Initiatives by advanced nations such as Germany, which regulated consumer use of Level-3 (L3) low-speed autonomous lane-keeping systems (ALKS), and Japan, which regulated consumer deployment of L3 vehicles and regulatory bodies such as the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), have developed regulatory guidelines for assessment, testing, and deployment of AVs. Additionally, global deployment regulations for passenger vehicles are at L3 autonomy, while several countries have commenced testing up to level 5 autonomy. Therefore, increasing automated safety requirements necessitate a robust regulatory framework for AVs, states Frost & Sullivan's recent analysis of theglobal autonomous vehicles (AVs) regulatory landscape.
According to Deexeta Mohan Kumar, Mobility Research Analyst, Frost & Sullivan, Germany, France, Austria, and Sweden are setting benchmarks in AV development and driving early adoption of regulations in Europe. 'The UNECE and governing bodies are working on the regulatory framework to support the strong AV ecosystem in the region. Similarly, Singapore, China, and Japan are at the forefront of large-scale testing and deployment of L3 to L5 AVs in Asia-Pacific (APAC). However, the same cannot be said for the other APAC countries, such as India and Malaysia, as they lack government funding and have an insufficient physical and digital infrastructure,' Kumar said.
Technology developers work with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and tiered suppliers to develop and integrate autonomous driving features in vehicle platforms. Collective efforts by technology participants and OEMs to deploy convenience features such as adaptive cruise control (ACC) in vehicles are likely to help the AV industry meet regulatory compliance in Europe by 2024, Kumar added.
The global harmonisation of AV regulations will be instrumental in ramping up L3 to L5 deployment, presenting lucrative growth opportunities for AV market participants in a few areas.
Harmonised Guidelines
Global adoption of L3 and above AVs depends on a unified regulatory framework, standardisation of ADAS deployment, and autonomous driving features such as driver monitoring, piloted driving, and autonomous parking.
Regulatory bodies should set L2+ as a standard level and define market deployment guidelines.
Technology participants and OEMs can work together to develop and test advanced systems on public roads to deploy L4 robotaxis and shuttles, Frost & Sullivan noted.