In addition to self-driving vehicles for the general public, Volkswagen is also working on development autonomous driving in the citywhich allows us to imagine fully automated mobility services, car sharing or passenger transportation.

“The expansion of our autonomous driving program to North America is the next step in our global strategic roadmap and the result of a long-term investment. These road tests will allow us to test, validate and fine-tune the technology on US roads as well.”said Christian Zenger, Director of Autonomous Driving Development at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles: “The goal is to expand the commercial offer of affordable transport services and expand the portfolio of mobility services offered by the Volkswagen Group. »

Volkswagen: full-scale tests in the city

Before starting mass production, the German manufacturer will distribute a Prototype Volkswagen ID. Buzz AD (Autonomous driving), with autonomous driving capabilities. Over the next few weeks, the model will be tested on public roads on the streets of Munich, Germany, with the opportunity to demonstrate its capabilities to policy makers, government officials, key private customers and journalists.

ID prototypes. The Buzz is equipped with the technologies of the standard models, to which is added a autonomous driving system developed by Mobileye, an Israeli specialist in automated driving technology. This test fleet allows you to collect performance data while testing different driving scenarios.

These vehicles are classified as level 4 autonomous driving according to the American SAE standard: they are equipped with cameras, radars and lidars and are supervised by human drivers to ensure safety during the testing stages. The model has enough space for four passengers on board and has been designed to meet the growing needs of mobility and transport in the city.

Volkswagen: Autonomous driving for mobility services

At the same time, Volkswagen’s test program for autonomous driving started in Austin, Texas, USA. This autonomous driving development process aims to establish a autonomous mobility service in urban agglomerations of Europe and North America: it can be car sharing services or even passenger transport services.

Volkswagen is betting heavily on mobility services and shared car fleets and has extensive experience in assessing passenger expectations and the needs of service operators in this area. With its subsidiary MoiaThe Volkswagen Group has been offering car sharing services since 2018, which have since been used by more than 8.5 million passengers and which also collect valuable data for the development of autonomous driving.

In Germany, Moia will be the first operator to use autonomous vehicles, but outside of Europe, such as in the United States, Volkswagen will not provide autonomous driving services on its own behalf: the autonomous vehicles developed by the brand will be operated by third-party companies in the mobility sector and transport.

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