The Five Levels of Autonomous Vehicles

With many large companies, tons of money and time being poured into autonomous vehicles(AV), it seems like we are on the verge of seeing fully AV on the road. Depending on where you live, you may have already seen some self-driving cars on the road driving around passengers or making deliveries. Is there still that much more work to be done? Well, kind of.

Like most things, theres levels to autonomous vehicles. The levels start from level 0, meaning absolutely no automation to level 5, full automation. Let’s go through each one.

Level One

Let’s start with level one since you’re probably pretty familiar with level 0. Level one offers driver assistance meaning it will help you with keeping a safe distance between your car and the car in front and even re-adjust you car so that it is centered in the lane. Cruise control is also a feature of level one. Ultimately, a driver is needed to for basic driving tasks (accelerating, braking, steering etc.) but Level one provides some extra safety.

Level Two

Level two offers partial automation using ADAS or Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. This means that driver still must be alert at all times as cars at this level can’t handle many different environments, but there is added help with steering, accelerating and braking on the highway.

Level Three

Level 3 is known as conditional driving automation. With level three automation, you can expect your car to use artificial intelligence to make decisions based on the surrounding cars and surrounding situation. Despite the driver NOT being required to supervise the vehicle, they should be ready to take control of the vehicle at any time. Many manufacturers have vehicles with levels one or two on the market, however we have yet to see a level three for purchase (although it’s understandable to have thought it was given the amount of people who don’t currently pay attention while driving). Audi planned on releasing a level three A8 by 2020 but was unable to do so. Honda however has successfully released the Honda Legend, a level 3 vehicle available only for lease in Japan.

Level Four

Also known as high-driving automation, Level 4 autonomy does not require driver interaction. Also, in case of emergencies such as a system failure, level 4 vehicles are programmed to safely stop in order to protect passengers. No driver is needed but a driver can request control. A level four vehicle isn’t fully autonomous because it is unable to handle all driving situations. Level 4 vehicles can only drive up to a certain speed limit, cannot handle inclement weather and can’t drive in certain location. There are no level 4 cars for sale however, level 4 has been achieved.

“Soooo, fully autonomous vehicles should be appearing any moment, right?”

Level 5

Level 5 is a fully autonomous vehicle that can handle any situation without a driver. Unfortunately, we are still ways from achieving this. Many people expected level 5 to be achieved by 2020, however the last portion of level 5 seems to be the most challenging. There are several hardware and software that needs to be improved before level 5 can become a reality.

So how much longer you ask? Elon Musk stated by the end of 2021 but that’s likely not the case since Tesla hasn’t fully reached level 3 yet. Realistically, maybe 2025?

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