(c)iStock.com/Alexander Chernyakov

A new study from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) argues driverless cars will deliver both economical and environmental gains.

The study, authored by Berkeley Lab researchers Jeff Greenblatt and Samveg Saxena, asserts an electric vehicle deployed as an autonomous taxi in 2030 would provide between 63% and 82% lower greenhouse gas emissions per mile when compared against a project 2030 hybrid vehicle, and 90% lower alongside a current gasoline-powered vehicle.

The researchers put almost half of this reduction down to “right sizing”. If you’ve ever ordered a taxi, or had to take one at short notice – in the days before Uber, of course – have you ever wondered why the taxi company has sent a seven seater when you’re the only person on this journey? Essentially, “right sizing” advocates the exploration of single-seat and two-seat vehicles.

According to Greenblatt, the majority of trips in the US are taken singly. If one- or two-seat vehicles were used for all of those, that would constitute a significant energy saving. Back in March, a research note from the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) examined a similar concept, and found ‘trip overlap’ – the idea that one partner heads off to work in car one while the other takes the kids to school in car two – was something of a misnomer.

One of the more surprising findings in the study was regarding fuel usage. The average distance travelled in the US per year for privately owned cars is 12,000 – at that rate, electric vehicles will still be more expensive than their gasoline-guzzling counterparts by 2030. However, if we take the average mileage per year of US taxis, 40,000 to 70,000, then the Berkeley Lab researchers argue electric vehicles will be more frugal.

Elsewhere, a new initiative announced today from Bosch, involving 21 partners worldwide, will aim to help in putting more power into autonomous driving platforms.

Vehicles just off the forecourt currently contain approximately 70 minicomputers, or embedded systems, to monitor and regulate driving functions. However, Bosch asserts that by using several CPUs working in parallel, these embedded systems can be souped up with much more computing power through multi-core processors and, in time, many-core processors.

This will be achieved through AMALTHEA, an open platform project for embedded multi-core systems. While AMALTHEA has been going since 2011, and has already rolled out a software platform for multi-core systems, the AMALTHEA4public project aims to set up a “comprehensive” software platform whereby engineers can efficiently develop multi- and many-core systems for their applications.

The results of the Berkeley study were published in the journal Nature Climate Change. You can read more about it here.