Experts rank the top self-driving technology companies, Tesla is not even in the Top 10

Research firm Guidehouse Insights regularly ranks companies that develop autonomous driving technology. And this year, in the newly released list, electric car company Tesla did not even make it into the top 10 companies developing self-driving technology. Even out of the 16 ranked companies, Tesla came last.

This year, Guidehouse specifically focused on ranking companies that are developing self-driving technology for light-to-midsize vehicles, rather than just evaluating the ultimate automakers who can. deploy this technology on their vehicles.

The list comes at a particularly uncertain time for the self-driving car industry, which has faced numerous setbacks over the past year. Obstacles include dwindling investor interest, fewer funding sources, and technological challenges.

This is also the reason why many technology companies in this field have struggled to survive. Most recently, Argo AI, the self-driving car business backed by Ford and Volkswagen, has shut down. Cruise, GM’s self-driving car subsidiary, is facing an investigation from the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Meanwhile, the company Aurora is reviewing potential acquisitions. Delivery startup Nuro has laid off 20% of its workforce. Waymo has gone through two rounds of layoffs.

But reports and studies show that the field still has momentum and promising growth. Guidehouse Insights outlined plans to launch drone operations this year by companies like Motional, Zoox and Mobileye. Cruise, Baidu and AutoX are still quietly operating commercial robotaxi.

To come up with the list, Guidehouse considered factors such as the company’s vision, go-to-market and production strategies, partners, technology, commercial readiness, etc. Then, the company researched. This organization sorted the companies they rank into four categories: leaders, candidates, challengers, and followers.

The group of “leaders” includes Mobileye, Waymo, Baidu and Cruise. Tesla was named the only “follower” and also ranked low for its autonomous driving technology strategies and implementation. Not as flashy as in the media, billionaire Elon Musk’s company has long been criticized for problems related to its “Full Self-Driving” and “Autonomous Driving” technology.

CEO Elon Musk has promised that the company’s self-driving vehicles will get better. However, there is no significant move by Tesla to back up that claim. The company even increased the cost of its “Full Self-Driving” package to $15,000, although it still requires driver supervision. Meanwhile, the Society of Automotive Engineers, which sets industry-standard levels of autonomy, only classifies Tesla’s products at Level 2, which could be on par with systems like Ford’s BlueCruise. and GM’s Super Cruise.

Reference Guidehouse Insights, Business Insider