AI-Powered Maserati MC20 Shatters Autonomous Speed Record at 197.7 MPH

Driverless Maserati MC20 breaks speed record, reaches 197.7 mph on NASA runway

Serving tech enthusiasts for over 25 years. TechSpot means tech analysis and advice you can trust. What just happened? A new achievement in autonomous vehicle technology unfolded at the Kennedy Space Center last month as a driverless Maserati MC20 Coupe shattered the land speed record for self-driving cars. The sleek Italian supercar reached an astounding 197.7 mph, surpassing the previous record of 192.8 mph set in April 2022. This feat not only showcases the rapid advancement of self-driving technology but also highlights the potential for autonomous racing to translate into safety improvements in everyday autonomous vehicles. The test was orchestrated by the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) in partnership with Politecnico di Milano, Italy's largest scientific-technological university. The run took place on the historic 2.8-mile runway at the Space Florida Launch and Landing Facility (LLF), once used for NASA Space Shuttle landings. The Maserati MC20, an exotic sports car with a retail price starting at $239,000, was ideal for this high-speed autonomous test. Powered by a mid-mounted, twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6 engine dubbed "Nettuno," the MC20 boasts an impressive 621 horsepower and 538 pound-feet of torque. This power is channeled through an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission to the rear wheels, providing the necessary performance for such extreme speeds. The autonomous driving software was developed by the PoliMOVE-MSU team, part of the performance division of AIDA (Artificial Intelligence Driving Autonomous) at Politecnico di Milano. The significance of this achievement extends far beyond speed records. IAC CEO Paul Mitchell noted that these high-speed tests push AI-driver software and robotics hardware to their limits, with the ultimate goal of improving safety in everyday autonomous vehicles. By testing autonomous systems at extreme velocities, researchers can evaluate the behavior of AI drivers in challenging conditions, potentially leading to safer autonomous driving on highways. "These AI systems have been tested in production vehicles at legal road speeds in the Indy Autonomous Challenge races since 2021," said Prof. Sergio Matteo Savaresi at Politecnico di Milano. The record-shattering Maserati MC20 Coupé isn't alone in pushing the boundaries of autonomous technology. Its counterpart, a Maserati MC20 Cielo convertible, also equipped with Politecnico di Milano's autonomous system, joined the 1000 Miglia Experience Florida convoy. The Cielo boasts its own groundbreaking performance in the 2023 edition of the historic 1000 Miglia race in Italy, where it navigated approximately 60 km without human intervention.

AI-powered Maserati speeds faster than a bullet train, in new self-driving world record

TL;DR: The AI-powered Maserati MC20 Cielo, developed by the Indy Autonomous Challenge and Politecnico di Milano, set a new autonomous land speed record of 197 mph at the Kennedy Space Center. This initiative aims to advance autonomous driving technology for real-world applications, transitioning insights from high-speed racing to safer urban environments. If you were already concerned about self-driving cars on the local highway - look out for the AI-powered MC20 Maseratis. Credit: Maserati As part of an initiative between the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) and Italian university Politecnico di Milano, scientists have put their hands together to break the autonomous land speed record. In a recent development, the team managed to push a modified Maserati MC20 Cielo, fitted with Lidar, camera, and sensor technology, to 197mph (or 318km/h ). A staggering pace, which for reference, is nearly as fast as a commercial airplane on takeoff or a Shinkansen Japanese Bullet Train. The feat was achieved at the Space Florida Launch and Landing Facility (LLF) at the Kennedy Space Center, one of the longest runways in the world at 2.8 miles. While primarily used for government operations, the LLF served as the perfect testing ground to push the limits of self-driving vehicles. The team initially set out to test the limits of hardware, computing power, and artificial intelligence in the realm of autonomous driving. The team's, specialized solely in this field, have had a crack at the records before - managing to hit 192.8mph in a IAC AV-21 race car back in 2022. However, like any field of innovation, limits are made to be broken. Paul Mitchell, the CEO of IAC, explained the reasoning behind transitioning to a street car, citing that it helps "transition the learnings of autonomous racing to enable safe, secure, sustainable, high-speed autonomous mobility on highways". Meaning, the insights would have more real world applications. The logic dictates that if teams can create systems that help vehicle navigate at these extreme speeds, the findings can be applied to low-speed urban environments. However, I suspect that the researchers find at least a little satisfaction in making things go really fast.

A Self-Driving Maserati Just Hit Nearly 200 MPH

The researchers say these types of extreme feats can accelerate self-driving car development. A self-driving supercar just broke the speed record for an autonomous car by going 197.7 mph at the Kennedy Space Center. Last month's feat was a joint project between the Indy Autonomous Challenge, which organizes autonomous-driving competitions between universities, and a team of researchers from Italy's Politecnico di Milano. The Indy Autonomous Challenge provided the modified Maserati MC20, and the university researchers developed the artificial intelligence software that piloted the car. Check out a video of the record-breaking run below. The shots from inside the car are rather mundane, if you've been inside of a Waymo or seen videos of those robotaxis before. In 2025, a vehicle without a person in it driving in a straight line is nothing too special. Then the vantage point switches to outside the car, and things get real. Seeing a supercar hurtling down a runway at ungodly speeds with nobody in the driver's seat is a sight to behold. But this wasn't purely about seeing how fast a robot could go. The researchers behind the record say pushing autonomous driving systems to ridiculous speeds and observing how they behave can make self-driving cars safer in more everyday environments too. "These world speed records are much more than just a showcase of future technology; we are pushing AI-driver software and robotics hardware to the absolute edge," said Paul Mitchell, CEO of Indy Autonomous Challenge. "Doing so with a streetcar is helping transition the learnings of autonomous racing to enable safe, secure, sustainable, high-speed autonomous mobility on highways." Autonomous highway driving sounds way simpler than piloting a self-driving car around a bustling city. And in some ways it is; on a highway, things are pretty predictable and there aren't cyclists or pedestrians to watch out for. But an autonomous system needs to react much more quickly to hazards if it's traveling at 65 mph than if it's dawdling along at 25 mph. That's the kind of problem these extreme speed tests may help solve, the researchers said. If you're still skeptical that these kinds of challenges can have any real-world impact, I'll leave you with one final fun fact. The DARPA Grand Challenge, an autonomous driving competition funded by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, sparked the entire self-driving car industry as we know it.

Self-driving Maserati smashes autonomous speed record

Italy has produced many of the fastest race car drivers on the planet, and now also the fastest car-driving AI. Self-driving software engineered by a team at the country's largest science and tech university has set a new record for the quickest speed achieved in an autonomous car - a blistering 197.7 mph (318 km/h). Researchers at the Politecnico di Milano university worked with the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) to put a robo-driver behind the wheel of a customized Maserati MC20 Coupe. This US$243,000 fire-breathing beast dishes out 630 hp and 538 lb.ft (729 Nm) of torque from its twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V-6. It tops out at 202 mph (325 km/h), which means the AI stopped just slightly short of the MC20's ceiling. The self-driving system pulled off this feat during the 1000 Miglia Experience Florida at the Kennedy Space Center on February 23. It blasted down a 2.8-mile-long (4.5-km) runway, beating the previous record of 177 mph (285 km/h) set by the same car last November. This also bests the previous record of 192.2 mph (309.3 km/h), set by the PoliMOVE race team (a joint project between the Politecnico di Milano and the University of Alabama) in an IAC AV-21 race car back in April 2022. Watch the driverless Maserati zoom down the runway in the video below. While the clip displays live telemetry data, two GPS units were used to precisely record the car's speed, which is just a wee bit below what appears on screen. Paul Mitchell, CEO of Indy Autonomous Challenge, explained this program isn't just for show, but to test the capabilities of self-driving tech in extreme conditions. "... we are pushing AI-driver software and robotics hardware to the absolute edge," he said." Doing so with a streetcar is helping transition the learnings of autonomous racing to enable safe, secure, sustainable, high-speed autonomous mobility on highways."

Watch this AI-driven Maserati go insanely fast for new speed record

An empty Maserati MC20 driven by an AI system recently set a new speed record for an autonomous vehicle, reaching a blistering 197.7 mph (318 kph) at Space Florida's Launch and Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Footage of the achievement (above) shows the self-driving Maserati MC20 hurtling down the runway once used for Space Shuttle landings, with the speedometer gradually ticking all the way up to the record-breaking speed. The feat -- the result of a partnership between the Indy Autonomous Challenge, science-tech university Politecnico di Milano, Maserati, and the 1000 Miglia Experience Florida -- surpassed the previous record of 192.8 mph (310.3 kph) set at the Indy Autonomous Challenge in 2022. Please enable Javascript to view this content The Maserati used for the drive is equipped with a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 engine, producing 621 horsepower, and was modified to run autonomously using AI driver software developed by the PoliMOVE-MSU team, which is part of the performance division of AIDA (Artificial Intelligence Driving Autonomous of Politecnico di Milano). "These world speed records are much more than just a showcase of future technology," Paul Mitchell, the CEO of Indy Autonomous Challenge and Aidoptation BV, said afterwards. "We're pushing AI-driver software and robotics hardware to the absolute edge. Doing so with a street car is helping transition the learnings of autonomous racing to enable safe, secure, sustainable, high-speed autonomous mobility on highways." While the Maserati didn't need to make any turns, stop for lights, or swerve around elderly pedestrians during its high-speed drive, any slight deviation at that speed would need to have been corrected immediately to avoid a catastrophic outcome, proving that the AI was clearly doing its job. While it's fun to imagine a future of high-speed commuting in a car like this -- perhaps while enjoying a relaxing game of Wordle -- there are currently few roads long enough and straight enough to safely accommodate such speed, even if an advanced AI system was doing all the work. You can certainly forget hitting those kind of speeds along Pakistan's terrifying Fairy Meadows Road.

This AI-driven Maserati just hit 197.7mph without a human behind the wheel

Demonstration vehicle hit almost 200mph at the Kennedy Space Center Maserati has just set a new autonomous speed record at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, as its drop-dead gorgeous MC20 supercar hit 197.7mph without a human behind the wheel. The initiative is a partnership between the Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) and Politecnico di Milano, Italy's largest scientific-technological university, with the pair aiming to test the very limits of hardware, computing power and artificial intelligence where it relates to advanced levels of autonomous driving. The clever crew at the Politecnico di Milano, which forms part of a team that specializes solely in autonomous driving at the university, managed to hit 192.8mph in its IAC AV-21 race car in 2022, but returned to one of the world's longest runways at 15,000 feet (2.8 miles) to attempt to beat it using Maserati's 630hp street car. According to the team, pushing the MC20 to almost 200mph without a driver behind the wheel "demonstrates the robustness and reliability of the algorithms developed for autonomous driving," Scientific Director of the project Professor Sergio Matteo Savaresi explained. To further demonstrate how far the team has come in terms of autonomous driving abilities, the team also brought along its convertible Maserati MC20 Cielo, which had been specially fitted with Lidar, camera and sensor technology. This drop-top model managed to complete around 60km (around 37 miles) of the famously tricky 1000 Miglia road race in Italy two years ago without a driver behind the wheel. It went on to parade the streets of the south easternmost US State during the 1000 Miglia Experience Florida to showcase "the excellence of Italian research" according to the team. That said, the images reveal that a human had to be in the driver's seat. Perhaps the organizers were worried about Tesla owners getting jealous. Far from simply being an impressive autonomous speed record (although not an officially sanctioned Guinness World Record), the Kennedy Space Center achievement helps push AI-driver software and robotics hardware to the very limits. Paul Mitchell, CEO of Indy Autonomous Challenge and Aidoptation BV claims that by transitioning to a streetcar, rather than a purpose-built racing machine of previous record attempts, it helps "transition the learnings of autonomous racing to enable safe, secure, sustainable, high-speed autonomous mobility on highways". At speeds of almost 200mph, software reaction times have to be razor sharp and, perhaps more importantly, super reliable. The team claims that if it can create a system that safely navigates these sort of highly illegal speeds, it can translate some of the findings to help improve low-speed urban mobility.

Robot-driven Maserati MC20 sets new world speed record

The AI-backed Maserati reached 197.7 miles per hour on one of the longest runways in the world. Once regarded as a futuristic technology that would be exploited by robots to take over the world, artificial intelligence is rapidly growing in scope and capabilities. Automakers, for one, are putting it to use to create advanced concepts and production vehicles. And Italian supercar builder Maserati is harnessing the technology to set world records. This month, an AI-controlled Maserati MC20 reached 197.7 miles per hour at Kennedy Space Center. The Maserati obliterated the previous record set by an Indy Autonomous Challenge AV-21 racecar set in 2022 by nearly five full seconds, an impressive feat for a robot-driven car. As built, Maserati's MC20 is powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 making 621 horsepower, and its top speed is 202 mph when driven by a human. With a robot behind the wheel, so to speak, the MC20 got within spitting distance of that maximum. That's not too shabby. The point isn't max speed, however. Setting a world record is a byproduct of pushing AI-driver software and robotics software to perform at the top edge of its abilities. Ultimately, the goal is to forge a path to safe and secure autonomous mobility on the highway. There may be a long way to go to achieve fully self-driving cars around the world, but Maserati is actively working toward that future. The Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) attracts college student teams from around the world to compete, featuring technology aimed at speeding the commercialization of fully autonomous vehicles. Together, IAC partnered with Politecnico di Milano (an Italian university specializing in technology, architecture, and science) and Maserati to stage the MC20 at Space Florida Launch and Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center. Considering it has one of the world's longest runways at 15,000 feet (2.8 miles), it's a great place to test a fast car. And hey, if it's good enough for the space shuttle, it's more than good enough for a test run with a supercar. Developed by professors, PhD students, and researchers from Politecnico di Milano, who have been studying and working in the field for years, the technology was designed to bring autonomous driving to public roads in Italy. The main focus is to study the technology under various and extreme conditions to make it increasingly precise, robust, and safe. Researchers from Politecnico di Milano have been conducting research projects in collaboration with Maserati for several years. When professor Sergio Savaresi proposed the project, Maserati donated the first cars for experimentation. The participation of sports cars like the MC20 played a crucial role in initiating the experimentation and effectively communicating the importance of technological development in Italy and worldwide, Savaresi says. The technology is based on a combination of deterministic algorithms, which rely on authoritative control and artificial intelligence algorithms. This system, entirely developed by the Politecnico di Milano, is built on the research group's experience in the field of vehicle automation. "One of the challenges affecting the world today is pollution and the sustainability of the current mobility model," Savaresi says. "Autonomous driving aims to drastically reduce the number of circulating cars by maximizing available seats and fully utilizing vehicle capacity. The solution helps to reduce traffic and make cities more green." This record represents a significant improvement over Maserati's run last year in a MC20 Cielo also developed by Politecnico di Milano. In dense fog, the "robo-driver" reached 177 miles per hour at Piacenza-San Damiano Air Base in Italy in November 2024. Now that the latest record-setting speed has been achieved, the next goal for the Maserati team is to continue public road-testing during events and races such as the 1000 Miglia in Italy and worldwide. Ultimately, the automaker wants to promote scientific dissemination to increase awareness and acceptance of the technology while ensuring it's developed with safety in mind. The Italian professor believes AI-backed technology is crucial because artificial intelligence can enhance road safety by assisting and supporting drivers in critical situations, moments of fatigue, or emergencies. Moreover, he says, the car as we know it today is used for two different purposes: function and fun. Cars like the MC20 are designed both as a means of transportation and for the pleasure of driving. Autonomous driving helps replace its use solely for necessity but leaves the joy of driving to humans on the track with high-performance sports cars. After all, cars like the MC20 are built to be driven by humans, not robots. Robo-drivers can have the boring cars, the ones that aren't as beautiful or as powerful. Let me keep the ones that roar like thunder-or, if they're electric, to thrill me with their effortless acceleration. Thankfully, Maserati's work on autonomous cars isn't going to erase that anytime soon.