Researchers also found that to keep computer-generated emissions from spiraling out of control in the coming decades, each autonomous vehicle would need to consume less than 1.2 kilowatts of energy for computing, which would require hardware to double in efficiency roughly every 1.1 years, a "significantly faster pace" than what's being done currently.

Over the coming decades, a dozen dense and developed cities may aggressively use shared fleets of electric and self-driving cars that could be summoned to pick up passengers and shuttle them to offices and stores.

An automotive venture backed by China tech giant Tencent aims to launch an electric self-driving car before 2020, entering a crowded field dominated by U.S.-based Tesla, the chief executive told Reuters on Tuesday.

A Chinese automotive startup is raising money with the stated aim of launching its first electric self-driving car by 2020, company executives told news outlets Tuesday, and the first round of funding is expected to be completed by September. Future Mobility Corp. is one of several Chinese startups in the electric vehicles industry, and is backed by heavyweight investors, including internet giant Tencent Holdings, electronics manufacturer Foxconn and car dealership group China Harmony New Energy Auto Holding. In March this year, it poached its leadership team from BMW's electric vehicle line, and in May, at least two executives from Tesla Motors came on board as well. CEO Carsten Breitfeld, who was project manager for the BMW i8 plug-in hybrid sports car before moving to Future Mobility, told Reuters that unlike Tesla, the company will not focus on only one model at a time or have limited production of its models. "Right from the beginning we define the platform, right from the beginning we define the production process to be mass production and right from the beginning we think of more than one model, a family of models, defined from this platform," he said.