Autonomous Driving
Vehicle automation is already a reality on today’s vehicles with increasing use of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and partially automated functions. Further evolution of these systems is being driven by the need for safety improvements and customer expectations for even greater ADAS functionalities.
Stellantis is committed to the continued development of autonomous driving technologies, leveraging its internal capabilities and partnerships with tech leaders, to pave the way for the mobility of the future.
Stellantis offers the best Level 2 automated driving solutions and research on Level 3 and 4 solutions is already well progressed.
Stellantis has been involved in a number of collaborative research projects at the local, national and international level to test viability of a range of autonomous driving technologies. These include the SAM (Security, Acceptability of Autonomous Mobility) Project in France, the European L3Pilot Project, and the C-ROADS and 5G Projects which demonstrate the contribution of V2X and 5G cellular communications technologies to safety and automated functions.
Stellantis and the SAM Project
The SAM Project, a national-scale driving and autonomous mobility initiative in France, brought together industrial, research and local partners. As part of this 4-year project, Stellantis conducted autonomous driving experiments in the Ile-de-France region (around Paris) in collaboration with infrastructure partner Vinci Autoroutes. These experiments demonstrated our ability to manage a complete journey, in fully autonomous mode, with no human intervention required to handle the varied route types and driving situations encountered.
Stellantis and the L3Pilot Automated Driving Project
Stellantis participated in the L3Pilot Project, one of the most important European projects in automated driving involving 34 partners ranging from suppliers, to research institutes, road authorities and OEMs. Stellantis’ contribution culminated with a successful automated driving demonstration via a long-distance journey from Paris to Hamburg.
This four-year project focused on viability of SAE Level 3 automated driving functions on public roads. Data from the tests was used to evaluate the technical aspects, in addition to user acceptance, driving behavior and the impacts on traffic and safety. Functionality of the automated systems was tested under various operating scenarios in several European countries, including cross-border.
Large scale projects of this type, involving multiple partners, are extremely important in helping ensure that autonomous technologies are safe and reliable before being introduced to the market.
Building on the results of the L3Pilot, Stellantis continues as a major contributor in the EU co-funded project, Hi-Drive. This project will address a number of key challenges in deployment of more advanced levels of automated driving.
Stellantis and the C-ROADS Project
As part of the C-ROADS Italy Project, Stellantis is advancing V2X (vehicle-to-everything) communication for automated and energy-efficient driving. Real-time data from road infrastructure is used to provide driving alerts and recommendations about traffic jams, traffic lights, approaching emergency vehicles, and other traffic-related information to enable a safer and more energy-efficient driving experience.
5G Technology in Service of Autonomous Driving
Stellantis is also active in several initiatives internationally to evaluate 5G cellular technology and management of large volumes of data. High-speed wireless communication is a key element in enabling increased levels of vehicle autonomy, in addition to future connected services and mobility technologies. The ultimate goal of these next generation technologies is to make roads safer for drivers and pedestrians alike.
Together with the 5G Automotive Association network, Stellantis tested real-time in-vehicle and pedestrian safety notifications using high-speed 5G cellular and multi-access edge computing (MEC) technology in live trials conducted in Turin (Italy) and Blacksburg, Virginia (U.S.).
We are also involved in many 5G-related projects co-funded by the EU, such as the 5G CROCO Project, which trialed 5G corridor crossing borders between France, Germany, Luxembourg, the 5G CARMEN Project, focused on the Italian-Austrian-German corridor, and the 5G OPEN ROAD project in France. These projects are all complementary with different use cases to evaluate technologies, infrastructure, features and services within local ecosystems.