Even Tesla Seems to Be Getting Real About Self-Driving Car Tech in 2019

You'd barely even know it, but CES just happened this week. In the last couple years the big technology trade show was very much a car show, where automakers and startups alike showed off the latest in hopeful self-driving systems always billed as just "a few years away." Barely a peep from anyone, and that may be because last year was the year everyone got real about autonomous cars. After a year that saw the first death of a human at the hands of a self-driving Uber prototype, and then an admission by Google's own self-driving technology chief that such cars won't ever be fully able to drive in all conditions, those in the automotive and mobility spaces seem to be taking a much more measured approach to things from here on out. Development of autonomous cars continues, to be sure, as does the advancement of semi-autonomous driving aids like those found on many modern cars. But we seem to be past the days where every car company, startup and government official swears we'll have a fleet of robo-taxis or delivery vehicles by 2020.