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Audi scores first CA autonomous car permit

Audi apparently knows how to get to the front of a line when it comes to driverless vehicles. The German automaker had the honor of being the very first company to receive one of California's new autonomous vehicle driving permits. It was a perfect followup to it being among the earliest ones to get a similar permit in Nevada a few years ago.
Getting the California permit is a big deal for the automaker because the state is also home to Audi's Electronics Research Lab. Among its current projects, Audi is working on the human-machine interface to communicate whether the person or vehicle is actually controlling the driving. All of this hard work is building toward offering autonomous motoring in freeway conditions in the next five years, Audi claims.
Obviously, autonomous vehicles from companies like Google have been testing in California for a while, but the new permits are meant to safeguard public safety when testing the driverless cars in public. The new rules include things like always having a person able to take control and more stringent standards like registering each autonomous car and the eligible drivers with the state. Any models testing on public roads also have to carry at least $5 million in insurance in case of injury, death or property damage.

Audi A8 facelift on the way

The coming Audi A8 has already been spotted in camouflage on public roads at earthly elevations, and now our snappers have caught it at elevation in the Alps. The evolution will entail modified head- and taillights, different sculpting for the grille and a new bumper profile said to be more in line with the A6 S Line.
Inside, there might also be adjustments made to input controls like the gesture touchpad and the MMI infotainment system that include behind-the-scenes improvements like new Nvidia Tegra chips, but such revisions are expected to be minor. With the S8 and the TDI just having been launched, don't be surprised if engine outputs also remain the same. The prevailing sneaking suspicion is that we'll see the car unveiled at this year's Frankfurt Motor Show.

Audi A8 could spawn Mercedes-Maybach S600 rival

Five years ago, there was no middle ground for big luxury sedans. You either bought a $100,000 Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Audi A8, or BMW 7 Series, or you spent $225K on a twelve-cylinder Bentley Continental Flying Spur. But today, the market is changing. Bentley sells a V8-powered Flying Spur for around $200,000 and Mercedes is successfully selling a longer, twelve-cylinder, ultra-lux S-Class for $190,000. The middle ground is growing, and Audi wants in on the action. Audi is looking closely at the Mercedes-Maybach S600, according to Dr. Stefan Knirsch, the company's new technical leader. The company recently introduced a one-off A8 limo, shown above, although we'd imagine an S600 rival would be a more manageable size. "We are thinking about it," Knirsch told AutoExpress at the launch of the new SQ7. "The success of the extra-long version of the S-Class has got us wondering about whether there could be a business case for that in the future." Knirsch's comments raise a number of questions about a potential ultra-lux A8. Would it be longer than the A8L? The extra backseat space is a key part of the Maybach S600's appeal. What about the badge? Audi doesn't have a nameplate to rival Maybach to distinguish such an exclusive A8 from its more affordable siblings. Will the Audi offer more or fewer shades of black/silver than the S600? But the biggest question is what a bigger, more luxurious A8 could mean for the rest of the A8 range. As AE explains, Mercedes has done a remarkable job of fleshing out the S-Class range, with the normal sedan, Maybach, Coupe, Cabriolet, and their accompanying AMG variants. The Maybach S600 started that process – could an extra-large competitor kickstart Audi's full-size luxury expansion? The A8 has long been subject to gossip that it'd spawn an A9 Coupe (2014's Prologue Concept only fed that particular rumor mill), after all. Beyond hinting at a more luxurious A8, Knirsch expounded on another piece of exciting news: the next A8 will get Level 3 automation. That would mean full driverless ability "with the expectation that the human driver will respond appropriately to a request to intervene," according to the SAE's official definition. While Audi confirmed last year that the A8 could drive itself at speeds up to 37 miles per hour, Knirsch's more specific comments make it sound like the system could be even more advanced than originally thought. Related Video: