their battery capacity for actual propulsion. The remaining 43% of onboard energy is burned powering intensive lidar, radar, processing chips, high-speed telematics, and offboard cloud data infrastructure.
The EV Café Take:
As advanced autonomy and compute-heavy driver assistance trickle down into standard commercial vehicles and company cars, energy consumption ceases to be just about weight, aerodynamics, and HVAC. High-power computing draws serious continuous wattage. Fleet directors mapping out duty cycles, range requirements, and total cost of ownership (TCO) will soon need to budget for the 'silicon tax' alongside mileage.
John:
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Highlighted the startling stat that robotaxis burn only 57% of their power on propulsion, with the other 43% eaten up by onboard computing, lidar, radar, and communications.
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Warned of the serious ramifications for commercial fleets considering future autonomous vehicles, where range and charging schedules will be heavily impacted by computing demand.
Paul:
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Reflected on what you both witnessed firsthand in Beijing: seeing fully autonomous vehicles (including Farizon and Geely models) running integrated LiDAR smoothly on live city streets.
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Noted that while Chinese manufacturers are rapidly integrating autonomous tech and driving hardware costs down, the sheer volume of data and electricity consumed by onboard computing remains a massive operational unknown.
Sara:
- Added her classic witty critique, joking that John definitely shouldn't be using the word "ramifications" in the same sentence as self-driving vehicle trials!