BMW Group gets autonomous driving licence in China

BMW Group is the first international auto maker to obtain an autonomous driving road test licence in China.

The Shanghai Intelligent Connected Autonomous Driving Test License marks a big step on the path to autonomous driving, BMW says..

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 project.

BMW 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 research and development in China, Shanghai is an innovative city matching perfectly with BMW Group’s vision of future mobility, the company says. Its Shanghai team includes more than 60 autonomous driving experts.

Using the licence, the R&D team will gather 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.

Shanghai test sites cover about 5.6km, planned to grow quickly.

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.

Until now, the accumulated mileage reaches nearly 30,000km of road test in China, and more than 200,000km of computer simulation.

“We have developed a complete, customer-oriented and prospective R&D system, through the R&D layout in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang,” BMW China Services R&D Centre senior vice-president Dr Martin Sautter says.

“Now, it is a great honour to be the first international vehicle manufacturer to obtain an autonomous road test licence in China.”