Self-Driving Car Technology You Can Expect By 2020

6 mars 2016

Self-driving cars are cruising from science fiction fantasy to pick-it-up-at-the-dealership reality. A January report from IBM predicts that vehicles will be “able to learn, heal, drive and socialize with other vehicles and its surrounding environment” by 2025. A study from J.D. Power found that members of Generation X and Y are especially interested in fully automated cars, and that group’s purchasing power is only going to grow.

Major automotive companies like Audi, Ford, Lincoln, Volkswagen, Cadillac and Mercedes-Benz exhibited at the inaugural CES Asia in Shanghai recently, showcasing a variety of autonomous innovations. And you’re sure to see more at CES 2016 in Las Vegas.

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The pace of change is as blistering fast as Usain Bolt running the 100 meter. We’ve done research and here’s the latest innovations in self-driving automobiles:

Audi
You might have seen the Audi A7 that drove itself 550 miles to CES this year. “Piloted driving” is the philosophy of German automaker Audi, which was the first company to receive an autonomous driving permit from Nevada in 2012 and from California in 2014. Set up with four 360-degree cameras and a laser scanner, the cars are able to maneuver through traffic jams and park themselves in tight spots. That technology also in use at the Düsseldorf Airport, where the Ray valet robot moves your car to a parking spot for you. Check out Audi chairman Rupert Stadler at CES Asia.

BMW
Introduced at 2014 CES, BMW’s ConnectedDrive Active Assist is a safety assistant that can bring the vehicle back on track without any intervention by the driver. Employing cameras, lasers and radar, the goal is “highly automated driving.” At CES this year, BMW demoed an electric i3 that can park itself and come back to you when you’re ready to leave. BMW anticipates offering these autonomous driving features in standard cars by 2020.

Cadillac
GM will be including semi-autonomous driving functions in the 2017 Cadillac CTS: its Super Cruise driver assistance technology as well as vehicle-to-vehicle communication (V2V). Super Cruise features include hands-off lane following, and braking and speed control for highway driving. V2V makes it possible for nearby cars to send and receive basic information such as location, speed and direction, to better mitigate traffic jams and avoid collisions.