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Editorial

BMW vs. Uber: Who Will Be the Next Amazon of Transportation?

Uber has disrupted the transportation industry, but it may not dominate the roads of tomorrow thanks to BMW’s recent innovations.

Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO, announced plans for Uber to become the “Amazon of transportation,” but BMW may interrupt these plans with their own services and vehicles. As Uber becomes more than a carpooling app, the German automakers are becoming more than a manufacturer.

BMW announced a slew of projects to compete with Uber in 2019, and since then, both companies have been significant signs of progress.

But who is in the lead, and why does it matter for BMW?

Doing It All

What does being the Amazon of transportation mean? It means being a service that does it all, from ferrying people around to delivering food to making the vehicles of the future. It’s a bid to get into every aspect of transportation.

Though it began as a ride-sharing app, Uber now offers a variety of services like Uber Eats, a food delivery system, and Uber Freight, an app that matches carriers and shippers.

BMW has announced competitive offerings with the help of auto company Daimler. The joint venture includes things like Reach Now, a mobility solution that provides ride shares, bike rentals and public transportation planning.

BMW and Daimler’s transportation services compete directly with Uber, who’s also been incorporating more than just cars into their offerings. While the details of their approaches may differ, both companies are looking to provide a variety of transportation solutions to customers.

The Race for Driverless Transportation

BMW and Uber are looking into more than just connecting drivers with passengers. Both are joining the race to put safe, efficient driverless cars on the road.

Uber’s shaky acquisition of self-driving vehicle company Otto shows they’re serious about pursuing driverless technology. But they’re not alone. BMW hopes to release its self-driving electric car, the iNext, in 2021. 

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this year, BMW also showed off a concept for a driverless vehicle interior, focusing on maximizing passenger comfort. In line with this philosophy of relaxation, they also premiered the i3 Urban Suite, a modified BMW i3 that allows passengers to lounge in a hotel-like experience. The Urban Suite needs a human driver for now, but the cabin arrangement could easily apply to a driverless car as well.

Uber has begun testing driverless vehicles in Washington, D.C. earlier this year. For now, they will be in manual mode, driven by a person. But they hope the data collected by these tests will bring them closer to operational self-driving vehicles.

Who’s Ahead?

Both Uber and BMW are running towards big goals in the future of transportation. The companies are not just pursuing a more varied array of services, but more advanced technology as well. The determining factor in who emerges as the new king of the road may be whoever can make these technologies a practical reality first.

Uber is quite literally reaching for the skies, as it unveiled a concept for a flying taxi at CES 2020. Working prototypes won’t be ready until 2023, and after that, it’s unsure when they will be available to the general public.

BMW’s focus remains on the ground, with much of their CES concepts aiming to provide passengers with a more enjoyable ride, with or without a human driver.

Features like their smart windshield will require a 5G connection, but this isn’t a far-off reality. BMW’s iNext, set to release next year, will support 5G connectivity.

Both companies’ concepts are lofty, and both seem to be making strides in achieving them. But BMW looks closer to bringing their new technology to the road, with the iNext coming out soon while Uber has yet to announce a release date for its self-driving cars.

As for their current transportation solutions, BMW’s Reach Now already has more than 6 million users, so they may soon catch up with Uber in the ride-sharing field.

If Uber doesn’t show significant progress in the coming years, BMW might beat them to their goal of being the Amazon of transportation.

Events, Press Release

Interactive BMW Vision iNext Concept to Grace CES in 2019

The Consumer Electronic’s Show, or CES, happens in Las Vegas every year, and it’s the place to be for anyone interested in the new year’s electronics, cars and everything in between.

This coming year, BMW is planning to premiere a new concept that everyone is excited about. Let’s take a closer look at the new Vision iNext Concept that will grace the stage at 2019’s CES.

Introducing the Vision iNext Concept

Image via BMW Group Press

BMW has always been a brand that is synonymous with innovation and technological advances. They’re taking this label to the next level in the coming year with their iNext concept. The idea is to turn this BMW SUV into a ‘living space on wheels’ — creating a vehicle that gives you all the comforts of home so that you enjoy getting behind the wheel.

This concept will have a fully electric drivetrain and advanced autonomous driving programming. The driver has two options for their seat and the surrounding area. Boost mode gives the driver full control, with the steering wheel and other controls in easy reach.

When the autonomous driving program is engaged, the driver can switch to Ease mode, which retracts the steering wheel slightly, giving them more room to get comfortable. It’s easy to switch seamlessly between the two modes, depending on the needs of the driver.

Bells and Whistles

Image via BMW Group Press

The Vision iNext will have all the bells and whistles, but you might not see them at first glance. All the smart technology will be integrated into the car, only appearing when needed by the driver or passengers.

This setup creates a much cleaner interior, and you’ll never have to worry about accidentally smacking a smart screen or catching your sleeve on something when you’re shifting position.

The driver will also have access to two digital screens that convey everything from speed and RPMs to the proximity of other cars. This interactive glass technology will help to keep the driver aware of everything going on outside of their vehicle.

This technology has started appearing in modern cars in the form of a Heads Up Display, or HUD, which moves information like speed and fuel levels from the dash, where it’s below eye level, to the windshield — without obscuring the driver’s view of the road.

Take It for a Test Drive

While you won’t be able to get behind the wheel of the Vision iNext at 2019’s CES, that doesn’t mean you can’t take it for a test drive. Putting on a set of VR glasses, you’ll be able to test out the vehicle’s capabilities.

Starting with driving the car, then utilizing BMW’s Intelligent Personal Assistant, you can put the car in Ease mode and let the AI plan your trip for you.

The Vision iNext won’t be the only fantastic piece of automotive technology on the floor at CES 2019, but it’s one that we’re excited to see. This concept likely won’t premiere at BMW dealerships until 2020 at the earliest, but the first look has us ready to line up for a chance to get behind the wheel.

Press Release

BMW Innovations at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show

BMW was already demonstrating at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2014 how perfect control technology can provide highly automated mastery of all drive statuses right through to very tight margins. Innovative sensors will allow BMW to demonstrate a number of features at the CES 2015 (6 to 9 January, Las Vegas) including the possibility of entirely collision-free driving. This success plots another benchmark defined by the specialists at the BMW Group on the road route to individual mobility free of accidents with a driver and also in fully-automated mode with no driver at all.

If the driver uses the Smartwatch to activate the fully-automated Remote Valet Parking Assistant, the system will steer the vehicle independently through the levels, while the driver has already got out of the car and is on his way to a business appointment. The fully automated Remote Valet Parking Assistant recognizes the structural features of the car park and equally reliably steers round any obstacles that appear unexpectedly – such as incorrectly parked vehicles. Once the BMW i3 has arrived at the parking space, the vehicle locks itself and waits to be called by Smart-watch and voice command.

The platform for 360-degree collision avoidance is secure position and environment recognition. The research vehicle is a BMW i3. Four advanced laser scanners record the environment and reliably identify impediments such as columns, for example in a multi-story car park. If the vehicle approaches a wall or a column too quickly, the system brakes automatically to prevent the threat of collision. The vehicle is brought to a standstill very precisely with centimeters to spare. If the driver steers away from the obstacle or changes direction, the system releases the brakes. This system relieves the burden on the driver in an environment with poor visibility and makes a further contribution to enhanced safety and comfort. Like all BMW assistance systems, this research application can be overridden at any time by the driver.

Fully automated parking in multi-story car parks – dynamic and safe even without the driver. The fully automated Remote Valet Parking Assistant in the BMW i3 research vehicle combines information from the laser scanners with the digital site plan of a building, for example a multi-story car park. If the driver uses the Smart-watch to activate the fully-automated Remote Valet Parking Assistant, the system will steer the vehicle independently through the levels, while the driver has already got out of the car and is on his way to a business appointment. The fully automated Remote Valet Parking Assistant recognizes the structural features of the car park and equally reliably steers round any obstacles that appear unexpectedly – such as incorrectly parked vehicles. Once the BMW i3 has arrived at the parking space, the vehicle locks itself and waits to be called by Smart-watch and voice command. The fully automated Remote Valet Parking Assistant then calculates the exact time until the driver arrives at the car park and starts up the BMW i3 so that it arrives at the car park exit at exactly the right time.

Navigation without GPS signals.
BMW has succeeded in achieving fully automated control of the vehicle by connecting up vehicle sensor systems and a digital site plan. This avoids dependence on the GPS signal, which is not at all precise in multi-story car parks. Alongside the laser sensors, the research vehicle also has the processing units and necessary algorithms on board and this means it can determine its exact position in the car park, monitor the environment perfectly, and carry out independent and fully automated navigation. It is not necessary to provide car parks, for example, with complex infrastructure in order to allow cars to orientate and navigate around the area safely.

Long track record of experience in vehicle automation.

Once again, the BMW Group is a global pioneer with BMW Active Assist, which empowers implementation of partially and highly automated systems.

As early as October 2009, the BMW Group gave a highly automated demonstration of driving round the North Loop of the Nürburgring – the world’s toughest racing track – on an ideal line in the precursor research project BMW Track Trainer. Later on, the BMW Track Trainer developed by engineers from BMW Group Research and Engineering demonstrated its superior performance on the race tracks at Laguna Seca, Zandvoort and Valencia, and back home on the Hockenheimring and the Lausitzring. The researchers gathered some important practical experience under extreme conditions at these venues for vehicle control and positioning.

Additional important findings were also provided by the research project entitled BMW Emergency Stop Assistant. If the driver collapses, for example in a medical emergency such as a heart attack, the vehicle changes to highly automated mode and can steer safely to the side of the road and initiate an emergency call.

In the middle of 2011, a test vehicle from the BMW Group drove along the A9 motorway from Munich towards Nuremberg without any interventions from the driver. In the meantime, this research prototype has been consistently developed. The test vehicle brakes, accelerates and overtakes entirely independently. These interventions are carried out in response to the momentary traffic situation in a speed range from 0 to 130 km/and in compliance with the highway code. Our specialists have now driven some 20,000 test kilometers. The vehicle is equipped with sensor systems like lidar, radar, ultrasound and camera recording on all sides.

Since January 2013, the BMW Group has been working with international automobile supplier Continental with the aim of moving the project forward. The overarching goal of the research partnership is to lay the groundwork for highly automated drive functions up to the year 2020 and beyond.

The different levels of vehicle automation.
Assistance systems increase safety and comfort in road traffic, although the degree of driver support varies. The highest level of automation is provided by fully automated assistance systems.

Drive functions are fully automated if they no longer need to be monitored by the driver. There is no longer even any need for the driver to be in the vehicle – as in the case of the fully automated Remote Valet Parking Assistant.

The precursors for fully automated driving are highly automated systems which do not need to be monitored continuously by the driver. They take over the linear steering (forward and reverse motion) and transverse steering (sideways motion with the steering wheel) of the vehicle.

In contrast to fully automated systems, partially automated systems take control of linear and transverse steering of the vehicle (e.g. Congestion Assistant), but they need to be monitored at all times by the driver.

Assisted systems (e.g. ACC) in turn only provide support for the driver in linear or transverse steering.