Audi and General Motors luxury brand, Cadillac, are both planning to add self-driving features to their vehicles as early as 2016.
Audi has been flashing its autonomous driving features at different technology events and auto shows for over two years, but they are still in development. The Volkswagen-owned company has not yet shared much information about when these technologies are to leave the lab and make their way into an actual car.
During a keynote address at the Frankfurt School of Finance, Audi’s CFO Axel Strobeck went over the details regarding a system that would enable drivers to follow vehicles ahead at a safe distance, automatically accelerating, braking and autonomously adjusting steering to maintain the line. Strobeck suggested that this feature would be coming “very soon,” a statement that is being interpreted to mean by 2016.
GM is another automotive company looking to put some “super-cruise” technologies into Cadillac by 2016, CEO Mary Barra confirmed on Monday. Called car2car, the communication system will feature enhanced cruise control technology and offer semi-autonomous driving capabilities in very specific circumstances, such as on highways and in traffic jams.
The car2car technology uses wi-fi signals and 3G or 4G mobile internet along with elements of road infrastructure to communicate to other cars in order to avoid collisions and eliminate blind spots. Barra has stated that this technology does not just exist “for the sake of the technology itself,” but because there is demand for it around the world.
Other automakers, including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, are developing similar autonomous driving systems, which are currently being tested for safety and reliability.
