Energy Efficiency:
Energy efficiency is another critical aspect to consider. Even if the vehicles were designed to optimize energy consumption, there are several factors that would reduce their efficiency:
- Idle power consumption: As mentioned earlier, the vehicles' onboard computers consume power even when they're not in use.
- Charging process: The charging process itself consumes significant amounts of energy, which would add to the overall power consumption.
- Sensor and computer usage: The vehicles' sensors and computers require power to function, even when they're not actively processing data.