CARS.COM — What self-driving technology does each automaker offer today? In which of their cars can you buy it? And where does each automaker expect to go with this technology in the not-too-distant future?
Related: More on Self-Driving Cars
Those questions get to the brass tacks of self-driving cars. In our ongoing series on autonomous car technology, we've asked what makes a self-driving car, looked at some autonomous features that already may be in your current set of wheels, considered some of the barriers to self-driving cars and explored the future of vehicle autonomy.
Now we're assessing which automakers offer autonomous-car building blocks. Features such as self-park steering, adaptive cruise control and lane-centering steering are considered foundational. They automatically accelerate, brake or steer in certain driving situations but still require the driver for some or all other tasks, or to intervene when needed. The next step toward autonomous cars will be technology that does all three — accelerate, decelerate and steer — but with the driver keeping an eye on the road and other cars and taking over when necessary. Only a few automakers now offer these systems such as Audi's Traffic Jam Assist. Beyond that would be a fully automated driving system, but no automaker offers this in the U.S. yet.
Where does each automaker stand on these self-driving features? Read on.
BMW
Every BMW except the Z4 and i8 offers at least some degree of automation through the automaker's self-park steering and, in most cases, adaptive cruise control.
Self-park steering:
2016 BMW 2 Series
2016 BMW X1
Adaptive cruise control and self-park steering:
2016 BMW 3 Series
2016 BMW 4 Series
2016 BMW 5 Series
2016 BMW 6 Series
2016 BMW X3
2016 BMW X4
2016 BMW X5
2016 BMW X6
For two BMWs — the 7 Series and the electric i3 — the self-park feature (primarily for parallel parking with the driver onboard) automates the steering and the gas and brakes. The automaker's Traffic Jam Assistant, meanwhile, includes lane-centering steering and full-speed adaptive cruise control.
Self-park steering, acceleration and brakes:
2016 BMW i3
Self-park steering, acceleration and brakes plus lane-centering steering and adaptive cruise control:
2016 BMW 7 Series
What's next? BMW says the industry is on the cusp of "highly automated driving" but didn't provide a specific timetable for when it would reach that.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles
FCA says the following cars have adaptive cruise control, self-park steering or both.
Adaptive cruise control:
2016 Chrysler 300
2016 Dodge Charger
2016 Dodge Durango
2016 Fiat 500X
2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee
2016 Jeep Renegade
Self-park steering and adaptive cruise control :
2016 Chrysler 200
2017 Chrysler Pacifica
2016 Jeep Cherokee
What's next? FCA announced plans on May 3 to build with Google a test fleet of self-driving Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans. It's a joint effort for both that could bear self-driving fruit down the road, but Google's self-driving Pacificas won't be for consumers.
Ford
Ford's self-park steering — among the first such mass-market systems — steers the car into a parking spot while the driver works the brakes and gas. Ford and its Lincoln luxury division offer adaptive cruise control and/or self-park steering in these cars:
Self-park steering:
2016 Ford Focus
2016 Ford C-Max
Adaptive cruise control:
2016 Ford Mustang
Self-park steering and adaptive cruise control:
2016 Ford Edge
2017 Ford Escape (on sale now)
2016 Ford Explorer
2016 Ford Taurus
2016 Ford F-150
2016 Ford Flex
2016 Ford Fusion
2016 Lincoln MKC
2016 Lincoln MKS
2016 Lincoln MKT
2016 Lincoln MKX
2016 Lincoln MKZ
What's next? Ford is developing a feature called Traffic Jam Assist that will combine lane-centering steering — not just lane-departure prevention, which the automaker already offers — with full-speed adaptive cruise control. Traffic Jam Assist will arrive in the next three years, Ford technology spokesman Alan Hall said. Ford is working on a self-parking feature that operates the steering, gas and brakes.
The automaker also has a development program working to deliver "fully autonomous capability that takes the driver out of the loop," Hall said.
GM
Self-park steering:
2016 Chevrolet SS
2016 Chevrolet Volt
Adaptive cruise control:
2016 Buick LaCrosse
2016 Buick Regal
2016 Cadillac ATS
2016 Cadillac ELR
2016 Cadillac Escalade
2016 Cadillac Escalade ESV
2016 Cadillac SRX
2016 Chevrolet Impala
2016 Chevrolet Suburban
2016 Chevrolet Tahoe
2016 GMC Yukon
2016 GMC Yukon XL
Adaptive cruise control and self-park steering:
2016 Buick Envision
2016 Cadillac CTS
2016 Cadillac CT6
2017 Cadillac XT5 (on sale now)
2016 Cadillac XTS
2016 Chevrolet Malibu
What's next? GM's forthcoming Super Cruise system will accelerate, brake and steer, and in certain highway situations it won't require you to hold the wheel periodically, as virtually all lane-centering systems do now.
Honda
Honda includes lane-centering steering and adaptive cruise control with its Honda Sensing and AcuraWatch packages, respectively. (Acura is Honda's luxury division.) These packages are offered on a wide range of cars:
2016 Acura ILX
2016 Acura MDX
2016 Acura RDX
2016 Acura RLX
2016 Acura TLX
2016 Honda Accord
2016 Honda Civic
2016 Honda CR-V
2016 Honda Pilot
What's next? At a meeting in Japan last year, Honda demonstrated a new Traffic Jam Assist feature that enables "high levels of automation in traffic," said Honda spokesman Matt Sloustcher. Honda also aims to launch a system that "enables automated freeway driving around 2020," he added.
Hyundai and Kia
Adaptive cruise control:
2016 Hyundai Azera
2016 Hyundai Equus
2017 Hyundai Santa Fe (on sale now)
2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (on sale now)
2016 Hyundai Sonata
2016 Kia Cadenza
2016 Kia K900
2016 Kia Optima
2016 Kia Sedona
2016 Kia Sorento
Lane Keeping Assist is lane-centering steering system, Hyundai spokesman Miles Johnson said. The following cars couple the feature with adaptive cruise control:
2017 Hyundai Elantra (on sale now)
2016 Hyundai Genesis sedan
What's next? Higher levels of autonomous driving will require vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, said Cason Grover, a senior group manager in Hyundai's vehicle planning division.
"That starts to solve problems that allow you to get off freeways and really safely manage intersections, because that's the big challenge," he said. "It's a combination of big challenges. It doesn't mean no one will do it without V2I [communication]... but I generally feel like that's a critical step to get it to true mass market."
True self-driving cars will arrive "before 2030, but maybe pretty close to it," Grover said.
Mazda
Adaptive cruise control:
2016 Mazda3
2016 Mazda6
2016 Mazda CX-3
2016 Mazda CX-5
2016 Mazda CX-9
What's next? Self-driving technology doesn't seem a huge priority for Mazda. The automaker has "safety technologies that align with autonomous cars," spokeswoman Tamara Mlynarczyk said. "But those are designed to complement the driving experience and not supersede it. We continue to develop technologies that complement the Mazda philosophy of bettering people's lives through bettering the experience from behind the wheel."
Mercedes-Benz
Adaptive cruise control:
2016 G-Class
2016 CLA-Class
2016 GLA-Class
2016 Mercedes-AMG GT
Self-park, which steers but doesn't control the gas and brakes, is available on "almost all of" the current lineup, Mercedes spokesman Christian Bokich said.
Lane-centering steering and adaptive cruise control, marketed under Mercedes' Distronic system:
2016 Mercedes-Benz C-Class
2016 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
2016 Mercedes-Benz CLS-Class
2016 Mercedes-Benz S-Class
2016 Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class
2016 Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class
2017 Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class (on sale now)
What's next? Mercedes' redesigned 2017 E-Class will offer a parking system that enables the car to steer, brake and accelerate out of a parking spot; Bokich said it also will offer extended periods of hands-free steering, conditions permitting.
Nissan
Adaptive cruise control:
2016 Infiniti Q50
2016 Infiniti Q70
2016 Infiniti QX50
2016 Infiniti QX60
2016 Infiniti QX70
2016 Infiniti QX80
2016 Nissan Altima
2016 Nissan Maxima
2016 Nissan Murano
2016 Nissan Sentra
What's next? "Within the next couple years we expect to launch a system that has your hands-off capability," said Andy Christensen, a senior manager of Intelligent Transportation Systems Research at Nissan's Technical Center North America.
Tesla
At this time, Tesla's Autopilot feature combines adaptive cruise control with lane-centering steering that requires minimal driver involvement, though currently encourages drivers to keep their hands on the wheel. Fully electric Teslas receive operating system updates, wirelessly, enabling the refinement and addition of features. Autopilot is available on any Model S manufactured since September 2014 and the Model X, both currently on sale.
2016 Model S
2016 Model X
What's next? Tesla CEO Elon Musk reportedly has said the automaker plans to have "fully autonomous" cars in less than three years.
Toyota
Adaptive cruise control:
2016 Lexus CT
2016 Lexus ES
2016 Lexus GX
2016 Lexus IS
2016 Lexus LS
2016 Lexus LX
2016 Lexus NX
2016 Lexus RC
2016 Toyota Avalon
2016 Toyota Camry
2016 Toyota Highlander
2016 Toyota Land Cruiser
2016 Toyota Mirai
2016 Toyota Prius v
2016 Toyota Sequoia
2016 Toyota Sienna
Adaptive cruise control and self-park steering:
2016 Toyota Prius
Toyota's Lane Trace Control operates as lane-centering steering; it "centers the vehicle in the lane, so it does more than mitigate lane departure," spokeswoman Cindy Knight told us. It can operate in conjunction with adaptive cruise control in the following cars:
2016 Lexus RX
2016 Lexus GS
What's next? Knight didn't share any forthcoming developments, but Toyota announced plans in April to open a Michigan research center this year that focuses on fully autonomous driving.
Volkswagen Group
The Volkswagen Group also includes the Audi and Porsche brands. Here's a rundown of what VW and Audi confirmed. Porsche did not respond to our inquiry.
Self-park steering:
2016 Volkswagen e-Golf
Adaptive cruise control:
2016 Audi A3/S3
2016 Audi A5/S5
2016 Audi A6/S6
2016 Audi A7/S7/RS 7
2016 Audi A8/S8
2016 Audi Q5/SQ5
2016 Volkswagen CC
2016 Volkswagen Golf R
2016 Volkswagen Jetta
2016 Volkswagen Touareg
Self-park steering and adaptive cruise control:
2016 Volkswagen Golf
2016 Volkswagen Golf SportWagen
2016 Volkswagen GTI
2016 Volkswagen Passat
Audi offers Traffic Jam Assist, which has both lane-centering steering and adaptive cruise control. "If you take the Traffic Jam Assist — I think that's the best example — we have control of accelerating, braking and steering," said Thanh Uy Phan Tan, an electronic strategy specialist at Volkswagen. Traffic Jam Assist is offered on:
2017 Audi A4 (on sale now)
2017 Audi Q7 (on sale now)
What's next? Full automation is "going to be, at the beginning, probably limited to certain scenarios," Phan Tan said. "Like, there's a Traffic Jam Assist that would apply to that kind of conditional automation. That would be in a lower speed but very structured kind of condition."
Brad Stertz, Audi's director of government affairs, said he believes the next-generation A8 will introduce more automated driving technology in a production car, allowing the driver to take their hands off the wheel in some circumstances.
Volvo
Every U.S. Volvo model offers adaptive cruise control, self-park steering or more.
Adaptive cruise control:
2016 Volvo S80
2016 Volvo V60
2016 Volvo XC60
2016 Volvo XC70
Adaptive cruise control and self-park steering:
2016 Volvo S60
Pilot Assist that combines lane-centering steering with adaptive cruise control and operates up to 30 mph:
2016 Volvo XC90
What's next? Volvo spokesman Jim Nichols said the automaker will increase Pilot Assist lane centering to 80 mph on the 2017 XC90, and the S90 — Volvo's replacement for the S80 — will get Pilot Assist standard. Nichols claims the S90 will be "actually the first car in the world to have this semi-autonomous technology as standard."
Meanwhile, the automaker plans to allow consumers to test dozens of XC90s outfitted with self-driving technology on specified highways in its native Sweden, with the aim to allow drivers to divert their attention elsewhere while the car drives. Volvo calls it the Drive Me project. Volvo wants to conduct similar tests in China and the United Kingdom; it also has "a very strong interest in doing it in the U.S.," Nichols said.
Other Automakers
A Mitsubishi spokesman told us the automaker didn't have much to offer in the realm of autonomous driving, and representatives from Subaru did not furnish any specifics in response to our request.
Jaguar Land Rover did not provide details for its current lineup, but spokesman Nathan Hoyt told us the automaker plans to "have something autonomous" in the next decade.