The 6 Levels of Vehicle Autonomy Explained

Researchers forecast that by 2025 we’ll see approximately 8 million autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles on the road. Before merging onto roadways, self-driving cars will first have to progress through 6 levels of driver assistance technology advancements.

What exactly are these levels? And where are we now? 

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) defines 6 levels of driving automation ranging from 0 (fully manual) to 5 (fully autonomous). These levels have been adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

The key difference between Level 3 and Level 4 automation is that Level 4 vehicles can intervene if things go wrong or there is a system failure. In this sense, these cars do not require human interaction in most circumstances. However, a human still has the option to manually override.

Level 4 vehicles can operate in self-driving mode. But until legislation and infrastructure evolves, they can only do so within a limited area (usually an urban environment where top speeds reach an average of 30mph). This is known as geofencing. As such, most Level 4 vehicles in existence are geared toward ridesharing. For example:

• NAVYA, a French company, is already building and selling Level 4 shuttles and cabs in the U.S. that run fully on electric power and can reach a top speed of 55 mph.
• Alphabet's Waymo recently unveiled a Level 4 self-driving taxi service in Arizona, where they had been testing driverless cars―without a safety driver in the seat―for more than a year and over 10 million miles.
• Canadian automotive supplier Magna has developed technology (MAX4) to enable Level 4 capabilities in both urban and highway environments. They are working with Lyft to supply high-tech kits that turn vehicles into self-driving cars.
• Just a few months ago, Volvo and Baidu announced a strategic partnership to jointly develop Level 4 electric vehicles that will serve the robotaxi market in China.

While the future of autonomous vehicles is promising and exciting, mainstream production in the U.S. is still a few years away from anything higher than Level 2. Not because of technological capability, but because of security—or the lack thereof.

Earlier this year, the Ponemon Institute published a report (commissioned by Synopsys) titled “Securing the Connected Car: A Study of Automotive Industry Cybersecurity Practices.” The report found that “connected” vehicles (like autonomous cars) are rich in physical safety features—seatbelts, airbags, antilock brakes—but not so rich in digital security features. When it comes to what’s needed for safe operation in an online world, connected cars are not yet ready for prime time.

The report is based on a survey of 593 security practitioners, product development professionals, and engineers. More than two-thirds of the respondents acknowledged that the need for better cybersecurity is “urgent” for obvious reasons: 62% said they think a malicious or proof-of-concept attack against automotive software/components is very likely in the next 12 months.

It’s fair to say that consumers won’t accept autonomous cars unless they are confident that they will be at least as safe as they would be on a commercial jet, train, or bus. That day is coming. But the automotive industry must get over a few speedbumps first.