From big hype to quiet withdrawal – this is how, at least in the end, the relationship between German car manufacturers and taxi services with self-driving vehicles could be described. In order to stand up to the Google subsidiary Waymo with its robotaxis, German automakers had been practicing strong announcements for years: Daimler and Bosch, for example, announced in 2017 that they would be producing more than ten thousand robotic taxis from 2021 – for use in urban areas. BMW joined in four years ago Intel, Mobileye and Fiat-Chrysler for a large self-driving cooperation. The goal: to present a car that can drive fully autonomously as early as 2021. Volkswagen For a long time relied on the cooperation with the self-driving start-up Aurora – and originally wanted to have its Moia shuttles also partially autonomous from 2022.
Nothing came of the big plans: The Daimler-Bosch cooperation has ended, the BMW self-driving alliance has almost been dissolved, and Volkswagen has long since changed partners in autonomous driving: Instead of Aurora, VW is now relying on the Ford subsidiary Argo. AI, in terms of self-driving technology in specialist rankings is considered to be quite advanced. This is one of the reasons why Argo.AI boss Brian Salesky was released from manager magazin some time ago portrayed in detail.
At the refurbished auto show IAA In Munich, the topic of autonomous driving is getting significantly more attention again: Volkswagen, for example, presented the prototype of an autonomously driving “Bulli” bus with an electric drive. Initially, Volkswagen wants to test the technology with five upgraded ID.Buzz prototypes, and series operation with such self-driving taxi shuttles should then be possible from 2025.
Sixt and Mobileye bring 25 robot cars to Munich
Volkswagen and its technology partner Argo want to test it first in Munich, but also as part of its Moia shuttle service in Hamburg. In the Bavarian metropolis, however, Volkswagen is quickly faced with competition from an unfamiliar side: such as Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger and Alexander Sixt announced at the IAA, the Intel subsidiary Mobileye is bringing a robot taxi fleet to Munich’s streets with the German car rental company. And soon: the first robotic taxis with a human control driver on board should be available as early as mid-2022. The journeys can then be booked via the Sixt app or the Moovit mobility app, which Intel acquired a little over a year ago for $ 900 million.
It has been known for a year now that Mobileye is planning robot car tests in Munich. What is new, however, is that the testing of robotic taxis is now progressing significantly faster and in greater numbers than previously assumed. In Munich, Mobileye and Sixt want to get started with 25 vehicles, while Volkswagen is initially only testing five vehicles.
The Mobileye Robotaxi test in Munich is being driven by a well-known manager in the industry: Johann Jungwirth (48), who worked for Daimler for a good two decades, was Chief Digital Officer in the Volkswagen Group from 2015 to 2018 and joined Mobileye at the end of 2019 went. At the Israeli company, a camera and sensor specialist, Jungwirth is Vice President responsible for mobility services.
“I firmly believe in self-driving vehicles and I believe that people’s lives can be improved as a result,” said Jungwirth in a press conference before the start of the IAA. In Germany A law passed at the end of July now enables self-driving vehicles to be approved and put on the road.
A China SUV serves as a robot car base
Mobileye wants to use this together with Sixt. The car rental company sees the cooperation as a “next step in the expansion of our mobility platform”. It’s not just the technical details that are exciting about the project: the vehicles have cameras, lidar and radar sensors on board, and the cameras even have a self-cleaning function for the lenses. You should be able to drive yourself in almost all situations; in the nomenclature of autonomous driving, this corresponds to level 4 out of a possible 5.
The optical system and the one based on lidar and radar sensor information work independently of one another. A high-performance computer compares the information from both systems and sounds an alarm if there are deviations.
However, Mobileye is not a German premium brand, but an electric SUV as the basis for the self-driving cars China: Nios ES8. Jungwirth said that no vehicle has been found in Germany that meets the requirements. However, it was also likely that Nio agreed to adapt the vehicles for autonomous driving more comprehensively than German manufacturers, for example. In any case, the SUVs should only be a preliminary stage: the automotive supplier Schaeffler has now also announced a collaboration with Mobileye for the construction of a floor plate for e-vehicles. On this basis, a shuttle vehicle similar to a bus should be developed.
Jungwirth does not see the project as endangering Mobileye cooperation with automobile manufacturers: his company is working closely with over 25 manufacturers, to whom it will continue to provide complete solutions for image recognition systems. Jungwirth indicated that VW’s self-driving “Bulli” ID.Buzz will also have Mobileye systems on board.
Waymo is far from within reach
Only: The control software in the “Bulli” robot taxi will probably come from the Ford subsidiary Argo, which many consider to be more experienced and advanced than the Intel subsidiary. Because in the relevant rankings for autonomous driving, the Google subsidiary Waymo is still ahead, followed by the GM offshoot Cruise and Ford’s Argo AI. Mobileye is still in the middle of the field so far.
After all, Mobileye has the courage to venture into cities that are rather difficult to handle for autonomous vehicles: prototypes are also being used in New York City – and soon also in Munich, which is considered a difficult place for robotic taxis due to the high traffic density and frequent rule violations.
Waymo has so far only tested its vehicles in series production in Austin, Texas – where the roads are wide and the weather is fairly sunny. Waymo will soon also be launched in San Francisco. The Google subsidiary has not been able to win Fiat-Chrysler and Jaguar as car suppliers – but is already partially turning the Robotaxi fleet through Austin without human control drivers.
When this could be the case with Mobileye and Sixt, Jungwirth left it open in the conversation.