German technology giant Bosch says that it has the technology and hardware in place to allow the   launch of an autonomous vehicle tomorrow, but non-technical factors such as inconsistent regulation are still putting obstacles in place. Bosch has also said that consumer scepticism is  delaying development.

In an interview with the motoring publication Autocar, Kay Stepper, senior vice-president of automated driving at Bosch said, “We need to differentiate between technical and non-technical problems. At the moment we can honestly say from the technological, hardware and software sides that we have what we need to roll out autonomous technology tomorrow. It’s here. Yes, we have much more testing and validation to do and more refinement to do, but we’re there.”

Kay added, “The major obstacles are the non-technical ones, like the regulatory framework in different regions. It is very different in Europe than in China or the US, and that will very much impact the timing of the roll-out.”

The attitude of drivers is also another major factor. Kay commented, “I’m excited about autonomous driving and many of our customers are, but not everyone is. There’s a good level of animosity in parts of the population. Some have a hard time accepting this as an everyday reality.”

He added that he believes self-driving vehicles will hit the road by 2025 and identified ride-hailing services and commercial haulage as the most likely early applications.