May 2021 automotive news: SAE, German legislation, Ford and atlatec
As we are slowly entering the summer season, let’s look back and recap the latest automotive news of May. This month SAE updated the official names for ‘Autonomous Driving’ Levels, Germany passed legislation for autonomous vehicles driving without safety drivers’ presence, and Ford released its first electrical truck — the F-150 Lightning.
Apart from that, we kindly invite you to join our live panel discussion on ADAS testing that will take place in just a week. You can register for both German and English sessions — pick the one that fits you best.
SAE Updates, Refines Official Names for ‘Autonomous Driving’ Levels — Via Car and Driver
There’s a lot of debate around what “autonomous driving” really is; and some pretty diametral view points — sometimes within one and the same company (looking at you, Elon Musk and Tesla’s legal department). One framework that’s proven to be useful in differentiating between what does and does not constitute self-driving technology are the SAE Levels Of Driving Automation (L0 — L5).
This standard, formally known as SAE J3016 has now been updated to more accurately separate driver support features (L0 — L2) and automated driving features (L3 — L5). It also clearly classifies simultaneous use of modern ADAS features like ACC and LKA as a Level 2 system — and thus firmly places it in the driver support domain. So get the latest “cheat sheet” and you’ll be well prepared for the next heated ADAS vs. AD debate — which we probably all get into at some point.
Germany Passes Legislation For Autonomous Vehicles Driving Without Driver’s Presence — Via Tech Times
Speaking of automated driving: In a move sure to surprise many, Germany’s national parliament has voted to allow testing of Level 4 systems on public roads from 2022 — without a safety driver on board. Some restrictions such as proper insurance and remote shutdown options apply, but those hardly seem like roadblocks for companies serious about this type of technology.
With several OEMs in the country as well as players like Argo AI and Mobileye already testing their cutting-edge systems on public roads in Germany, it will certainly be interesting to see what to actually expect on and off the Autobahn next year — and how the public will react.
Stop Worrying and Love the F-150 Lightning — Via auto connected car news
When is a car not a car? When it is a truck — or perhaps even something else entirely. Ford has revealed the battery electric version of its best-selling truck, dubbed the F-150 Lightning — and while thorough, independent reviews will need to be considered, it seems that competitors such as Rivian or Tesla’s Cybertruck will be facing a formidable competition:
The product management at Ford seems to have employed impressive user centricity; completely rethinking what a truck actually is — or can be. The F-150 Lightning is not only powered by a battery: It will also power external appliances, from work crews’ tools all the way to complete households, if necessary in a blackout: Something that will arguably be a selling point for citizens of US states regularly threatened by flooding, tornadoes or wildfires. For companies that run work crews (perhaps the most important customer segment for this vehicle), the BEV version of the F-150 may well turn the question of “Why go electric” into “Why not”: The use of a vehicle that makes both the job and fleet management easier (thanks to improved telematics) and that can easily be recharged back at the company lot every night seems compelling — even more so if it also brings maintenance costs down, which are typically higher for combustion engine vehicles.
You may remember our article about ADAS testing from last month’s newsletter, exploring a solution to create and leverage reference data at scale that we co-created for Porsche. Now we bring the contents to you live, as a webinar together with our partners:
Join atlatec CEO Henning Lategahn as well as representatives from GeneSys, MdynamiX and the Kempten University of Applied Sciences on June 8th or 10th:
We are offering sessions both in English and German language. So far the resonance has been amazing; which is why we’ve upgraded our webinar hosting package to allow for additional registrations. So if you haven’t already, you are warmly invited to sign up — we hope to see you next week!
I hope this overview helps you to stay on top of industry news. Make sure to watch the latest fire-side chat with the atlatec team. The video is already available on YouTube.
Stay tuned for the atlatec industry newsletter coming in the end of June!
