VW and Argo AI will bring autonomous shuttles to Germany by 2025

How is the German automotive industry doing in the future? A huge change has taken place here in recent years, with many manufacturers geared towards a sustainable and autonomous future. While the many BMW shareholders not far enough goes, announced the competition from Wolfsburg now an interesting message.

Volkswagen announced yesterday, Wednesday, that it would like to start a fully autonomous mobility service together with Argo AI, the start-up in which it has been investing with Ford for some time. By 2025, self-driving vehicles of the VW ID Buzz model should be on the road in Germany and bring customers quickly and comfortably from A to B.

The VW ID Buzz builds on the design of the classic VW bus, a prototype has already been developed based on the MEB platform. In the future, the fifth generation of Argo AI technology will be there, and enough sensors and cameras will be installed on the bus to safely navigate through the big city.

Because this is where it should start first. During the rollout, the ID Buzz will run under the brand of the subsidiary Moia, which has been offering electric mobility services in Hamburg since 2017. In 2025, the existing vehicles will gradually be replaced by their autonomous counterparts. In addition to the needs of commuters, the requirements of cities also play a role.

Customers, on the one hand side, expect ride-pooling to be as easy, convenient, and reliable as riding their own car … But cities, on the other hand, expect ride pooling to help alleviate traffic congestion. Moia CEO Richard Henrich

The new fleet should convince residents to leave their cars in the garage and switch to green mobility. It remains exciting, however, whether the plans will actually be implemented as planned. With autonomous vehicles in particular, the past has taught us that things can go wrong.

Own opinion:

Who wouldn’t want to be picked up by an autonomous vehicle and then drive comfortably through the city center? I believe that Moia’s new fleet has great potential, but the price has to be right if it is introduced in 2025. If a route from A to B is significantly more expensive than using public transport, then I would continue to rely on the tried and tested method.

Via The Verge