BMW
BMW said it will release a Level 5 self-driving car in 2021, Elmar Frickenstein, BMW's senior vice president for autonomous driving, said during a panel discussion in Berlin, according to $4. Level 5 autonomy means the car can handle driving entirely on its own in any geographic location.
The German automaker said it will also release a Level 3 self-driving car in 2021, which means the car can handle most driving tasks but still requires a driver to intervene at times.
The move puts BMW in closer competition with Mercedes, another luxury carmaker that plans to $4.
BMW and Mercedes are collaborating in the space in some ways by sharing data. BMW, Mercedes, and Audi $4 in 2015 to create high-definition maps to advance their self-driving technology.
But BMW is clearly looking to become a leader in the self-driving-car space by chasing Level 5 autonomy at a time where most automakers are committing to Level 4, meaning the car is fully self-driving but only in specific geographic regions.
Waymo, the self-driving-car company spun out of Google, was initially pursuing fully driverless cars, but recently said it will $4 in its future Level 4 vehicles. However, Tesla is planning to demonstrate $4 by having a vehicle drive itself across the country before the end of this year.
BMW has said it will leverage its partnership with Intel and Mobileye to release a self-driving car in 2021, but had not committed to Level 5 autonomy. $4$4 in a deal worth $15.3 billion on Monday.