Automakers and startups in autonomous vehicle Richa Tyagi Telematics Wire
V
ehicle autonomy is the way forward for automotive industry. Though how much time it takes for the industry to cover the journey from L1/L2 to L4 is domain of research for industry consultants and market research firms. But, irrespective of all these there are various automakers and startups who are on their way to pinnacle of self-driving. In fray are many automakers working on self-driving initiative. Below is compilation of some of the initiative in self driving domain by the automakers and startups.
Audi AG Audi ventured into autonomous driving with budget close to $16B to spend by 2023. It is said to deploy hands-free driving in its A8. The 2019 A8 model included suite of semi-autonomous
features, including adaptive cruise control and collision mitigation capabilities, as well as improved object recognition. The Audi A8 with self-driving features has only been initially approved for release and made street-legal in Europe in April 2020. But company seems to be taking a step back: its A8 sedan won’t be equipped with the Level 3 partial automation system, called Traffic Jam Pilot, due to safety concerns and the lack of a legal framework.
BMW AG In 2016, the company announced an alliance with Intel and Mobileye, which Chrysler and Magna also joined in 2017. The alliance plans to create an open standards-based platform for bringing self-driving cars to market, aiming to put its first vehicle, the BMW iNEXT, on the road by 2021. In 2018, BMW
opened an autonomous driving campus near Munich, Germany, to work on selfdriving pilot projects. In September 2020, it inked an agreement with Tactile Mobility, an Israel-based startup whose technology detects road conditions by analyzing wheel speed, gear position, and other non-visual sensors.
Daimler AG Daimler announced it would be investing $570M in autonomous truck technology at CES 2018. In March 2019, Daimler acquired the US-based self-driving company Torc Robotics and integrated it into ATG (Autonomous Technology Group, an organization focused specifically on developing “automated roadmaps”). The new partners have expanded the testing of autonomous trucks to New Mexico. Their goal is to bring SAE Level 4 vehicles on road by 2030. Daimler has also invested in Luminar, to gain access to vital sensors that will be a part of its autonomous trucks. Daimler has teamed up with Waymo in late 2020, wherein Daimler will provide a customized truck chassis that will be integrated with Waymo’s selfdriving system.
Ford Motor Company
Audi A8 self-driving hardware
50 | Telematics Wire | January 2021
As part of its 10-year autonomous vehicle plan, Ford is steadily increasing its fleet and currently has around 100 autonomous test vehicles. Ford is testing out Argo’s technology with its thirdgeneration Fusion model sedan. And in October 2020, Ford and Argo AI released its fourth-generation autonomous test car. The new vehicle is equipped with better sensors, sensor-cleaning technology,
