Although the autonomous driving It hasn’t quite taken off, most manufacturers continue to investigate it and work on pilot projects. The latest Volkswagen has just started in Austin, Texas (United States), which is one of the few places where it is legal to test on the open road. They have arranged a fleet made up of ten units of Volkswagen ID. buzz that have been highly modified to achieve that autonomous driving and are rolling to see the viability of its use at a commercial level.
They have started with just a dozen vehicles, but the idea is that in the next three years This project continues to be developed and more autonomous vehicles are added. The goal is not only to stay in Austin, but also to expand to four more US cities (Belmont and California, among them). The commercial launch of autonomous vehicles, already without drivers, is planned for the year 2026. The technology has been developed with the help of Mobileyea specialist company that has been working with Volkswagen for some time to create these vehicles.
The truth is that the Volkswagen ID. Buzz is the ideal vehicle for this type of test for several reasons. Is he electric minivan most suitable for passenger transport, which will be the task you have to perform in the future when the technology is tested and ready. It will be one more robotaxis fleet that will be available than those states (Texas and Arizona) where it is legal for them to operate. Volkswagen is also going to start employing some of the team members who worked with Argo AI.
All with the purpose of offering autonomous fleets for other companies, because Volkswagen you are not creating a dedicated ride-sharing service or travel request. It also wants to exploit other avenues of collaboration with other companies and applications. Meanwhile, they are testing, validating and refining the technology; collect millions of data from this pilot project. Although they have the necessary cameras, radar and lidar technology to drive themselves, these vehicles also carry a human driver for safety.
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