Self-driving cars in China have become good enough to handle real city traffic, and now companies want to bring this technology to Europe. A recent demonstration in Beijing’s busy Sanlitun district showed how far things have come. A Mercedes CLA drove through the chaos of rush-hour traffic without any help from the person sitting inside it. Once the occupant switched on the navigation system, the car took over completely, changing lanes, avoiding other vehicles and parking on its own, all while moving through one of the busiest parts of the city.
China’s car and tech companies, including Mercedes-Benz, Xpeng, BYD, Denza, Huawei and Nio, have spent years testing and improving self-driving systems on the country’s crowded and unpredictable streets. Driving in cities like Beijing is not easy. Traffic rules are often bent, roads are shared with cyclists, scooters and pedestrians, and situations change every second. Engineers say that if a self-driving car can handle this kind of chaos smoothly, it should be able to manage calmer, more orderly traffic elsewhere too.
That confidence is now pushing these companies to look beyond China. Automakers are preparing to bring their self-driving systems to European cities such as Berlin and Brussels. Europe has stricter safety and road rules than many Chinese cities, so this expansion will be watched closely by regulators and drivers alike.
For years, the general view was that Western carmakers led the way in self-driving technology, while others played catch-up. That view is changing. China’s self-driving car makers have used their huge population, dense cities and vast amounts of driving data to build systems that respond quickly and accurately to unpredictable situations. This real-world testing at scale is now seen as a major advantage.
If these systems succeed in Europe, it could mark a turning point for the global self-driving car industry, showing that technology built and tested on China’s toughest streets is ready for international roads. It would also raise the level of competition for the self-driving and driver-assist systems already being developed by companies in the US and Europe.
Source: South China Morning Post — https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/motoring/article/3363916/self-driving-cars-china-can-park-change-lanes-and-drive-humans-next-stop-europe
