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The World Ahead | Business in 2024

Self-driving cars are slowly moving forward

Having kept riders waiting for years, they are finally arriving

Two self driving cars
Illustration: Mariano Pascual

By Simon Wright

A high-performance sensor is not needed to detect the list of missed targets for the widespread adoption of self-driving cars. General Motors once promised autonomous vehicles (avs) in abundance by 2019. Ford and Lyft, a ride-hailing firm, had reckoned 2021 was more plausible. For a decade, Elon Musk has loudly proclaimed that fully autonomous Teslas were a year away at most. Taking a nap behind the wheel on a tediously long drive remains a distant dream. But broad adoption of AVs will inch closer in 2024.

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This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition of The World Ahead 2024 under the headline “Wheels within wheels”

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