The Future is Here

Clockwise, from top left: Ford Transit, Navya Autonom Shuttle, May Mobility, Navya Autonom Cab, Jaguar iPace, Mercedes Urbanetic, Chevy Cruise AV, Ford Fusion Dominos AV Research, Waymo Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, Volvo 360c. On a recent Friday morning, before fine-tuning the slides he planned to use during a speaking trip to London, Larry Burns took his family's two dogs to the vet. One is a 14-pound Maltipom, the other a larger mixed-breed rescue. Like a lot of people, Burns, who lives in Franklin, didn't know dogs get the flu -- but because of an outbreak in Oakland County, he needed proof of vaccination just for grooming. Although Burns, the former head of General Motors' R&D efforts, admits he was preoccupied with squeezing in the trip to the vet, he was still able to plan how he intended to promote his new memoir, Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car -- And How It Will Reshape Our World, co-written with Christopher Shulgan. Autonomy shares with the reader a personal account of the development of robot vehicles, starting with the GM Autonomy concept car that, in 2002, offered a "skateboard-like platform similar to what underlies today's Tesla models." Batteries or a hydrogen fuel cell filled the platform's inner cavity to provide power for electric drive. In turn, the lightweight body could be easily swapped; any number of variants could be created. Before leaving GM in 2009, Burns worked on another concept vehicle, the "autonomous, shareable, and electric" EN-V.