INTERVIEW
Keep your hands on the wheel, for now
Mark Smyth spoke with the head of autonomous driving at BMW Group about how close we are to the driverless car
There are more questions than answers when it comes to autonomous vehicles at the moment. Following all the grandiose announcements, the reality of implementation is starting to make many in the industry wonder how plausible all the promises are, at least for now. Recently we chatted to a number of auto industry executives, who have all spoken about life beyond the PR statements and it is clear that the full self-driving car is much further away than some would have us think. And when it does appear driverlessly in front of you, it will only be in cities that have infrastructure specifically tailored to mitigate the risks. This all became more obvious while talking to Elmar Frickenstein, senior vice-president autonomous driving at the BMW Group during the Frankfurt Motor Show. He has been with BMW for more than 30 years but has only been in the driving (perhaps we should say driverless) seat of autonomous vehicles for the past year. Industry issue He points out that autonomous techn...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.