AI might be arriving with a bang, but autonomous cars are crawling closer at a snail’s pace. What’s the delay? And what can we expect to change on our roads in the next decade? — Photo: Christian Charisius/dpaFeel like reading or watching a movie when you’re stuck in stop-and-go traffic? Thanks to advancing technology that’s now a possibility not only for a car’s passengers but also the driver.
BMW offers Level 2+ in the new 7 Series, which means that the car can drive independently, but the person behind the wheel remains responsible for monitoring the traffic situation. Andreas Rigling, who heads a test centre for active vehicle safety at German motoring organisation ADAC, also doesn’t expect a breakthrough for Level 3 vehicles any time soon.
Other European Union states, on the other hand, still require a responsible driver in every vehicle. According to Rigling, this could become a challenge with Level 2+ systems. Automated driving does not seem to have much benefit for private cars, Lienkamp believes, but “from a business perspective, automated driving makes more sense for robot cabs, public buses or trucks”.