BMW Wants to Sell Fully Self-Driving Cars by 2021

Stephen Elmer
by Stephen Elmer

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.

SEE ALSO: BMW Adds Yet Another Random Limited Edition Model to its Lineup

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]

Stephen Elmer
Stephen Elmer

Stephen covers all of the day-to-day events of the industry as the News Editor at AutoGuide, along with being the AG truck expert. His truck knowledge comes from working long days on the woodlot with pickups and driving straight trucks professionally. When not at his desk, Steve can be found playing his bass or riding his snowmobile or Sea-Doo. Find Stephen on <A title="@Selmer07 on Twitter" href="http://www.twitter.com/selmer07">Twitter</A> and <A title="Stephen on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/117833131531784822251?rel=author">Google+</A>

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  • Smartacus Smartacus on Mar 16, 2017

    not gonna happen. Since we found out John Brennan and his CIA murdered journalist Michael Hastings in 2013 by remotely hacking his C250 automatic. They can kiss those self-driving dreams adieu

  • Craig Cole Craig Cole on Mar 17, 2017

    Good luck! If adaptive cruise control barely works today how is a car going to drive itself in just a few short years?

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