Audi’s new traffic light recognition technology will be used in UK cars, but the manufacturer is waiting for the infrastructure to be ready before rolling out the technology.
Traffic Technology Services (TTS) is launching in America at the end of this year in the Audi Q7, Audi A4 and A4 Allroad fitted with the Audi Connect system. It sends real-time signal information to the car from traffic lights and, if waiting at a red light, it can display how long until the signal changes to green on the instrument cluster or head-up display unit.
TTS uses the in-car 4G internet to receive information from traffic light control centres in selected cities. However, Audi has not specified how many cities in America are equipping traffic lights with the necessary technology to do this.
Audi’s general manager of connected vehicles, Pom Malhotra, said that TTS could eventually be integrated into navigation and start-stop technology, leading to better overall efficiency and shorter commuting times.
Audi has yet to announce its plans to bring the technology to Europe and the UK, but it has indicated that the car technology is ready and it is just a matter of preparing the infrastructure to be compatible with it. It is likely that TTS will filter down to a range of other Volkswagen Group cars in the future.
The manufacturer previously carried out a test of the traffic light technology in Europe in 2014, and when it launches in the US this year it will be its first step in vehicle-to-infrastructure integration.
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About time
It will probably give a 5
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