BMW won’t speed up its rollout of autonomous driving technologies, even when which means letting the likes of Tesla win the race to market.
Six levels of driving automation have been defined by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), starting from momentary assistance features corresponding to lane departure warnings (Level 0) to the total automation seen in driverless robotaxis (Level 5).
Level 2 is the best level of automation available to the general public in Australia, and most current BMW models are equipped with Level 2 autonomous driving systems which can be able to simultaneous lane keeping and adaptive cruise control under constant driver supervision.
Moreover, in some overseas markets the upmarket 7 Series could be had with optional Level 3 technology that introduces hands-off driving at speeds of as much as 60km/h on motorways with structurally separated carriageways.
Nonetheless, Tesla has introduced what it calls Full Self-Driving, enabling automated urban driving provided the motive force stays attentive. It recently became available in Australia (in Supervised form) for $10,000 or $149 per 30 days, and could be installed as an over-the-air (OTA) update on vehicles featuring Tesla’s HW4 software package.
Despite its broader array of capabilities, Tesla’s FSD remains to be considered a Level 2 system, and its use – together with Tesla’s less intelligent Autopilot system – has been linked to varied crashes. Nevertheless, it’s able to managing typical urban driving.
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BMW also desires to launch a city-ready autonomous driving system, but won’t compromise on safety to accomplish that.
“We now have an in depth group that’s monitoring everybody else available in the market including Tesla, so we all know what they’re doing,” said Dr Falk Schubert, BMW head of customer functions, ADAS, to Australian media including CarExpert on the launch of the brand new iX3.
“It is a product category that we are able to’t ignore, and we don’t need to. But we have now to go cautiously, we have now to go step-by-step.
“Our ultimate goal on this product category that’s still missing is that we have now a Level 2 ‘plus plus’ journey through town… address to deal with.
“We would like to be protected. Since the thing is, for those who go too easy on features after which have one critical accident, that shouldn’t be something that BMW wants and stands for.
“So we actually mean this by safety first, to not be overly cautious, but since it’s the design principle.”
Safety is certainly one of three key principles that guide BMW’s development of advanced driver assist systems (ADAS), alongside ‘joyful driving’ and ‘smart’.
As a way to meet that criteria, the German automaker has committed to a gradual rollout of autonomous features and comprehensive testing, each simulated and in the true world.
“Protected is a really, very strong principle. You don’t compromise on safety, never,” said Dr Schubert.
“There’s a rollout procedure behind it. Step one is to deal with driving on the highway – that is what the Highway Assistant system brings today.
“With traffic light stop and go, we’ll start with Germany. Legally, we have now the whole lot that we could roll it out in all countries, but we go step-by-step.
“We now have our own KPIs, and we have now our own pace to be sure that the maps are right, that we’ve seen enough special situations.
“We now have a big testing fleet that also test things in these countries, and that defines the pace and the steps.”
BMW can also be conscious of the impact that autonomous driving systems could have on its brand identity. Since 1965, the manufacturer has proudly used ‘Freude am Fahren’ as its global slogan, which translates to ‘sheer driving pleasure’. BMW also operates under the tagline ‘The Ultimate Driving Machine’.
The disparity between autonomy and driving pleasure stays a key talking point in BMW’s transition towards producing vehicles which can be in a position to drive themselves, and Dr Schubert says the corporate remains to be looking for a way forward.
“In case you read the slogan, it doesn’t say ‘the enjoyment of being driven’,” conceded Dr Schubert.
“However it does make sense, because we need to make the motive force blissful, after which you’ve got to rethink the way you market this and the way that matches into the brand’s image.
“There could possibly be cases where you went to the bar together with your high-performance, premium automotive, and the way cool wouldn’t it be to be driven remotely home?
“So BMW doesn’t rule this out simply because we have now the enjoyment of driving slogan, but once we define something like this it needs to be smart, it needs to be protected, and it needs to be fitting to our brand nature.”
While BMW is open to selling Level 4 and Level 5 autonomous private vehicles, Dr Schubert believes such offerings are a good distance off.
Level 4 autonomy is currently reserved for business applications, corresponding to using Jaguar I-Pace driverless taxis by American autonomous driving technology company Waymo in several US cities.
The emergence of a similarly self-driving BMW requires the expansion of Level 4 technology into the private vehicle market, in response to Dr Schubert.
“There’s nothing for BMW at once available in the market space where we wish to go. It could possibly be interesting for those who could sell it as an option for personal use,” he explained.
“But technically, there remains to be a lightyear in between to make that financeable. So whatever you see on the robotaxis, we cannot simply make products out of this.
“We’re continuously rethinking and scouting and discussing what technically we could put in to enable this, however it also has to form a product that the shopper pays for, right? That is the rationale why you don’t see anything within the Level 4 range.”
System maintenance also poses a big challenge, because the cameras and sensors required for Level 4 autonomy demand regular cleansing, inspections, and periodic calibration.
“There isn’t any product we could form that might be payable, maintainable and even robust enough,” expanded Dr Schubert.
“The sensors must endure multiple years outside within the cold; you could be asked to drive to a dealer to scrub them and have them serviced every few months, and even every week… forget it.
“They’re not robust enough yet, and it is going to probably still take quite a while.”
Even on the upper reaches of Level 2 and into Level 3, the fee of introducing advanced autonomous driving systems will proceed to ban their inclusion in lower-end BMW models, in response to Dr Schubert.
BMW charges €6000 (~A$10,000) for the Level 3 package within the 7 Series, while Tesla charges the same amount for the Full Self-Driving (Supervised) system.
Tesla Model 3 and Model Y buyers are seemingly willing to pay that premium, but Dr Schubert is less confident that 1 Series, X1, and even iX3 ‘Neue Klasse’ customers pays up in comparison with those shopping within the $200,000+ bracket.
“The iX3 shouldn’t be the form of offer where you’ve got a big amount of cash for a single driver assistance package, that’s why it’s restricted at once to the 7 Series,” said Dr Schubert.
This Article First Appeared At www.carexpert.com.au
