ANN/THE STAR – BMW is planning to follow Mercedes-Benz to introduce self-driving technology to premium vehicles in Germany, enabling drivers to take their eyes off the road and view a video in some circumstances.
“We have received approval from the German Motor Transport Authority to offer Level 3 automated driving in Germany,” BMW division manager Nicolai Martin told Germany’s Handelsblatt. “The system will be introduced in the 7 Series later this year.”
Level 3 automated driving allows the driver to temporarily delegate driving to software and no longer need to look at the road. This means you may “watch videos and answer emails”, as Martin said.
But the driver always needs to be able to take the wheel again in the space of a few seconds if the system prompts them to do so.
In Germany, self-driving software from Mercedes-Benz, and soon BMW, can drive completely autonomously on motorways in traffic jams or heavy traffic up to 60 kilometres per hour (kph) without the driver having to look at the road.
BMW has not disclosed the price of the system.
The company’s chief executive Oliver Zipse had expressed scepticism about the market prospects in Las Vegas in January.
A Level 3 system that constantly switches off in rain, fog, in tunnels and in the dark is not something any customer will want, he said at the time. Since then, however, the BMW 5 Series has become the first car to receive approval for partially automated driving up to 130kph on motorways in Germany.
In August, the Ford Mustang Mach-E also received approval for semi-automated driving up to 130kph on motorways.
With the Level 1 and Level 2 systems, which are the most common levels of driving assistance in cars at the moment, the responsibility remains with the driver, even if assistants can take some control over steering and speed.
It’s only at Level 3 that the car takes over responsibility and the driver can entirely devote their attention to other things.
Ultimately, manufacturers aim to build self-driving cars that don’t even have a steering wheel, which would take us to Level 5 autonomy.
Despite ever-more mobility companies testing out robo-taxis on city streets, the technology isn’t expected to appear on roads at this level in the near future.
