BMW to test autonomous driving cars in Munich city center

BMW will test autonomous vehicles in the inner city of Munich in 2017, in addition to the tests that the car company is already conducting in the outskirts of the city. The vehicles will go up to 70 kilometers per hour.

BMW is already testing autonomous vehicles in the north of Munich, but in the coming months the manufacturer wants the vehicles to venture into the city center. Inner cities demand more from autonomous driving systems because of the complexity of traffic situations. BMW is testing vehicles that still have a driver who can intervene. The cars will move at a maximum speed of 70 km/h through the traffic of the German city, writes Die Welt. By 2021, BMW wants to have developed its system in such a way that vehicles that can drive independently can be sold.

The German government has designated six cities this summer where car manufacturers can conduct tests with their self-driving cars. In addition to Munich, these are Ingolstadt, where Audi will be testing, Braunschweig, Hamburg, Dresden and Düsseldorf.

According to the newspaper Abendzeitung München, BMW also wants to focus on increasing the range of electric cars. By using solid-state batteries, the company expects to be able to extend the range by 50 percent, to 600 kilometers. BMW wants to optimize the efficiency of the electric motor so that it is close to 100 percent, where it would currently be 90 percent.