The largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, has recently successfully completed the first round of testing of electric driverless cabs! This emirate showed clear desire to become the pioneer of the futuristic concept that projects cars without drivers! This test sparked a lot of interest and Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has been watching it closely because he previously let everyone know that his company has high hopes of supplying the world with driverless EVs. Elon also participated in a project when his company produced a couple of prototype driverless trucks intended for the US.
First ever test drive was successful however it should be noted that there were no passengers involved. According to the Dubai Traffic Agency, the vehicle drove itself from the point A to the point B with no problems. The test car dealt with oncoming traffic swiftly and precisely. We still don’t know for sure whether the next test drive will include passengers, but we are certain that it’s bound to happen eventually.
The prototype used for the first test drive comes from a German start-up automaker. The vehicle specially designed for this purpose can go 100 kilometers per hour for 30 minutes straight. However, it can only take two passengers for now.
Dubai officials stated that they plan to integrate driverless cabs into the transportation grid along with the subway, buses and trams. The officials promised an app that will be used to call these cabs. Passengers will be able to call a cab and follow it on screen thanks to the app. It’s something similar to Uber but not exactly the same.
Officials also stated that they intend to spend five years testing out this concept in order to take every precautionary measure so as to prevent traffic accidents. They also plan to render new laws that would suit this new type of transportation.
Dubai attracted 13.2 million tourists in 2014, the majority of which come from neighboring Arab countries. Tourists from all parts of the world are also common nowadays. Considering that Dubai is home to Burj Khalifa, Bastakia and Sheikh Saeed Al-Maktoum’s house it is no surprise that every year more and more tourists come to visit.
