Audi has announced its very first vehicle to infrastructure technology dubbed ‘Traffic light information’ that will allow select cars from the brand to interact with traffic lights.
Set to be rolled out on select 2017 Audi Q7, A4 and A4 Allroad models soon, the technology works in a number of cities and metropolitan areas in the United States and will tell a drive how long until the traffic signal changes to green.
To do this, the Traffic light information system receives signal information directly and in real-time from the traffic management system that monitors traffic lights in the U.S. This is possible through the vehicle’s on-board LTE data connection which funnels the time left before a green light to the car’s instrument cluster and heads-up display.
According to Audi’s general manager for connected vehicles, Pom Malhotra “”This feature represents Audi’s first step in vehicle-to-infrastructure integration. In the future we could envision this technology integrated into vehicle navigation, start / stop functionality and can even be used to help improve traffic flow in municipalities. These improvements could lead to better overall efficiency and shorter commuting times.”
The service will be rolled out this fall and throughout 2017. At this stage, no information has been released about which U.S. cities and areas the system will be functional in.
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