Audi Touts Market’s Most Advanced Self-Driving System

Audi AG says its redesigned A8 flagship sedan will be capable of so-called Level 3 autonomous driving—the most advanced system available to the public—when it debuts this autumn.

But the company won’t make the robotic system available until governments amend current laws to allow vehicles to operate without direct driver control, Automotive News Europe reports. It says Germany may do in a month or two.

Level 3 automation, or “conditional automation” as defined by SAE International, is capable of all aspects of driverless operations within specific modes. Audi’s system is designed to work automatically only at speeds below 60 kph (37 mph) and on lanes separated from on-coming traffic. Under those conditions, drivers could read or process emails. But they almost must be able to take control within 10 seconds if alerted by the system.

That response time is a key difference between Level 3 and less sophisticated Level 2 (“partial automation”) systems, such as Tesla Inc.’s Autopilot feature. A Level 2 system also works only within certain speeds and on specific types of roads, but it requires the driver to be able to take over instantly at any time.

The level of needed driver involvement will fade as self-driving systems become more powerful in the future.

Thus a Level 4 system, although still restricted by speed range and road types, will be able to automatically handle emergencies within those driving conditions. A Level 5 system (“full automation”) will be able to operate a vehicle automatically under any and all driving situations that a human driver could handle.