There is a convergence between technologists, visionaries, corporations, academics, and policymakers on the expected trend of intelligent transportation systems (ITS). The related infrastructure and vehicles of the future will essentially have four key attributes, they will be: electric, autonomous, connected, and shared.

In this article, we attempt to underscore the complementary need of both sensors and connectivity for highly autonomous vehicles. The technical requirement for vehicular interconnectivity and the overall system performance under the anticipated 5G standard is discussed. Open challenges that will require extensive research by the scientific engineering community before real-world mass deployment of highly autonomous vehicles are also highlighted.