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The future of driving is hidden behind a huge "kidney" in the new BMW.
Where the radiator was previously housed, iX sensors, cameras and radar are in the new electric car.
They should help the car to drive autonomously.
“The vehicle is designed to be able to do it,” said CEO Oliver Zipse at the presentation.
The company is still keeping secret what it can do.
"We will say that when the vehicle goes into series production next year."
It is surprising that the BMW boss is so tight-lipped.
With the iX, of all things, which has been propagated as a technological milestone for years under the name iNext and is seen as the answer to the American adversary Tesla.
Zipse does not mention the name of the competitor.
Others do that for him.
In hardly any other field is the deficit of the German car companies vis-à-vis their competitors from the USA as clear as in autonomous driving.
It's not just a lack of technology.
Above all, there is a lack of courage to deliver cars with new capabilities, to penetrate legal gray areas and to advertise them aggressively.
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Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess is one of the few managers who admit the deficit.
“We need a completely new set of skills that we have to build,” he said in an analyst conference in November.
That is why VW is investing "in software, software, software".
Diess sees two paths to autonomous driving that his group is pursuing: the “Waymo way” and the “Tesla way”.
On the one hand, he means driverless vehicles such as those used as taxis by the Google subsidiary Waymo in Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
And Tesla's so-called autopilot.
Here VW has put its daughter Audi on the chase track.
Your "Artemis" project is intended to reduce the backlog by 2024.
"We will come very close to Tesla in terms of the capabilities of our cars," said Diess.
Five levels of autonomy
Experts categorize these skills in levels of autonomy from one to five.
Current premium cars classify them at level two, they can stay in lane, regulate the distance and the speed.
The driver has to keep his hand on the wheel.
Waymo technology plays on levels four to five: there is still a steering wheel, but the driver's seat remains empty.
The passengers sit on the back seat, separated by a pane.
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Tesla, in turn, calls its latest system "Full Self Driving".
Videos from users in the USA suggest that the cars drive on level three: They follow a route independently and only need the driver in dangerous situations.
Tesla did not answer the request as to whether and when this software version will come to Germany.
But even the current version does more than any other production vehicle.
During a test drive of this newspaper, a Tesla S steered independently for miles on the country road, recognized other cars turning off, pedestrians on the road as well as tight bends and traffic lights.
Some drivers are tricking
The car adjusted its speed to the speed limits, only it did not recognize place-name signs.
Still, the driver had to be on his guard: In a curve the car suddenly braked down to 40 km / h and jerked on roughly.
At least it didn't get on the opposite track.
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No other manufacturer dares to release such extensive functions in everyday operation.
Tesla does ask drivers to keep their hands on the wheel, and the autopilot switches off if they don't.
But videos are circulating online of drivers who trick this control - with a weight on the steering wheel.
Then the car drives alone.
The downside of this is devastating, sometimes fatal, accidents when the Tesla's cameras fail to recognize a truck trailer, for example, and the car opens without braking.
The technology is not mature and it is on the verge of legality.
Musk's company takes a high risk, also to maintain the nimbus of technology leadership.
VW, Daimler or BMW do not want to take such risks.
“The US has a different development culture, where manufacturers can self-certify if they believe they can get a safe driverless car on the road.
That makes the technology's leap from research to reality easier, ”says Mirko Taubenreuther.
He heads the department for automated driving at the Berlin engineering service provider IAV, which works for international car manufacturers.
Taubenreuther is convinced that the Germans are only lagging behind when it comes to implementing the technology: “The German car industry is not leaving the field to American corporations when it comes to autonomous driving,” he says.
“As far as research is concerned, we were and are good in Europe and can keep up.
So far, however, the Americans have a head start when it comes to getting the technology onto the road. "
Heavy penalties for failure
If something goes wrong, start-ups also face draconian penalties in the USA.
But they take the risk.
“The Americans' approach has the advantage that they can collect data under real conditions.
The US manufacturers have a head start here, ”says Taubenreuther.
At least two to three European carmakers could keep up.
Whether BMW and Daimler can do this will only be seen when they let their cars drive autonomously in everyday life.
The legal basis for this is still lacking in Europe.
There is also a lack of acceptance by people, says Taubenreuther.
“We as a society have to set a tolerance framework within which we are ready to accept a residual risk.
The risk will never be zero. "
In fact, systems that allow the driver to let go of the steering wheel are not yet allowed in Germany.
“According to the current state of affairs, such systems cannot be type-approved,” the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) replies when asked.
However, from January 22nd, applications could be made for approvals under a new rule from the UN Economic Commission UNECE.
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For the first time, it allows driver assistants at level three.
“Autonomous lane changes are not included here at the moment,” writes the KBA.
A federal law for autonomous driving is also expected to come into force by 2022, and Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer wants it to be passed in the middle of this year.
Tesla can use legal loopholes in Germany at least until then - and operate its autopilot in a legal gray area.
In any case, the KBA declares that it is not responsible for the brand.
Tesla's models have been approved for all of Europe by the Dutch approval authority RDW.
The federal states are responsible
From the perspective of the KBA, this authority would be responsible if the software changes.
However, only for new cars.
“The KBA is not responsible for vehicles that are already on the road, but the federal states.” It is doubtful that the officials there can assess the “Full Self Driving” program code.
Not even the inspectors from TÜV or Dekra can do that.
They are still preparing to review the systems, which is difficult given the lack of government rules.
Rico Barth, head of the competence area networked and automated driving at TÜV Rheinland, complains that not even the type of sensors is required for a self-driving car.
"Instead, test scenarios are specified that a vehicle must pass - in virtual environments as well as on test sites and in real traffic." How these will look is defined by European committees and is currently being tested by the testing organizations.
While Tesla is always trying out new systems on the road, the others prefer to play it safe.
Only Mercedes-Benz has announced that its S-Class will drive semi-autonomously - as soon as it is allowed.
The Germans no longer play a role in the robot taxi.
The potential manufacturers in Wolfsburg and Stuttgart consider the technology to be too expensive to be used in cars now.
This text is from WELT AM SONNTAG.
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Source: WELT AM SONNTAG