The past year has proven to be quite tumultuous for the autonomous driving industry. Shortening runways and pivots to more commercially viable ADAS seem to have become the norm. Notwithstanding, leaders at Mobileye recently laid out a path for its pursuit of consumer-level autonomy, which they believe is attainable in the near future. This new approach, which was presented at CES 2023, centers around a different way of talking and thinking about consumer AVs, which unlike the engineer-driven SAE J3016, focuses on simplified consumer-facing automation taxonomy. By laying out a new consumer-oriented classification system, Mobileye hopes to bring more attention to the real benefits of autonomy in terms of safety, convenience and efficiency.

In our recent three-part series on the marketing of automated and autonomous driving systems, we discussed the mounting pressure OEM’s are facing on multiple fronts as regulators and politicians are increasingly scrutinizing not just the safety and actual functional capabilities of autonomous driving systems, but also how they are being represented to the public.

This is part two of a three-part series on the marketing of automated and autonomous driving systems to the public, and the impact of that marketing on public perception and understanding. Check out part one on “autono-trust.”

On March 2, 2022, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released a Request for Comment (RFC) seeking public input on its proposed changes to the New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). Among other things, the proposed changes would add four more Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) technologies to NCAP, and strengthen testing procedures and performance criteria for the ADAS technologies already included in the program. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg described these changes as “important” to “help save lives on our roadways by ensuring that consumers have the information they need about the latest safety technologies when they buy a new vehicle.”

NHTSA established NCAP in 1978 in response to Title II of the Motor Vehicle Information and Cost Savings Act of 1972, which authorized “a comprehensive study and investigation of the methods for determining” crashworthiness and other characteristics of passenger vehicles. Generally, the purpose of NCAP is to provide information to consumers about the crashworthiness of new vehicles to assist in purchasing decisions, as well as to encourage car manufacturers to focus on safety improvements and compete with each other, improving the overall safety of new vehicles. NCAP is probably best known for its crash test dummies (going back to 1979) and its five-star rating system (going back to 1994).

As with many niche areas, mobility has its own “industry speak,” with unique jargon and a multitude of acronyms. Even we sometimes need a cheat sheet to keep everything straight. This is our evolving list.