Audi self-driving cars are getting close

Audi has revealed that it is committed to getting fully autonomous cars onto public roads by the second half of this decade.

During the reveal of the Audi Skysphere concept, which includes Level 4 autonomous driving capability, Audi product and tech communications spokesperson Josef Schlossmacher said self-driving cars were drawing ever closer, despite setbacks in recent years.

“We think by the second half of this decade, this [Level 4] will come into serial production,” Schlossmacher said via an interpreter.

Level 4 functionality offers full automation but can be operated by the driver when required, while Level 5 requires no driver intervention and dispenses with the steering wheel and other controls.

Last decade, Audi was among several manufacturers predicting that Level 4/5 autonomous cars would be on sale by now, but the development programs still face several hurdles.

For example, regulations around self-driving vehicles and supporting infrastructure continues to proceed slowly in markets around the world, including Australia, while the surge in electric vehicles has seen many global car-makers channel the lion’s share of their R&D budgets into EVs.

There’s also a public confidence issue in light of high-profile incidents involving lower-level autonomous systems in some cars, along with independent research that has found self-driving cars will prevent far fewer road crashes than anticipated.

“As far as homologation is concerned, what regulators and authorities are then affording us in the way of possibilities of roads and also traffic space for autonomous Level 4, we are closer to Level 4,” said Schlossmacher, explaining that certain roads in some countries, such as Germany and the US, allow autonomous car testing.

“We will then of course be ready and want to be ready to offer the corresponding technology that will match that new regulative environment.”

At present, only Level 1 and Level 2 autonomous vehicles are allowed to be driven in Australia, despite some top-end models, including the Audi A8 and Mercedes-Benz S-Class having been developed to handle Level 3, which allows for much less driver supervision in certain circumstances.

Level 4/5 are typically separate development streams compared to the ever-increasing semi-autonomous driver aids that are increasingly available on new vehicles.

“What is clear to us is that we started long ago to work on Level 4 technology,” said Schlossmacher.

“Meaning on the one hand, in the technical development department of course, with all our electronics, engineers and experts, but equally important we work together with Cariad, a new division for software development within the Volkswagen Group.

“So here we are really working with a thinktank of software experts who are really bundling their entire expertise across the entire VW group to develop the corresponding software and have that finalised and coming to market with these cars.”

The expense of getting autonomous cars fit for commercial release will also be reflected in their price, but Schlossmacher argues it’ll be well worth it.

“Equally important to us is that when we speak about autonomous driving, we keep developing all the possibilities for the time we’re gaining, when we don’t have to drive the car anymore,” he said.

“All that time gained will come into autonomous Level 4 cars, a key criteria I think for customers when they have to decide which kind of car they have to pick and choose from, and which car offers the best leeway here.”

Volkswagen has already outlined a ‘pay as you go’ model for Level 3 and Level 4 driving systems in its upcoming cars that would help keep down the initial cost of the vehicle.

The company has imagined a cost of €7 per hour for autonomous freeway driving.