New Berkeley Lab study finds lower greenhouse gas emissions
on per-mile basis for driverless cars deployed as taxis.
(July 6, 2015) Imagine
a fleet of driverless taxis roaming your city, ready to pick you up and take
you to your destination at a moment’s notice. While this may seem fantastical,
it may be only a matter of time before it becomes reality. And according to a
new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab), such a
system would both be cost-effective and greatly reduce per-mile emissions of
greenhouse gases.
The analysis found that the per-mile greenhouse gas
emissions of an electric vehicle deployed as a self-driving, or autonomous,
taxi in 2030 would be 63 to 82 percent lower than a projected 2030 hybrid
vehicle driven as a privately owned car and 90 percent lower than a 2014
gasoline-powered private vehicle. Almost half of the savings is attributable to
“right-sizing,” where the size of the taxi deployed is tailored to each trip’s
occupancy needs.