Shanghai. On May 14th 2018, BMW Group
officially obtained the Shanghai Intelligent Connected Autonomous
Driving Test License, issued by the Intelligent Connected Vehicle Road
Test Promotion Team – consisting of Shanghai Municipal Commission of
Economy and Informatization, Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau
and Shanghai Municipal Transportation Commission.
Thus, the BMW Group has become the first international
auto maker
to obtain the Autonomous Driving road test license in
China, marking a big step on its path to Autonomous Driving.
This achievement underlines BMW Group’s leading role in the
development of autonomous driving in the Chinese automotive industry.
BMW Group implements its Strategy NUMBER ONE
NEXT worldwide, and continues to carry out the layout in
“A.C.E.S.”, namely, Autonomous Driving, Connectivity,
E-Mobility and Shared services, to create exciting solutions and
innovative mobility experiences for customers – and by doing so –
speeding up its transformation into a technology company. Autonomous
Driving, an important part of the “A.C.E.S.” layout, will
change the future of individual mobility in a revolutionary way,
significantly improving the safety and convenience of premium
individual mobility.
China is promoting Autonomous Driving as a part of boosting
intelligent connected vehicles (ICVs) and its recent “smart city,
smart China” initiative, giving China a vital role in BMW Group´s
Autonomous Driving development program. BMW anticipated this
development – and was first to demonstrate and publish L3 highly
Autonomous Driving on a designated highway under government
supervision in Chengdu as early as 2016.
To carry out road tests for the preparation of L4 Autonomous Driving
RD in China, Shanghai is an attractive, innovative city, matching
perfectly with BMW Group’s vision of future mobility. The BMW Group
has set up a strong local team in Shanghai, including over 60 experts
in Autonomous Driving.
Using the license, the RD team will gather several Petabyte of
data based on actual traffic, covering its full complexity. This data
will be used to train machine learning algorithms performing adequate
L4 Autonomous Driving behaviour.
The test sites in Shanghai currently cover a total length of about
5.6 kilometers planned to grow quickly over time. The test fleet is
based on the latest BMW 7 Series models, starting with two operating
vehicles in May and adding up to seven vehicles by December in China.
“Safety first” is the primary premise for the development of
Autonomous Driving at BMW Group. Until now, the accumulated mileage
reaches nearly 30,000 kilometers of road test in China, and more than
200,000 kilometers of computer simulation.
Dr. Martin Sautter, Senior Vice President, RD Center BMW Group,
BMW China Services Ltd., said: “The BMW Group has always followed its
RD strategy ‘In China, For China’. We have developed a complete,
customer-oriented and prospective RD system, through the RD
layout in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang. Now, it is a great honour
to be the first international vehicle manufacturer to obtain an
autonomous road test license in China. With the highest safety
standards, we will rigorously promote the local development of
Autonomous Driving and strive to achieve a safer, more efficient and
more convenient transportation system.”