Hey Guys, I hope you enjoyed the episode and it gave you an insight into where the industry is heading. Here is the summary of the key points we discussed in this episode.

In this episode, we’ll break down each of those levels, explain what kind of tech the car needs to qualify for them, and clear up some of the confusion around the buzzwords.

"The SAE — that's the Society of Automotive Engineers — has defined a global standard called J3016 to explain the six levels of driving automation.

These range from Level 0, which means no automation at all, to Level 5, a fully self-driving vehicle that doesn’t need any human input.

Level 0 – No Automation

A Level 0 vehicle is a conventional car with no active automation i.e. there's no sustained driving automation. The human driver is responsible for all dynamic driving tasks — including steering, acceleration, braking, and monitoring the environment — at all times.

Level 1 – Driver Assistance

Here, the car can assist the driver with either longitudinal dynamics (speed) or lateral dynamics (steering) — but not both simultaneously. Common examples include adaptive cruise control (which manages speed and following distance) or lane-keeping assist (which helps with steering).

Level 2 – Partial Automation

At this stage, the vehicle can assist with both steering and acceleration or braking at the same time. It’s a clear step up from Level 1, where the system could only help with one or the other. Think of features like Adaptive Cruise Control with Lane Centering. The driver must remain fully alert, with hands on the wheel and eyes on the road, ready to take over at any moment.

Level 3 – Conditional Automation

At SAE Level 3, the vehicle takes over full control of the driving task under certain conditions, such as on highways or in traffic jams. In these scenarios, the driver can take hands off the steering wheel and even look away from the road for short periods. However, the system may request the driver to take over, and the driver must be ready to respond when prompted.

Level 4 – High Automation