Formula E, a class of auto racing for electric cars, has teamed up with battery manufacturer Kinetik to create the first race for autonomous, electric cars.
The aptly named "Roborace" will take place during the 2016-2017 racing season before each Formula E racing event, Formula E wrote in a press release. There will be 10 teams, each with 2 driverless cars, competing in the one-hour event.
The race will actually a battle of the best artificial intelligence since each team will be given the same electric cars to race with.
"(Roborace is) a global platform to show that robotic technologies and AI can co-exist with us in real life," Denis Sverdlov, Founder of Kinetik and ROBORACE, wrote in the announcement.
"Anyone who is at the edge of this transformation now has a platform to show the advantages of their driverless solutions and this shall push the development of the technology.”
There will be one "community team" in each race, where experts from around the world can crowdsource software to participate.
More information about the teams and types of technology that will be used are slated to be released early next year.
