BMW is laying out a timeline for its self-driving cars, planning to have them on the road by 2021.
“We are on the way to deliver a car in 2021 with level 3, 4 and 5,” said Elmar Fickenstein, BMW’s senior vice president for autonomous driving.
Level three autonomy still requires the driver to be focused on control of the vehicle, while levels four and five are best decribed as fully self-driving, not requiring the driver’s attention. The jump from level three to four will be the hardest, as it also means that responsibility is placed on the vehicle’s systems, not the driver.
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BMW is partnered with Intel and Mobileye, technology companies working towards developing the brains to the system. BMW has been tasked with driving control, which encompasses vehicle dynamics and functional safety. A fleet of 7 Series vehicles fit with the self-driving tech will hit public streets for testing before the end of 2017.
BMW has already announced that its new self-driving vehicles will launch under the iNext brand.
[Source: Automotive News]
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