Page 11 - EE Times Europe Magazine - June 2025

EE|Times EUROPE 11

Level 2+ Could Be a Long-Term Middle Ground

Overview of where autonomous cars are legal (Source: IDTechEx, March 2025)

available across the country. On April 1, low-light conditions. “Though adding LiDAR and even truck proportions differ from
Beijing implemented autonomous driving might increase costs, it’s currently considered Germany’s.
regulations that support Level 2+ and Level 3 indispensable for Level 3 systems to ensure One factor that is often overlooked is the
vehicles, including private cars, robotaxis, and safety and minimize liability issues,” Fu said. failure recovery architecture, Fu said. “At
urban public transport. Mercedes-Benz continues to work on 95 km/h, if the driver fails to take over within
“This indicates a solid regulatory basis for Level 2+ but is making serious progress 10 seconds, a Level 3 system must execute a
Level 3 commercialization in China,” Fu said. toward Level 3 with its Drive Pilot system. controlled emergency stop, requiring redun-
“However, despite these advancements, we Initially approved in 2022 for hands-off, eyes- dant braking, steering, and power systems.
believe that true Level 3 vehicles will likely off driving at a maximum speed of 60 km/h in These extras raise the Level 3 system cost,
not hit the Chinese market until around traffic jams, Drive Pilot got a max-speed boost which is one of the biggest hidden challenges
2028.” to 95 km/h in December 2024. for OEMs of mass-production consumer
In Europe, Fu said, Germany allows BMW “Moving from 60 km/h to 95 km/h isn’t vehicles.”
and Mercedes-Benz to carry out small-scale just about adding more sensors; it’s a That’s the paradox, Fu said: Carmakers
deployments, and European legislation could systemic evolution in fault tolerance and could technically deliver Level 3 today, but
allow Level 3 cars by 2026. decision-making speed,” Fu told EE Times legal and financial hurdles stand in the way of
BMW was the first European carmaker to Europe. “While Drive Pilot uses 35 sensors, deployment. Who’s responsible if the system
receive approval for a combination of a the breakthrough lies in its cross-validation makes a mistake, he asked, and how much
Level 2 driving-assistance system (the BMW capabilities. A LiDAR helps cameras see are drivers willing to pay for these safety
Highway Assistant) and a Level 3 system (the better in bright sunlight, while a radar keeps backups? “That’s why many companies are
BMW Personal Pilot L3) in the same vehicle. working in rain or fog. This teamwork creates sticking with Level 2+ systems; they’re almost
In his keynote, Fu compared BMW’s 7 Series a safety net for higher speeds.” as good as Level 3 but avoid legal headaches,”
and 5 Series to highlight the differences The software needs to act faster, too, Fu he said. “In the end, it’s not just about tech-
between the carmaker’s Level 3 and Level 2+ said. “When speed increases from 60 to nology but about trust and rules.”
systems. “The 7 Series boasts Level 3 capa- 95 km/h, the system’s decision window Looking ahead, Fu said the market is
bilities, while the 5 Series offers Level 2+,” he shrinks by nearly 40%. Imagine going from eagerly awaiting affordable, mass-produced
said. “Both models use a similar sensor suite, 2 seconds to 1.2 seconds to execute a lane Level 3 systems with wider operational
featuring six external cameras and a near- change. Mercedes pulls this off by using domains, fewer restrictions, and a seamless
infrared camera for driver monitoring, but the high-definition maps tailored to user experience. Achieving those goals will
key difference is that the 7 Series includes an Germany’s 13,191-km highway network. How- take time, but Fu observed that every technol-
Innoviz LiDAR that the 5 Series does not.” ever, the 95-km/h capability comes with strict ogy progresses along a curve.
This extra LiDAR likely provides an addi- preconditions: daylight operation, clear lane “Right now, we’re at a bottleneck stage,
tional layer of reliability and robustness that markings, moderate to heavy traffic density, where different approaches—whether it’s
OEMs seek for higher confidence in advanced and absence of complex infrastructure— map-based, mapless, light-map, end-to-end,
systems, Fu said. “It highlights how OEMs still essentially a carefully curated ODD.” highway NOA [navigate on autopilot], or city
value LiDAR for specific applications in The speed differences between countries NOA—are all being actively explored,” Fu
Level 3 systems.” tell another story. In the U.S., Fu said the said. “These are essentially different solutions
The near-infrared camera is essential for same system is limited to 65 km/h (40 mph) built around existing technological capabil-
monitoring driver attention in both Level 2+ because of environmental adaptation costs: ities, and they’re laying the groundwork for
and Level 3 systems. and it performs well in California’s road markings, traffic patterns, the future of autonomous driving.” ■

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