Autonomous vehicles are getting better, stronger, and faster, breaking their own speed records, and the latest one to do so is the Maserati MC20 Coupé, which has recently set a new autonomous world speed record at an event at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Specifically, Indy Autonomous Challenge (IAC) and Politecnico di Milano, Italy’s largest scientific-technological university, have partnered with Maserati and 1000 Miglia Experience Florida to achieve an ambitious high-tech initiative, according to a press release on March 3.
As it happens, this activity is part of MOST – Italy’s National Center for Sustainable Mobility (Centro Nazionale per la Mobilità Sostenibile), focused on research, innovation, and infrastructure development towards scalable solutions for eco-friendly transportation.
This way, the Indy Autonomous Challenge has returned to the Space Florida Launch and Landing Facility (LLF), one of the world’s longest runways at 15,000 feet (2.8 miles) and the historic location for NASA Space Shuttle landings.
Notably, the PoliMOVE-MSU team, part of the performance division of AIDA (Artificial Intelligence Driving Autonomous of Politecnico di Milano), was responsible for the development of the AI driver software for the Indy Autonomous Challenge Maserati MC20 Coupé.
Speed reached by Maserati MC20 Coupé
The car, guided by artificial intelligence from Politecnico di Milano and modified to run autonomously, has reached 197.7 mph (318 km/h) completely by itself and with no human driver on board. This result beats the previously held absolute record of 192.8 mph. The previous record was also set by Indy Autonomous Challenge and PoliMOVE at the same location in April 2022, with an IAC AV-21 race car.
Before this, the Maserati MC20 Coupé of the Indy Autonomous Challenge driven by the robo-driver from the Politecnico di Milano originally held the record for the fastest autonomous production car, reaching 177 mph (285 km/h) at the Piacenza Military Airport track in Italy in November 2024.
As the Scientific Director of the project and Director of the Department of Electronics, Information, and Bioengineering at the Politecnico di Milano, Prof. Sergio Matteo Savaresi, explained:
“The goal of high-speed tests is to evaluate the behavior of robo-drivers in extreme conditions. These AI systems have been tested in production vehicles at legal road speeds in the Indy Autonomous Challenge races since 2021. The AIDA team used this test to push the boundaries of autonomous driving, improving safety and reliability. Conducted in controlled environments without a human driver, the test assesses the AI’s stability, robustness, and reaction time, ultimately enhancing safety for low-speed urban mobility situations.”
Meanwhile, aside from autonomous cars, taxis, buses, and warships, asteroid mining could take the AI road as well, with a Denver-based startup Karman+ developing autonomous spacecraft that could fly to asteroids, mine resources, and bring them back to Earth.
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