VW has become the first vehicle manufacturer to develop a Level 4 autonomous driving (AD) service vehicle for large-scale production.
The German automaker is ramping up the AD technology for the VW ID. Buzz AD with tech company Mobileye, reports Electrek, following an extensive pilot phase in the US and Germany. Christian Senger, a management board member at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles responsible for AD, said, “We are developing the first fully autonomous large-scale production vehicle, and Mobileye brings its digital driver on board.”
The main part of the cooperation agreement Volkswagen and Mobileye announced today covers the delivery and use of a self-driving system (SDS) for the ID. Buzz AD, which has been under development since 2021.
The ID. Buzz AD features two independent computers, 13 cameras, nine lidar units developed by Luminar, and five radar units, each capable of producing 360-degree surroundings. A cloud connection provides the autonomous vehicles with swarm data from other road users about the traffic situation and updates to the 3D maps.
However, there is no indication that VW has exclusivity on Mobileye’s technology so could this mean that other auto manufacturers, and not just those in Germany, could soon be following suit?
(Picture – Mobileye)
