Lyft’s Fleet of Self-Driving 5 Series BMWs Hit 100K Rides
What started as a test program turned into a growing success, as riders take to autonomous BMWs.
A few years ago, global auto-tech company Aptiv wanted to test the waters on self-driving vehicles. Using Las Vegas as their launching point, they did exactly what one often does in Sin City: took a heck of a gamble. First, they chose the perfect car: a BMW 5 Series. Next, they partnered with popular ride service Lyft. Then, in 2018, they kicked off their collaboration at the popular CES Show in Las Vegas. Crowds of attendees were intrigued by this fleet of autonomous BMWs on the strip. It was a great way to make a statement as the cars definitely garnered attention; both from the public and the media.
Aptiv’s self-driving 5 Series BMWs look great and provide BMW ride quality. They fit each vehicle with six electronically scanning radars (ESR), four short-range radars (SRR), four short-range LiDARs, five long-range LiDARs, one trifocal camera, one traffic light camera, two GPS antennas, a Dedicated Short Range Communications antenna (DSRC), two computer and software stacks for redundancy and safety, a Aptiv Connected Services data communications system…and one human person. All of Aptiv’s cars do have a driver behind the wheel; as a safety protocol, but also to navigate areas such as parking lots and hotel lobby areas. Aptiv and Lyft then launched the pilot program in Vegas to gauge the interest and market for riders.
Turns out, people are into it. The self-driving fleet of 5 Series BMWs just hit a milestone of 100,000 paying customers. They’ve also branched out to nine cities including Boston, San Francisco, and even Shanghai.
“To our knowledge, this is the largest open-to-the-public commercial pilot,” Aptiv Autonomous Mobility President Karl Iagnemma told Tech Crunch. “To me, this partnership is a great example of the next-generation ecosystem at work.”
In other words, people are not only piqued by the idea, but they are also using the service. It’s working.
“We’ve got something here,” said Jody Kelman, member of Lyft’s self-driving platform team. “This is really a blueprint for what future mobility partnerships can look like.”
Of course, using beautiful 5 Series Beemers must be a big part of the draw. What is impressive is how Aptiv has managed to keep the classic BMW aesthetic while employing so many new tech components.
Could we ever give up driving? No. But, would we take a robo-BMW home from a night out? Sure.
There is definitely a market for self-driving cars, and apparently that market is far more likely to hop in a taxi when it’s a BMW. Sorry, Elon.
Photos: Aptiv; Tech Crunch
