No L3 autonomous driving has actually appeared on the market.
Editor’s note: This article comes from “ Future Car Daily ” (WeChat public account ID: auto-time), author: Zhang.
Author | Zhang Yi
Edit | Li Huanhuan
In response to the media report on March 16, “Audi cancels the L3-level autonomous driving project and transfers hundreds of employees to the development of L2 and L4-level autonomous driving technology”, Audi China reported on the future automobile daily (ID: auto- “Time” said, “It is communicating with the German headquarters.” At present, the company has indeed strengthened the research and development of L4 and above autonomous driving technology, but has not received any news about canceling the L3 autonomous driving project.
Audi announced in 2017 that it would implement L3 autonomous driving in the new-generation A8 model, but the related functions are not really available to consumers.
A person in charge of autonomous driving of a new car company analyzed to Future Car Daily (ID: auto-time) that “Audi may be reluctant to wait any longer”, they may think that L3 level autonomous driving technology cannot be regulated in a short time. Passed, or the public is unwilling to assume responsibility for accidents caused by L3 autonomous driving.
L3 level autonomous driving technology refers to “automation under limited conditions”, that is, most of the time the driver can give the driving right completely to the autonomous vehicle, but needs to be able to take over the vehicle when necessary (at any time). “The L3 function itself is relatively inadequate. People cannot leave the sight of car control, nor can they divert their attention.” Autonomous driving industry people told Future Car Daily.
Since last year, car companies and leading car suppliers have become less enthusiastic about L3 autonomous driving. In January 2019, Ford gave up L3 and switched to L4 autonomous driving on the grounds that it “does not know how to manage the transfer of control of the L3 autonomous driving system responsibly”. Bosch also said that its L2 autopilot products have been installed in more than 40 models, but the progress of the L3 has clearly deviated from expectations.
A person in charge of an autonomous driving project for a domestic brand told Future Auto Daily that “the so-called mass production of L3 autonomous driving is more proof of technical capabilities.” Another expert in the field of autonomous driving also told future automobiles. The Daily said, “L3 is mainly made by Tesla, but the industry is not highly recognized. L3 has not really appeared in the market, including Changan Automobile’s L3 is only a demo version, definitely not a production version.”
As the Volkswagen Group advances its wholly-owned holding plan for the Audi brand, the synergy of Volkswagen Group’s autonomous driving research and development will also become more prominent. At the end of last month, VolkswagenThe group announced that Audi’s new CEO Marcus Dusman will take over the research and development of the group, and the Audi brand headquarters will become the core of the organizational structure of the “Car.Software” department of the Volkswagen Group. The Audi brand may focus more on the commercialization of L2, complementing Volkswagen’s autonomous driving subsidiaries that focus on L4.
