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[INTERVIEW] ‘Robo taxi to transform auto industry’

PUBLISHED : January 22, 2018 - 17:01

UPDATED : January 22, 2018 - 20:15

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[THE INVESTOR] LAS VEGAS -- Consumers have witnessed massive changes in the tech industry in the last decade, with innovative concepts and technologies that, for instance, have combined a camera, the internet and phone into a single palm-sized device.

Similar yet more transformative change is likely to begin, with self-driving vehicles, called the robo taxi, which will hit the road in the next decade, according to a US developer of operating system for autonomous cars.

Christopher Heiser, CEO of Renovo, told The Korea Herald in a recent interview in Las Vegas that the rise of electrified and autonomous cars will not only change people’s perception toward a car as a means of transportation and a personal possession, but also decrease the role of traditional carmakers in the auto industry, allowing more room for tech companies to take the lead in the course of technological development.

The robo taxi on a pilot basis will emerge in major cities starting this year. And by 2030, it will become a bigger top-line business than manufacturing cars, he said.

Quoting a report by Tony Seba, co-founder of RethinkX, an independent research organization on future transportation and energy at Stanford University, Heiser predicted that the cost per mile of the robo taxi would be around 13 cents by 2030. Ads by retailers that run on the robo taxi service will probably be worth more than the money that the future vehicle would make as mere transportation, he said.

“When you say I want to go to McDonald’s, and Burger King might spend 50 cents to make your ride free if you decide to not going to McDonald’s,” he said.

The robo taxi market is expected to be worth US$1.5 trillion by 2030, according to McKinsey.

“Companies like Apple, Google and Samsung find this is (a) very instinct space because (of) the ability to deliver services and to connect to your mobile experience.” he said at the Las Vegas Convention Center where the Consumer Electronics Show was held earlier this month.

“The way of being a transportation won’t be the biggest part of the revenue enablement that I think, by definition, people that are just manufacturers are going to play a decreasing role,” he said.

Renovo is a US mobility software company that builds operating system for autonomous vehicles, like Androids and IOS for smartphones. It partners global tech companies including Samsung Electronics and Delphi to develop highly-automated vehicle technology.

In its partnership with Samsung, Renovo will test its Aware operating system on the first fleets of Samsung test vehicles in California.

Aware is a scalable automated mobility operating system that merges software, data analytics, and automotive-grade safety systems into a unified solution for AMoD deployment.

Renovo’s focus is on the robo taxi. But Samsung’s investment in the US startup does not mean that it is serious about the robo taxi.

Samsung participated in the previous round that raised US$10 million. For two rounds, Renovo raised US$15 million in total, Heiser said, declining to say how much Samsung has invested in the company.

Samsung has repeatedly said it would not re-enter the automobile manufacturing industry. But its acquisition of Harman and its growth drive toward automotive components will produce enough business opportunity for Samsung, he said.

“Samsung has been very clear that they don’t want to be in the automobile business, and I think it’s fine because there is going to be a lot of value building new electronic systems and software and all of the components that make robo taxis possible.”

Asked what specific area Samsung and Renovo are working on, Heiser, declined to comment, saying the two agreed not to disclose technology details.

Renovo is building  a platform for autonomous level 4 and 5 to commercialize the robo taxi. Samsung is building hardware systems for autonomous vehicles, called DRVLINE.

The DRVLINE platform is an open, modular, and scalable hardware and software-based platform, which is a valuable solution for automakers because it can integrate best-in-class technology into new vehicles, while also building a foundation for fleets of the future, the South Korean company said.

Heiser founded Renovo in 2010, after building his career at various Silicon Valley companies including LightSurf, led by Phillippe Kahn who invented the camera phone.

Despite the opportunity tech companies would have in the future in the auto industry, the Canegie Mellon graduate, however, urged traditional carmakers, to invest in the robo taxi sector, despite the hardship of keeping its existing operation structure running. The speed of technological advancement is much faster than carmakers switching their models.

“So when you have robo taxis available at even modest volumes, the switching time is incredibly fast. You don’t have five years, you don’t have 10 years. ...  I think all of these companies should be investing aggressively in the space.”

General Motors said it will launch a public ride-sharing service by using fully self-driving cars by 2019.

South Korean carmaker Hyundai Motor said it is in the planning stage, but has no concrete plan yet.

“I think a lot of them might be and are trying to do it a little bit out of the spotlight.”

By Cho Chung-un/ The Korea Herald correspondent (christory@heraldcorp.com)

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