Yahoo Autos The Alfa Romeo Giulia Will Have Self-Driving Tech
The soon-to-debut Alfa Romeo Giulia is angled as a pure driver's car-especially in 505-horsepower, twin-turbo, stick-shift Quadrifoglio spec. Which is why it comes as a bit of a surprise that the automaker hopes to have Tesla Autopilot-style semi-autonomous tech available as an option on the upcoming sport sedan.
But speaking with British magazine Autocar, Alfa Romeo boss Harald Wester makes a pretty compelling case for how semi-autonomous tech could make old-fashioned driving more enjoyable.
"I am absolutely convinced that once fully autonomous vehicles are established, the more people will appreciate driving on a road free of traffic and enjoy driving their car again," Wester told Autocar. "Then it will be as important as ever to produce a car which elicits a huge amount of driving emotions."
"We have been asked several times whether such technology is in contrast with a brand like Alfa Romeo. I think the opposite is correct," Wester said. "We all know the situation [...] you go to work in the morning and very quickly you find yourself in a sequence of stopping and starting, and it is a real waste of time and energy. In the future we will start to give you that time back so you can spend it better," he said.
Perhaps that's a few years off, though: Wester told Autocar that full autonomous technology won't be available in Fiat Chrysler products until 2024 at the earliest. That sounds like a realistically conservative timeline, with the semi-autonomous tech currently under development for the Giulia serving as a stepping stone towards true autonomous operation.
Then again, given the frequent delays that have already beset the much-anticipated Giulia, maybe we shouldn't hold our breath for a self-driving variant.
