While Tesla may have beaten BMW to the punch in offering remote parking in the US, confirmation has just come that the German brand has just been allowed to offer the 7-Series’ remote parking feature, too.
Originally, the German brand wasn’t permitted to offer the advanced feature in US-bound units of its flagship, but the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration eventually decided to award it an exemption.
On the back of this news, BMW has confirmed that it will soon offer the feature on its US-spec cars, though it has not yet disclosed when.
Initially, the firm believed the system wouldn’t be legal due to a federal law specifying all new cars need a shift-interlock function that requires the brake pedal to be depressed before a car can be shifted out of Park. The 7-Series doesn’t automatically move the brake pedal when its parking function is activated, but as the sedan’s systems apply the brakes electronically before shifting out of Park, the NHTSA agreed that it met said requirement and, thus, granted it an exemption.
BMW’s parking feature is similar to Tesla’s Summon feature, as it allows the new 7-Series to automatically drive and park itself into a garage or parking space via the vehicle’s advanced touchscreen key fob.
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