Self-driving VW electric minibuses in ride-sharing trial
The driverless future is a step nearer but, for all the scheme’s cleverness, will it reduce traffic as claimed – and do we really want it?
12 May 2021 • 12:00pm
A rendering of VW s autonomous ID Buzz car-pooling vehicle. The consortium plans a fleet of such vehicles in Munich by 2025
There used to be a slightly off-colour joke about heaven being where the British provided the police, the French did the cooking, the Italians were the lovers and the Germans engineered the cars; hell, of course, being a mess-up of these. Yet yesterday Volkswagen eased another nail into the coffin lid of the German privately-owned car, with the announcement of trials of an autonomous (driverless) version of its ID Buzz electric minibus, with the aim of an entire fleet of ride-pooling ID Buzz-style vehicles on Munich’s streets by 2025.
The electric minibus will be tested in six US cities, as well as Munich, Germany
The plan is to add it to the fleet in VW s ride-share service, MOIA
It will have Level 4 autonomy, meaning it s not approved to handle all weather and road conditions
A conventional version of the ID.Buzz is slated to go on sale in the US in 2023.
VW will have an autonomous ID. Buzz taxi on the road by 2025
12 May 2021
·
News Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Pocket-lint
(Pocket-lint) - Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has confirmed that it will have autonomous versions of the ID. Buzz on the road by 2025.
Working with Argo AI - a company also working with Ford on self-driving vehicles - VW confirmed that it will be conducting trials on the roads in Germany in 2021. The aim is to develop a ride-hailing and pooling concept similar to what MOIA [a ride-sharing service available in Hamburg and Hanover] offers today. In the middle of this decade, our customers will then have the opportunity to be taken to their destination in selected cities with autonomous vehicles, said Christian Senger, head of autonomous driving at VW Commercial Vehicles.
VW via Bloomberg
The all-electric ID. BUZZ will be the first Volkswagen Group vehicle to drive autonomously, the automaker says.
Volkswagen Group plans to offer a highly automated version of the hippie-era microbus it’s reviving as an electric van as the carmaker commercializes self-driving technology along with startup Argo AI.
VW is preparing an ID.Buzz with Level 4 autonomy meaning the vehicle can drive itself under certain conditions to be ready for commercial transport of people and goods for 2025. It’s testing Argo AI’s technology at six U.S. locations and will expand to a site in Munich this year to further refine the system.