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GUEST COMMENTARY









                                                                                      Dipl.-Ing. Klaus Fröhlich
                                                                                      Member of the Board of
                                                                                        Management of BMW AG,
                                                                                        Development, Member of
                                                                                      the ATZ Advisory Board























                                                                                     © BMW




          Fully Autonomous, Highly Connected and


         Emission-free







          In my last guest commentary for ATZ I wrote: “Over the next   However, as an individual car manufacturer we will not be
          decade, cars will change more radically than they have in the   able to overcome this challenge alone. The future of the auto-
          past fifty years.” Two years later, it is clear that the pace of   motive industry depends on the general conditions and, most
          change has increased significantly. In particular in the area of   importantly, on our willingness to cooperate. We have clearly
          autonomous and highly automated driving, we need develop-  defined the areas where we need to enter into partnerships. We
          ment hubs of a kind that would simply not have been possible   and other carmakers have joined together to buy Here in order
          just a few years ago.                              to ensure that digital maps will be available to all the players
           In contrast to what marketing departments may claim,    on the market. This mapping service gives us access to high-
          I believe that autonomous driving presents us with an   resolution maps, which alongside the sensor systems in cars
            enormous challenge. It involves replacing human sensory   are the other key requirement for autonomous driving. We are
            perception and the brain’s thinking and decision-making   now working with our partners Intel, Mobileye, Delphi and
            powers with an intelligent system.               Continental on industrialising the sensor technology and the
           There are two driving forces behind the autonomous    information processing systems in cars. Something that we are
          vehicle trend. One is the fact that customers do not always   already independently very good at is motion control, in other
          want to drive themselves. The other is new business models.   words, designing and controlling cars using the drive system, the
          At the BMW Group, we believe that drivers should decide   chassis and the brakes, and also complete system integration.
          according to the situation. They can either drive themselves   With the BMW iNext project, we have committed to intro-
          in a vehicle fully customised to meet their requirements,   ducing fully autonomous driving by 2021. The iNext will, of
          where  everything revolves around them as the “Ultimate   course, also be emission-free. But for us that on its own no
          Driver”. We call this Boost Mode. Or in the near future they   longer represents innovation. With fully autonomous driving
          will have the option of fully automated driving with all its   capability, comprehensive connectivity and the interior of the
          benefits from relaxation to entertainment, which we describe   future, the Project i 2.0 will act as the incubator for our brand’s
          as Ease Mode.                                      innovative capacity.
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