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06.07.2023 18:29, Sergey Surabekyants
Volkswagen plans to start testing a small fleet of self-driving electric vans in Austin, Texas later this month. In the future, the list of cities for testing will increase, and the commercial launch is scheduled for 2026. Each vehicle will be driven by a trained driver who will monitor traffic conditions and take control if the vehicle is in a difficult situation.
Image Source: Volkswagen
A few months ago, VW, along with Ford, stopped funding Argo AI, a self-driving startup that was planning to launch robotic taxi services in the US and Europe. VW is now developing hardware and software with Mobileye, a subsidiary of Intel. Autonomous driving software is also being developed by Cariad, a subsidiary of VW that went through multiple leadership changes last year.
It is planned to test self-driving cars in four US cities over the next three years and launch a robot taxi service into commercial operation in 2026. The three-row ID Buzz van for the US market, which debuted last month, will go on sale in 2024. As part of this plan, VW is creating a new subsidiary, Volkswagen ADMT, with offices not only in Austin but also in Belmont, California.
The new unit will be staffed by former Argo employees left over from the startup’s closure. Autonomous cars ID Buzz with “fleet management tools and remote management solutions” will also be sold “other leading companies in the field of mobility and transport”the company said in a statement.
VW is already testing ID Buzz in Germany, where it plans to launch commercial robot taxis and delivery services in 2025. The company is going to start operating these minibuses as a rideshare vehicle through its subsidiary Moia, which has been providing carpooling services in Hamburg since 2017.
VW has been into autonomous driving for years, but hasn’t been making much headway. Some of VW’s competitors have come a long way, such as GM’s Cruise and Hyundai’s Motional, which have already launched commercial taxi services in the US and plan to expand into new markets.
2023-07-06 15:29:00
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