The car manufacturer BMW has announced that it is joining forces with US computer chip firm Intel and Mobileye, the Israeli technology company to develop a fully functional self-driving car.
The breaking news comes amid growing interest in self-driving cars following tests over the past few years by Uber, Tesla, Google and many other automobile manufacturers.
In a joint statement, the three companies revealed that they are collaborating to bring solutions for highly and fully automated driving into series production by 2021.
“BMW, Intel and Mobileye are convinced that automated driving technologies will make travel safer and easier,” they said.
The ultimate goal of the three companies is to develop a car that is completely automated in terms of not only taking drivers’ hands off the wheels but also to take eyes off the road and then their mind off driving. The final stage would be then a “driver off” car.
The partners said, “This establishes the opportunity for self-driving fleets by 2021 and lays the foundation for entirely new business models in a connected, mobile world”
Following the Tesla car crash, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it had started a preliminary evaluation for every automated vehicle.
The three companies said “the future of automated driving promises to change lives and societies for the better.”
Mobileye describes itself as the “global leader in the development of computer vision and machine learning, data analysis, localization and mapping for advanced driver assistance systems and autonomous driving.”
As per the statement, the fully automated cars will be brought into production by 2021.