BMW has yet to finalise whether the system will be available as a monthly subscription in the UK, as it is in the Ford Mustang Mach-E, or a one-off fee at purchase, as is the case in Germany. The extra cost is partly to pay for the licence fee for the higher-definition mapping needed to better locate the car, BMW said.
The exact roads the system will work on have yet to be determined, Bacon said, but the car will alert you if you drive onto a qualifying road.
The BMW will recognise whether you are paying attention to the road ahead via cameras positioned in front of the driver in the information screen. The level two-plus system will harness the car’s Active Lane Change Assistant to allow the driver to change lanes without needing to place their hands on the wheel. The car suggests a lane change, which the driver confirms by looking into the side mirror. The same driver monitoring cameras will track the driver’s line of sight, okaying the move.
BMW has said it will expand this autonomy to include “address-to-address” capability on its Neue Klasse EVs, due from 2025.
Meanwhile, Porsche is expected to offer level two-plus hands-off, eyes-on driving on its new electric Macan, arriving next year as part of the Supervision package supplied by Intel-owned Mobileye, which includes 11 cameras.