December 1, 2021
There’s a lot of opportunity in the United States for companies working on autonomous vehicles and smart mobility.
Generally, the US is a large market for autonomous vehicles and smart mobility because it has so many large cities. The US has 121 cities with a population of at least 200,000.
Investment activity in mobility startups is strongest in the US, according to a report by McKinsey. Over one-third of investment in mobility startups went to companies in the US, according to a separate report by McKinsey. $84.5 billion has been invested in 471 mobility companies in the US since 2010.
The technology for autonomous vehicles is rapidly improving. Bloomberg writes that Waymo, the sister company of Google, is “99% of the way to self-driving cars.”
Autonomous vehicles are starting to be used on college campuses in the US. A fleet of nine driverless shuttles was recently launched at the Colorado School of Mines. The Mines Rover shuttles will transport people between key parts of the city of Golden, Colorado, and the college campus. A driverless shuttle was used for a period of time at the University of Michigan for data collection. And Michigan State University is testing out a driverless bus. College shuttles provide a good opportunity for autonomous vehicles because they drive on fixed routes.
There are also opportunities for autonomous vehicles in business settings. Olli driverless shuttles were used in 2019 at the White Rock Corporate Campus in California. They drove on a pre-programmed route around the corporate campus’ parking lots, shuttling employees between their cars and their offices.
Autonomous vehicles are spreading across the world. Autonomous “robo taxis” were just launched in Seoul, South Korea. They are transporting people between a railway station and office and apartment buildings. In the United States, Cruise, the self-driving subsidiary of General Motors, also recently launched a driverless robotaxi in San Francisco with the aim to begin commercial and delivery operations by next year.
The US military is investing resources in research on autonomous vehicles to try to find ways to keep soldiers out of harm’s way for dangerous missions. The US has a larger defense budget than the next 11 countries combined.
Autonomous trucks have the potential to upend the logistics industry, lowering costs and speeding up transportation of e-commerce orders, according to a report by McKinsey. The US logistics industry is a $1.6 trillion industry.
The city of Alexandria, Virginia, in the US invests in smart mobility. They have installed sensors to monitor traffic in the city and provide the public information on congestion and delays in real time. San Francisco, Boston, and Chicago also invest in smart mobility. In addition, San Francisco and Boston have pilot programs for self-driving cars. Alongside, as autonomous vehicles are deployed across various industries, there are opportunities for new insurance products, since the liability will change when accidents are due to an autonomous vehicle malfunction rather than human error.
If you’re running a company that deals with autonomous vehicles or smart mobility, this is a great time to expand into the US American cities are currently working on optimizing transportation so that there are fewer delays and fewer accidents.
If you’re interested in expanding into the US, contact Alariss today. We can connect you with top US sales and business development talent and act as the Employer of Record (EOR) so that you don’t have to worry about legal compliance for hiring in the US. If you want to start growing your revenue in the US, work with Alariss today.
