zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Tech
/
Why Automakers Have To Do A Lot More To Keep Their Self-Driving Cars Clean
Why Automakers Have To Do A Lot More To Keep Their Self-Driving Cars Clean-July 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:10:38

New cars are coming equipped with more and more sensors that are, ostensibly, designed to help drivers stay safe. Some autonomous cars currently being tested have to help “see” the road. All of this makes a regular car wash nearly-impossible, and , that means automakers have to take a lot of extra precautionary measures to keep their robot cars clean.

The obvious everyday things drivers encounter on the road make it easy for an advanced autonomous car to suddenly be rendered blind. The same goes for tools and brushed used in a regular car wash.

From :

A traditional car wash’s heavy brushes could jar the vehicle’s sensors, disrupting their calibration and accuracy. Even worse, , which can cost over $100,000, could be broken.

A self-driving vehicle’s exterior needs to be cleaned even more frequently than a typical car because the sensors must remain free of obstructions. Dirt, dead bugs, bird droppings or water spots can impact the vehicle’s ability to drive safely.

So automakers and self-driving tech developers are coming up with both ingenious and basic methods to tackle the problem.

Toyota, and Uber rely on regular old humans to wash a car by hand using microfiber cloths blotted with rubbing alcohol, water or glass cleaner, CNN reports. When there’s snow or ice, Uber has an employee use a squirt bottle filled with windshield washer fluid to clean camera lenses, followed by a puff of air to remove the lingering residue, according to CNN.

In the end, the solution that’s almost certainly going to be necessary is tech that’s built to clean sensor equipment on its own. Google’s self-driving car unit Waymo showed last year how it uses , and CNN reports that General Motors’ Cruise is currently building sensor cleaning equipment of its own.

Other startups, like May Mobility, told CNN they simply rely on a cloth and water and wash the entire vehicle by hand. .

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Tech
Volkswagen EVs Can Now Power Your House For Two Days (Update)
Volkswagen EVs Can Now Power Your House For Two Days (Update)
Experts have said that one of the ways to speed up EV adoption is for them to support . The ability for owners to power their house off their car or from the grid is vital. Just nine EVs on the market currently support bidirectional charging, but now VW...
Jul 21, 2025
Truck Fans Would Rather Wait For A Toyota Tacoma EV Than Buy A F-150 Lightning Or Cybertruck
Truck Fans Would Rather Wait For A Toyota Tacoma EV Than Buy A F-150 Lightning Or Cybertruck
fans are already cooling on despite more options on the market and news of upcoming models from the likes of Chevy and Ram. The and have yet to be released, while the has recently joined the and for sale in the U.S. And, yet, all of these current and...
Jul 21, 2025
Biden’s First EV Charging Station Goes Online After $7.5 Billion In American EV Investments
Biden’s First EV Charging Station Goes Online After $7.5 Billion In American EV Investments
Despite in investments for the development of in the , not a single charging station had gone live thanks to — until now. The first EV charger paid for by Biden’s Bipartisan deal has come online in Ohio, according to , which marks the operational start of what the...
Jul 21, 2025
Danish Investors Dump Tesla Shares After Elon Musk Calls Strikes In Sweden 'Insane'
Danish Investors Dump Tesla Shares After Elon Musk Calls Strikes In Sweden 'Insane'
Danish pension fund PensionDanmark is dumping all of its stock and putting the U.S. EV maker on its exclusion list of the companies it chooses to invest in – or not. The fund is selling all of its shares due to Elon Musk’s refusal to enter into labor agreements...
Jul 21, 2025
Costco Will Sell The Chevy Blazer EV At A Discount To Go With Your Rotisserie Chicken
Costco Will Sell The Chevy Blazer EV At A Discount To Go With Your Rotisserie Chicken
knows that you keep coming back for the and Kirkland brand, but you can now also buy a cheaper at your local warehouse. Chevy notified its dealers that members are eligible for a $1,000 rebate on the through January 2, according to . The discount is part of ,...
Jul 21, 2025
GM Says It's Dropping Apple CarPlay And Android Auto Because They're Unsafe (Update)
GM Says It's Dropping Apple CarPlay And Android Auto Because They're Unsafe (Update)
GM is still dealing with the fallout of its decision to drop Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in favor of developing its own in-house system. In the last eight months, the company has had to deal with while still maintaining its in-house system will be “.” Since neither of...
Jul 21, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved