Maserati’s MC20 supercar is the head of the model’s efficiency. The 621-horsepower supercar debuted in 2020 as a religious successor to the MC12 supercar from the 2000s, and since then the model has gone on to create variants just like the track-ready GT2 Stradale and the convertible MC20 Cielo. Whereas the MC20 may not appeal to the consumers in ways in which opponents just like the Porsche 911 Turbo and Chevy Corvette Z06 have, it is nonetheless a halo automobile for the model.
That halo standing was additional cemented not too long ago with a powerful displaying of the MC20’s efficiency and AI know-how as a part of the Indy Autonomous Problem, the world’s solely lively racing sequence for autonomous vehicles. In a mixed effort with Italy’s largest scientific know-how college, Politecnico di Milano, and Italy’s Nationwide Middle for Sustained Mobility, Maserati set a brand new world pace document with a driverless MC20. With nobody behind the wheel, the MC20 was in a position to hit practically 200 mph in a managed setting.
Setting a brand new world document
The idea for the driverless MC20 was an MC20 Cielo convertible. Utilizing AI programming that was developed by PoliMOVE-MSU, a man-made intelligence crew from the college, the autonomous MC20 was in a position to hit 197.7 mph on the Kennedy House Middle. Not solely is that spectacular for a driverless automobile and only a few ticks shy of the Cielo’s 202-mph high pace, it is also a brand new world document, beating the earlier document set in November 2024 by one other driverless MC20 coupe at Piacenza Navy Airport in Italy. Throughout that run, the driverless automobile reached 177 mph. This new document additionally beats a earlier driverless automobile document set on the Kennedy House Middle in 2022 when the IAC AV-21 race automobile hit 192.8 mph. Paul Mitchell, CEO of Indy Autonomous Problem and Aidoptation BV, mentioned the brand new document helps push the boundaries of what AI can accomplish that it may be utilized in real-world driving.
These world pace information are far more than only a showcase of future know-how; we’re pushing AI-driver software program and robotics {hardware} to absolutely the edge. Doing so with a streetcar helps transition the learnings of autonomous racing to allow protected, safe, sustainable, high-speed autonomous mobility on highways.
Maserati says a second driverless MC20 Cielo will drive across the U.S. as a part of the 1000 Miglia Expertise Florida. This MC20 has already pushed practically 40 miles autonomously in Italy, and the model says it is now within the U.S. to showcase the “excellence of Italian analysis.” Maserati echoed Paul Mitchell’s assertion in its announcement of the document, saying that this run helps additional AI and driverless automobile analysis so it may be utilized in each manufacturing and motorsport purposes. Might this all be the start of a brand new age of driverless automobile tech? It could possibly be. It stays to be seen what profit a driverless automobile going practically 200 mph can be for the general public, but when it helps enhance Degree 2 and Degree 3 automated driving programs already in use, it’s going to be a win for positive.
