Is autonomous driving technology sophisticated enough that there could be an entire self-driving car race?
Well, Formula E seems to think so.
According to BBC News, the organizer of the electric car race announced that it will hold an autonomous driving championship race next year as part of its Roborace series, vowing that it will be a "competitive platform for the autonomous driving solutions being developed."
"Roborace is an open challenge to the most innovative scientific and technology-focused companies in the world," Formula E chief executive, Alejandro Agag, told BBC News.
Denis Sverdlov, founder of Kinetik — a partner in the planned event — added: "We passionately believe that, in the future, all of the world's vehicles will be assisted by AI and powered by electricity, thus improving the environment and road safety."
The autonomous racing championship will be held on the same circuits found in major cities used by Formula E.
While companies such as Google, Ford, and Toyota are developing autonomous cars, to name a few, it isn't currently known whether or not they'll supply self-driving vehicles to be used in this race.
However, Formula E told the BBC that one of the racing teams involved in the 2016 event will be a "crowdsourced community team" with members consisting of experts and also hobbyists.
The Formula E race is scheduled to happen in London's Battersea Park next June.
While reports of automakers testing self-driving cars are becoming more and more rampant as time goes on, the fact that Formula E is holding an autonomous car race, shows the full confidence it already has in the emerging technology — one that should only become omnipresent in the next few years with 2020 as the targeted on-road year.
