DPA
Test drive with autonomous electric golf in Hamburg
After tests with autonomously driving cars in Hamburg, Volkswagen wants to go into series production in the medium term. “We are working on a market-ready, self-propelled system that we want to commercialize as early as the middle of the next decade,” said VW Vice-President for Autonomous Driving, Alexander Hitzinger, on Wednesday in Hamburg.
The specially equipped and used in Hamburg electric Golfs are already able to predict the traffic for about ten seconds. This happened with the help of the data, since April on the of the Hanseatic city equipped route for automated and networked driving (TAVF).
Nevertheless, be fully autonomous driving on a grand scale – with more than 100,000 vehicles – “a Herculean task”, added Hitzinger. Because there is an infinite number of traffic scenarios that would have to be covered by algorithms. In addition, the systems would have to be ready for series production, but also data-safe, in order to be able to ward off possible cyber attacks.
The necessary software is included Volkswagen Show stock market chart from the team of “Group Innovation”, which from the beginning of 2020 forms the basis of the recently founded Volkswagen Autonomy GmbH (VWAT). The Group recently announced its intention to commercialize self-driving cars by the mid-2020s. VWAT should do this with the US manufacturer Ford work together,
The VWAT should bring its own self-propelled system to market, for which, according to Hitzinger China and the US are likely to pioneer markets. In Europe, it would be more difficult to set the legal framework by then. VW sees the first applications for taxis and delivery vehicles.
According to the company, five retrofitted electric gulfs are on a nearly three-kilometer-long test track in Hamburg in use, Sensors on the roof, in the fenders and in the front and rear of the vehicles check the environment. The cars communicate with special technology (“Road Side Units”) at 14 traffic lights. Autonomous driving is one of meanwhile 70 projects with which Hamburg prepares itself as organizer for the ITS World Congress for Intelligent Transport Systems in just under two years.
In another project autonomously driving minibuses are being tested on the road. The developers there report unexpected obstacles like passersby who deliberately jump in front of the vehicles, Also in Hamburg are the – still manned – electric shuttles of Volkswagen subsidiary Moia. The business is expanding, though Doubt in the group to grow with the new mobility services.
“It’s all about learning,” said Thomas Sedran, who is responsible for the development of autonomous vehicles in the Volkswagen Group. in the interview with the manager magazine. After the first euphoria, the expectations in the industry for the new technology had dropped significantly again.