BMW's Tesla FSD Rival Hits City Streets In 2027

The system will be able to handle turns, lane changes, city traffic, and even roundabouts on the way to a set destination.

Photo by: BMW

By: Nico DeMattia

Nov 2, at 3:28pm ET

Comment

BMW is taking aim at Tesla's Full Self-Driving (Supervised) with a new driver-assistance upgrade.
It'll be able to handle city streets on the way to a destination.
It launches in Germany next year, followed by other markets.

BMW's advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) is already pretty good and can smoothly cruise highways hands-free. However, BMW wants to up its ADAS game even further by expanding the system to include city driving in 2027. In other words, BMW's rival to Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is coming soon.

The navigation-guided, "partially automated" system will be able to use BMW maps to make turns, lane changes, navigate roundabouts, and even understand right-of-way situations, BMW announced on Monday. It can already handle some stop-and-go situations, and even stop for traffic lights, but this will be another step up.

"By extending partially automated driving functions to urban areas, we will offer our customers a real improvement in driving comfort—with confident driver assistance in true BMW style," said BMW board member Joachim Post in a statement. "The system will support them seamlessly along the navigation route, from motorways through country roads and into the city."

Much of the auto industry is racing to match Tesla's FSD with their own point-to-point driving systems for cities. Perhaps most importantly, BMW's perennial rival Mercedes-Benz is working on the technology with both Nvidia and Wayve. Rivian plans to launch an in-house point-to-point system to its cars next year.

Photo by: BMW

What do you think?

View

Comments

BMW drivers will be able to see what the car is planning to do in BMW's Panoramic Vision dashboard. The screen in front of the driver will indicate the traffic it's seeing around itself, what it's currently doing, and all other relevant info. Since this is a Level 2 system, drivers will have to remain attentive.

Photo by: BMW

Rollout for this new ADAS will start in Germany next year, with other markets following over time. (BMW didn't announce a timeline for a U.S. rollout.) The hardware for this new ADAS will be standard on several new models, like the BMW iX3, iX4, 3 Series, X5, and 7 Series. The software itself will be available via an over-the-air update, BMW says.