BMW is planning to team up with Baidu to test autonomous driving technology in China under a project, code-named "Vision Zero".
The company aims at achieving accident-free mobility without compromising on the comfort and efficiency of the vehicle, and is also looking at the technological challenges that need to be overcome to make self-driving cars a reality for the Chinese market.
BMW's "electronic co-pilot" system will be able to take full control of the vehicle, and under certain situations, the control can be resumed by the driver.
A unique feature of Chinese roads is the multi-storey freeway, and BMW is looking at building specific prototype vehicles for developing the solutions. It plans to use Baidu's expertise in mapping and cloud.
Reports suggests that BMW has concerns for its automated vehicles in China because there are numerous challenges on the Chinese roads which includes tunnels, multilevel highways and toll stations, as well as the number of vehicles on the roads.
However, despite the challenges the car maker is planning to release the first car in Beijing and Shanghai during the next two years.
