In the US, BMW drivers will soon be able to take their hands off the wheel. But level 3 has not yet been reached.
In Germany you can only drive hands-free from level 3. This is currently only possible with the Mercedes Benz S class. This has also recently received approval in Nevada. But also BMW’s can soon be operated without having your hands on the steering wheel. This is made possible by Level 2+.
These are the BMW 7 Series equipped with Here HD maps. The accuracy allows it with speed up to 80 mph (around 130 kilometers per hour) to drive. It is the manufacturer’s first model with HERE HD Live Map of the trail is coming.
Even if drivers can take their hands off the wheel, they still have to concentrate on the traffic. However, the HD maps have semantic details that are otherwise not shown on maps. The lane markings are positioned extremely precisely, just like the other traffic infrastructure moments. Incidentally, the concept is called Predictive Routing Technology from HERE.
The HD maps are stored in the cloud, which are compared and updated with the sensor data with low latency. In this way, it can also access the sensor data of other vehicles and therefore “see further”. The data of those involved are anonymized so that privacy is protected.
The integration of this also comes in cooperation with HERE, the major German car manufacturers heard together. Since 2009 we have been working on reducing fuel consumption. The concept is available in 70 countries. It draws on regular route experience, which is informed in real time about road conditions and traffic events.
The concept can also be found in Canada, but you are not yet allowed to drive BMWs hands-free in this country. However, there are always new advances in this regard. Probably will rental vehicles faster equipped with such technology and will appear there first. At least they usually have the latest assistance systems, which also mean a plus in safety.
The next coup is HD 3D models of 80 major cities: HERE Premier 3D Cities was launched last year. We want to keep growing here. This implies full 3D models of buildings and structures and interesting addresses, the so-called Points of interest.