- New California laws governing the testing of automated driving go into effect today.
- Regulations require surety bond coverage of at least $5 million for each vehicle covered by a license; allow testing on any state road
- Audi was the first OEM to gain a Nevada autonomous driving plate in 2012, and the first to test on new Florida connected car expressway
HERNDON, Va., September 16, 2014 – Audi will be the first company to receive a newly established autonomous driving permit issued by California. A range of new regulations that govern the testing of automated driving on the state’s roads take effect today.
Audi has conducted research over tens of thousands of miles in Europe and various U.S. states, where such testing is permitted. The research is aimed at preparing a highly automated Piloted driving system for freeway traffic conditions. Audi envisions this technology could be ready for consumer introduction within five years.
California roads are especially crucial to Audi Piloted driving testing because the state is home to the brand’s Electronics Research Lab. ERL engineers are working on a wide range of automated driving issues, including human-machine interface prompts that indicate when the human or the vehicle are handling driving functions.
Audi and ERL researchers have been involved in the pursuit of automated driving from its earliest stages. Audi, ERL and Stanford University engineers collaborated on the development of the Autonomous Audi TTS Pikes Peak car, which successfully completed the challenging 12.42-mile route of the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb race in Colorado in 27 minutes without a human in the car.
“Audi is a driving force behind the research taking automated driving from science fiction to pre-production readiness,” said Scott Keogh, President, Audi of America. “Obtaining the first permit issued by the State of California shows that we intend to remain the leader in this vital technology frontier.”
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