Audi's A8 Autonomous Feature Won't Be Enabled Until Congress Makes A Decision On Federal Rules

re Audi's "autonomous functionality", which will become enabled when congress allows it -- Perhaps Audi is trying to pull a Tesla: Sell vehicles today, featuring what it might one day become.

Personally, I'm not a fan of alleged autonomous cars until the day comes when you hear about an autonomous vehicle getting into an accident, and everyone is suspicious of sabotage or not being maintained properly, because they have proven to be so reliable.

Look at it this way: If someone sold you an autonomous car whose autonomous tech was 99.9% defect free, then that means that in 1 out of 1,000 drives, it's going to make a mistake that'll try to kill you and your family. That's like playing Russian Roulette, getting lulled into a false sense of security, and during one drive some time over the next 16.5 months[1], your call will surprise you and try to hurt you.

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[1] Assuming you drive your car in autonomous mode twice a day, every day.

Well said. It's obvious that Audi did not take the development of a new A8 seriously. They rehashed the old one and decided to call it good by pretending to include a lot of "new" technology that everyone else already has. Audi simply isn't as convincing in its swindle of thought as Tesla is. Audi has no Elon.

@Steve Horribly said actually. The odds of a human having a accident are way better. Have you seen how people drive and look at the statistics of deaths by motor vehicle right now. I am way more worried about some idiot with their eyes on their phone than a car with a thousands of sensors measuring millions of data points a second.

@MDarringer - check the numbers monthly... You know better, even though it kills you to admit it.

Steve, your comment couldn't be further from the truth. The chances of a human getting into an accident are much higher than if the car was being controlled by its autonomous features. In fact, motor vehicle deaths are increasing rapidly.

?"Itasca, IL – For the first time in nearly a decade, preliminary 2016 data from the National Safety Council estimates that as many as 40,000 people died in motor vehicle crashes last year. That marks a 6% increase over 2015, and a 14% increase over 2014 – the most dramatic two-year escalation since 1964 – 53 years. The preliminary estimate means 2016 may have been the deadliest year on the nation's roads since 2007. An estimated 4.6 million roadway users were injured seriously enough to require medical attention in 2016, and estimated cost to society was $432 billion."

http://www.nsc.org/Connect/NSCNewsReleases/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=180

Audi took the development of the A8 so seriously that it launched the most advanced autonomous driving system available for public use. The A8 takes Tesla's autonomous capabilities to a new level. The same can be said of Audi's intelligent suspension. It takes the Mercedes-Benz suspension system and one ups it.

A comparison of the autonomous driving features of the A8, S-Class, 7-Series and Tesla:

http://newatlas.com/semi-autonomous-bmw-audi-mercedes-comparison/50470/

"But, despite what gushing owners might say in their unbearable YouTube blogs, it doesn't turn the Model S/X into a self-driving car. Owners need to have their hands on the wheel at all times, just like they do in the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes S-Class, and the car flashes a warning when it needs the driver to take control again. That means flicking through a book or emailing is totally out of the question."

An in-depth analysis of Audi's intelligent suspension:

http://articles.sae.org/15526/

@GermanNut GM's had that basic technology for a decade.

The keyword in your statement is "basic" because Audi's technology is a lot more advanced than GM's "basic" technology. Tesla still requires the driver's hands on the wheel and cannot operate fully autonomously at 37 mph like the A8 can. Furthermore, the Mercedes-Benz suspension relies on hydraulics whereas Audi's system uses electric motors.

It's very clear Audi's autonomous technology is far more advanced than Tesla's autonomous technology and its suspension is a lot more advanced than Mercedes-Benz's intelligent suspension. Not sure why GM is in this conversation since it can't yet compete with Audi in either autonomous driving or intelligent suspension.

GM has not had Tesla's tech for a decade, they don't even have it today. The S/X (equipped with AP2) can also go full Level 4 autonomous with a software update, but that won't happen for some time. I think it will be confusing for a car to be Level 4 autonomous on the freeway under extremely limited conditions and Level 2/3 everywhere else.

Plus, fully autonomous at 37 mph on the highway is pretty weak--what is going to happen as soon as traffic let's up? The only reason why Audi is even advertising this is they know governments anywhere in the world are going to allow it for a long time, giving them more opportunity to catch up to Tesla (which can effectively go autonomous up to 80 mph with a human paying attention).

*governments anywhere in the world are NOT going to allow it for a long time...