Texas is fast becoming an autonomous vehicle hub. Click here to find out about some flourishing companies that have found a home in the Lonely Star State.
Over the last few years, Texas has steadily been establishing itself as one of the American hubs for autonomous vehicle development. This might come as a bit of a shock for some, considering Texas’ old-school love for cars – particularly big, chunky cars that take up most of the road!
The autonomous vehicle has long been a signifier of where things are going in the automotive world. Just a few months ago, the US government announced that there would be new “tough rules” that would require two-thirds of vehicles to be entirely electric by 2032. Similarly, experts have approximated that most cars on the road will be completely self-driving by 2035.
For a while, it was unclear whether the famously car-loving state of Texas would take to the fading of the old guard. At the moment, but with the ecological benefits becoming more obvious – as well as the introduction of several new autonomous vehicle companies into the state – it would appear that Texas is not only taking to it, it’s becoming one of the biggest autonomous hotspots in America!
With this in mind, let’s take a look at a few flourishing autonomous vehicle companies and why they have found a home in Texas:
Tesla
We might as well start with the big dog. Tesla has been on the rise ever since 2002, and their global headquarters is in Austin, Texas. Earlier this year, the company also announced a plan to spend more than $770 million on a Texas factory expansion, which would be used for battery cell testing, drive unit manufacturing and a die shop.
Tesla found a home here initially because of tax benefits and the freedom to expand. It was also seen as an opportunity to take a classic car culture and shift it into the modern age. With lower-than-average car insurance rates and more cars on the road than any other state, this was seen as the place to make the biggest statement and grow a big centralised following.
Waymo
Tech company Waymo have also been making waves in Texas, having opened their hub from the ground up in Lancaster last spring. This is a nine-acre autonomous trucking facility designed to launch and receive autonomous trucks with ten maintenance bays, six charging stations and diesel fueling operations.
While the arrival of Waymo still might feel recent, they have actually been testing and driving the roads of Texas for nearly four years, using cameras, radar and lidar systems to navigate their vehicles autonomously through the Austin, Texas highways. They did this after a Texas state law was passed in 2017, dictating that cities could not regulate the production and use of self-driving cars.
Aurora
And they’re not the only ones to have done so after 2017. For the last few years, the company Aurora has been building up to bringing a fleet of self-driving cars and semi-trucks to Lone Star State. Although yet to launch, Aurora has chosen Texas due to its varied geography and climate, multimodal freight activities, and the common regulatory framework for startups to grow faster.
In this way, Texas is proving to be a prime testing ground for the company – and the other companies mentioned in this list – identifying key challenges and opportunities for autonomous vehicle development. This, coupled with the growing interest in AV amongst Texan citizens, is part of the reason why more and more companies are setting up bases and preparing for the future.
The Future For Texas
These are just three of the companies that are finding a home in Texas, but there are many more, including Kodiak Robotics, Gatik, and Robotaxi. For Texas, this is a good thing not only because it pinpoints the state as an autonomous – and therefore eco-friendly – hub but because of the economic benefits that they bring in. Tesla, for instance, has so far created 5,000 new Texas jobs at an average annual salary of $47,000.
As more companies step into the fray, this economic boost is only set to grow. As mentioned previously, experts are predicting that autonomous vehicles are not only the future, but the near future. In this way, none of us should be surprised if we see less tester vehicles on Texas roads, and more commercial vehicles at some point very soon.
