(Beijing) On July 15, BMW (China) Auto Trading Co., Ltd. announced that it has reached a cooperation with Beijing NavInfo Technology Co., Ltd. NavInfo will provide BMW China with high-precision map services for autonomous driving. This marks another big step forward for BMW China in the development of autonomous driving.
Mr. Gao Le, President and CEO of BMW Group Greater China, said: “High-precision maps are one of the core technologies of autonomous driving. They are irreplaceable in terms of prediction, driving strategy and safety. NavInfo is China’s A leading location service provider and a long-term business partner of BMW China. This cooperation will greatly promote the progress of BMW China in the field of autonomous driving.”
Cheng Peng, CEO of NavInfo, said: “The BMW brand with a century-old history is not only a witness to the development of the world’s automobile industry, but also a promoter of automobile industry revolutions. Now standing on the eve of the autonomous driving revolution, BMW has once again Choosing NavInfo as a peer, we have the responsibility to empower BMW with excellent and reliable products and services, and to be the pioneers leading the times together.”
BMW is one of the first automakers to develop autonomous driving technology, and has an almost paranoid pursuit of the safety and reliability of autonomous driving products. As an important part of the three major elements of autonomous driving, perception, decision-making, and execution, high-precision maps have always been BMW’s focus in the field of autonomous driving.
Compared with traditional navigation maps that are accurate to the “road level”, high-precision maps can achieve information recognition at the “lane level” and “high-precision positioning level”, and even reach centimeter-level accuracy. The location of edges and road signs can also display various obstacles such as non-motorized lanes, sidewalks, curbs, and green belts. Its function is like a nautical chart, accurately marking various information such as coastlines, ports, islands, hidden reefs, and dangerous shoals.
This large amount of accurate environmental information can help BMW self-driving cars accurately locate and understand the surrounding environment, and make optimal driving decisions at any time. In practical applications, high-precision maps can be upgraded online through OTA technology like mobile phone software, and timely update changes in road conditions, including road construction, obstacles, etc., to help cars avoid congestion and risks.
Since 2006, the BMW Group has been striving to realize safe, reliable, convenient and efficient autonomous driving technology. In the autonomous driving market in China, which has the most potential but also has an extremely complex road environment, BMW is also at the forefront. In 2016, BMW demonstrated L3 autonomous driving technology for the first time on the Chengdu Expressway. In 2018, BMW became the first international vehicle manufacturer to obtain an autonomous driving road test license in China.
There is no doubt that the cooperation with NavInfo has added another important weight to BMW’s autonomous driving research and development in the Chinese market. In 2021, the BMW iNEXT mass-produced model will be officially launched, equipped with L3 automatic driving function for the first time. In addition, the BMWiNEXT autonomous driving test fleet will begin testing L4 autonomous driving functions in pilot cities around the world in 2021. At that time, BMW’s autonomous driving products based on cutting-edge technologies such as 5G, high-precision maps, and big data analysis will shine.
