BMW optimistic about Level-5 self-driving cars in 2021

The road to self-driving cars is the biggest race for automakers at the moment. There is so much competition on who will be able to get the technology out there first, it feels like the space race between America and Russia in the past! BMW is still very optimistic it can catch up and win the race.

Electric and hybrid cars are mainstream now and the future dictates so much more. Tesla is currently leading the race and has successfully created an Autopilot system. This is the closest thing to a self-driving car so far. BMW is a bit behind already and no other automaker has successfully developed a fully-functioning Level-5 self-driving car.

Creating a Level-5 self-driving car is the ultimate goal of BMW. There are 1-5 levels of autonomy in cars, five being the highest in terms of its ability to drive on its own, without any human intervention. Level-5 cars basically won’t need any steering wheels because there will be no use for it.

BMW is still optimistic that they can win this race. “We are on the way to deliver a car in 2021 with level 3, 4 and 5,” said Elmar Frickenstein, BMW’s Senior Vice President for Autonomous Driving.

BMW’s vision is that by 2021, they will be offering all five levels of autonomy. It will be up to the customer then which level they prefer and which one suits their commute more. Customers with long commutes will benefit most from Level-5 self-driving cars.

BMW has forged partnerships with Intel and Mobileye to help them develop extreme processing power and image recognition software, respectively. BMW is confident that they are on the right track and can make self-driving cars happen by 2021.

Source: Reuters