Autonomous Driving at the 2025 Carrera Panamericana
A historic milestone for the future of mobility: for the first time, an autonomous vehicle has completed a stretch of the legendary Carrera Panamericana in Mexico. The star of the achievement was a Maserati GranCabrio Folgore, equipped with the autonomous driving system developed by the AIDA (Artificial Intelligence Driving Autonomous) team from Politecnico di Milano, in collaboration with Tecnológico de Monterrey as part of the Global Talent on Wheels initiative.
The convoy, which set off from Puebla on October 10, crossed eight Mexican states, covering 440 kilometers in autonomous mode and successfully navigating extremely diverse environments: urban traffic, rain, mountain passes, and long stretches of open road, all under the supervision of professional driver Luis “Chapulín” Díaz.
The project, born from the synergy between academic research and industry, turned the historic race into a living laboratory of innovation. The teams from Politecnico and Tec de Monterrey engaged with students and local communities along the route, stopping at six university campuses to discuss the technological and societal challenges of future mobility.
It was exciting to see AIDA technology adapt to the unique and complex reality of Mexican roads and cities, meeting thousands of people along the way. This collaboration shows how autonomous driving will transform the way we think about urban mobility.
Sergio Matteo Savaresi, Director of the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering at Politecnico di Milano