COAST Autonomous, a self-driving vehicle technology company, announced today that motorsport legend and Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler Formula E team principal, Allan McNish, has joined its Advisory Board.
Five years ago, McNish, won the FIA World Endurance Championship in Shanghai, China, which turned out to be the last time he drove a racing car. By joining COAST Autonomous, McNish may never drive anything again…at least, at low-speed!
COAST Autonomous focuses on providing self-driving mobility solutions for low-speed environments such as campuses, airports, resorts, theme parks and city centers. COAST’s “secret sauce” is software that is pedestrian friendly combined with a low-cost sensor fusion that does not compromise on performance or safety. As it prepares to deploy its first fleets in 2019, COAST plans to tap into McNish’s many years of experience of performing at a top level of motorsports and working with OEMs along with his team building and organization skills and his ready access to auto industry suppliers and senior executives across the corporate landscape.
“It is a great honor and a privilege to welcome someone of Allan’s caliber and experience to the COAST team,” said Adrian Sussmann, COAST’s President and Board Member. “Allan’s motorsports pedigree, winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans three times, the FIA World Endurance Championship, three American Le Mans Series titles and most recently the FIA Formula E Championship as Team Principal, speaks for itself. Success breeds success and Allan knows better than anyone what it takes to win. We are looking forward to his insight and guidance as we build a team to compete for victory at low speed.”
“Adrian and I have discussed many opportunities over the years, mostly to do with driving racing cars at high speeds and in great danger! Now that I have retired from being a racing driver, the idea of not driving, at low speeds, very safely, is quite appealing!!” said McNish. “As with all racing drivers, I enjoy cars and performance. However, I am in total agreement with COAST’s thesis, regarding the benefits of low-speed AVs in private sites, city centers and controlled environments. In my world travels, I get to see the problems with traffic and pollution and I do believe that a combination of electrification and enlarged pedestrian city centers with low speed on-demand AVs for mobility, is a solution that can significantly improve urban environments. In the meantime, I am looking forward to testing a COAST golf cart and P-1 Shuttle. Even if their vehicles go slow, I am excited to help COAST’s business accelerate!”
McNish joins an all-star line-up on COAST’s Advisory Board with 3-time Indianapolis 500 champion Dario Franchitti, Stanford Professor Dr. Marco Pavone and the former Mayor of St. Petersburg, Florida, Rick Baker.
