AF Site Team

Just the Facts:

* An autonomous Audi TTS will climb Pikes Peak in Colorado, says Audi President Johan de Nysschen.
* Audi hopes to reassure consumers that automotive electronics are safe.


DETROIT — An Audi TTS will climb Pikes Peak in Colorado without anyone behind the steering wheel as the German automaker attempts to prove to skeptical consumers that the massive amount of automotive electronics in today's vehicles are safe.

"Sometime soon — maybe even as soon as the fourth quarter of this year — an Audi TTS is going to make the climb up Pikes Peak in Colorado.... There will be no one in the driver's seat," Audi of America President Johan de Nysschen announced at the Automotive Press Association in Detroit this week. Instead, the car will rely exclusively on the vehicle electronics.

The Autonomous Audi TTS is a joint project between the Electronic Research Laboratory in Palo Alto, California, and Stanford University.

"We're not trying to eliminate the need for drivers or the pleasure of driving," said de Nysschen. "But by demonstrating that we can do the unimaginable — and do it safely — we will prove that these technologies deserve our customers' trust."

Without specifically naming Toyota, which has been accused by some consumers and experts as having electronic problems that are causing its quality issues, de Nysschen said Audi is trying to overcome the psychological distrust of consumers regarding vehicle electronics in a dramatic way that's similar to how Elisha Otis demonstrated the safety of his elevators to a skeptical public.

Otis installed an elevator at the P.T. Barnum Crystal Palace in New York. He rode the platform to the top of the building, and as a crowd watched, he cut the cable. The platform held steady, proving the safety mechanism worked.

"Audi is following in the footsteps of Elisha Otis by creating a dramatic demonstration of our own," de Nysschen said.

cheeba

Uggghhh, they've been going on about this for years - I just want to see it happen already!