BMW Group is planning to switch on HD Live Map, HERE’s pioneering map for self-driving cars, for future models capable of highly automated driving.*

According to the agreement, HD Live Map is planned to feature in BMW models from the beginning of the next decade, enhancing safety and comfort for drivers and passengers. This is the first commercial contract HERE has signed with an automaker to bring HD Live Map into production models, and follows several years of research and development with BMW Group.

“We are very excited about this inaugural commercial agreement for HD Live Map,” said Ralf Herrtwich, SVP Automotive at HERE Technologies. “BMW’s trust in our map reinforces our view that with our innovative product, long-term development strategy and sustained investment program we are well-placed to meet the needs of automakers as they introduce more automation into their vehicles.”

“The BMW Group has around ten million connected vehicles on the road. BMW Group vehicles fitted with the relevant sensors have been collecting real-time mobility information since 2015. For example, BMW vehicles can detect hazards and speed restrictions, and add this highly relevant information to on-board mapping ‘over the air’,” said Christoph Grote, Senior Vice President Electronics BMW Group. “Together with HD Live Map, we have essential building blocks for highly and fully automated driving in place for the long term. As we progress towards this point, we will be able to offer our customers further location-based services and driver assistance information later this year.”

HERE is at the forefront of leveraging artificial intelligence to produce the mapping solutions needed for autonomous driving. HD Live Map is a map much more precise than those in navigation systems sold today. It is also updated more rapidly, drawing on data from a growing constellation of partners from across the automotive industry.

By the end of this year, HD Live Map will have grown to 1 million km of roads across North America and Europe charted to sub-meter accuracy. This includes lane configurations with lane markings, lane centerlines, speed limits and shoulders, as well as a complete layer of roadside objects and 3D obstacles for vehicle localization.

*Models with Level 3 and 4 automation, as defined by SAE International.

Note to editors:

• HERE’s build out of HD Live Map is tightly aligned with the global strategies and product development cycles of automakers as they introduce advanced autopilot applications into their cars. Numerous partners around the world are following HERE’s lead by adopting HD Live Map specifications, making it the de facto global standard in mapping for the cars of the future. The ongoing expansion of HD Live Map into China and Japan, where HERE is working respectively with partners NavInfo and Pioneer, will further increase the coverage available to automakers well beyond 1 million km.
 

• In January 2018, HERE announced QI, an innovation in HD Live Map that’s set to be the new industry yardstick for how automakers measure and utilize autonomous driving maps.

• In January 2018, HERE also announced HERE Safety Services, a suite of unique safety- enhancing services that are the first step towards a self-healing map, with BMW the first customer.

About HERE Technologies
HERE, the Open Location Platform company, enables people, enterprises and cities to harness the power of location. By making sense of the world through the lens of location we empower our customers to achieve better outcomes – from helping a city manage its infrastructure or an enterprise optimize its assets to guiding drivers to their destination safely. To learn more about HERE, including our new generation of cloud-based location platform services, visit http://360.here.com and www.here.com