BETTER PARTSEuro NCAP test autonomous systems
Euro NCAP sets a new step in the field of test results. In addition to bots - and uitwijkproeven the organization with his time and submits them to the latest cars to a test of their autonomous systems.
It comes with the test of the veiligheidsinstituut not to fully autonomous technology, but more to the contact between the car and the driver. More and more new cars fall under the level 3 autonomous driving. This is the director still needed, and he must klaarzitten with the hands on the steering wheel to be able to intervene. Furthermore, takes a lot of technique to the hands, such as braking for danger or within the lines continue to drive on the highway. To see how well the cooperation between the machine and the man, subjected to Euro NCAP ten cars of different brands at a number of tests. The cars that are in the hands of the organization fell, were the Audi A6, BMW 5-series, DS 7 Crossback, Ford Focus, Hyundai Nexo, Mercedes-Benz C-class, Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model S, Toyota Corolla and Volvo V60.
DS and BMW scored the lowest when it comes to the presence of the number of systems. That is not necessarily bad news, because the Tesla Model S, with most of the technology on board, is not necessarily the best tested car. On the contrary even! Euro NCAP concluded that directors can hardly intervene in evading of an obstacle in a Model S in autonomic function runs. Also, there is a risk that motorists already have too much on the systems, while they are still in their infancy. "One hundred percent trust on the systems is simply not possible," said secretary-general of Euro NCAP, Michiel Ratingen. "Cars, even with these advanced driver assistance systems, at all times have an alert, attentive driver behind the wheel."
That manufacturers are not ready with the development of the systems is apparent from a test in which the cars are cut off by a medeweggebruiker. None of the systems could be an accident avoided without the intervention of an alert driver. The Tesla proved to be so difficult. Other systems, such as adaptive cruise control, have proved to be virtually flawless to work.
Also the advertising campaigns of car manufacturers have been under the microscope to see if they the consumer is not tempted with false promises. At almost all of the brands concluded Euro NCAP that the manufacturer is truthful information shared about the different systems. BMW and Tesla raised, however wrongly, the impression that they are fully autonomous cars in the range. In a promotional video of the 5-series left BMW, for example, see how a director the hands of the steering wheel, which would mean that the car is the leadership fully takes over. Something doesn't seem right.
Euro NCAP rolls to 2025 almost every year new protocols. By 2020 the authority with clear requirements and associated tests to autonomous braking systems to the tooth feel. Also for systems in which a vehicle to an obstacle can be send to, in this year there was a protocol. These requirements go even further than the presented test results.