Photo: Audi AG
You might want to take the following with a pinch of salt, since it doesn't exactly come from the most dependable sources on the Internet, but British media reports that the 2018 Audi A8 will be the first fully autonomous production car when it goes on sale in late 2017.
The technology will apparently trickle down to cars like the 2019 Audi A7, next A6, and the recently spied Audi Q8 crossover, says Autocar, which gives more details about the feature.
In theory, the system is an upgraded version of the Traffic Jam Assist technology that you can also experiment in the current Audi A4 and the Q7 SUV, but will take even more strain from the driver, up to the point where no intervention from him is needed.
Apparently, the next-generation A8 luxury sedan will be able to operate by itself in congested traffic up to speeds of 60 km/h (37 mph), with the driver not being required to monitor or intervene in any way. In a way, this would still make the car semi-autonomous since highways and other open roads require much higher speeds than that, but features like auto-brake will probably remain available outside the city.
Autocar goes as far as saying that Audi has also decided to take full liability for any driving incidents that may happen from the car's fault while it is in autonomous driving mode. This sounds almost too good to be true, which is why we required you to take it all in with a pinch of salt.
On top of it, Ingolstadt engineers are said to have worked with aviation experts to develop certain visuals on the in-car displays, so that the driver makes better use of their functions.
That said, the cherry on Autocar's almost unbelievable cake is talk about an Artificial Intelligence system that will also make its premiere on the A8 D5. Allegedly, the technology will be able to predict the drivers' behavior in a very 1984 sort of way. One of its functions will be “to learn regular destinations and then automatically input them in the sat-nav when it recognizes the driver is heading towards them.” Scary but also interesting stuff, if we may add.
In theory, the system is an upgraded version of the Traffic Jam Assist technology that you can also experiment in the current Audi A4 and the Q7 SUV, but will take even more strain from the driver, up to the point where no intervention from him is needed.
Apparently, the next-generation A8 luxury sedan will be able to operate by itself in congested traffic up to speeds of 60 km/h (37 mph), with the driver not being required to monitor or intervene in any way. In a way, this would still make the car semi-autonomous since highways and other open roads require much higher speeds than that, but features like auto-brake will probably remain available outside the city.
Autocar goes as far as saying that Audi has also decided to take full liability for any driving incidents that may happen from the car's fault while it is in autonomous driving mode. This sounds almost too good to be true, which is why we required you to take it all in with a pinch of salt.
On top of it, Ingolstadt engineers are said to have worked with aviation experts to develop certain visuals on the in-car displays, so that the driver makes better use of their functions.
That said, the cherry on Autocar's almost unbelievable cake is talk about an Artificial Intelligence system that will also make its premiere on the A8 D5. Allegedly, the technology will be able to predict the drivers' behavior in a very 1984 sort of way. One of its functions will be “to learn regular destinations and then automatically input them in the sat-nav when it recognizes the driver is heading towards them.” Scary but also interesting stuff, if we may add.
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