An autonomously driving ID. Buzz with MOIA decals.

Autonomous driving – the future of mobility

Autonomous ridepooling: working together to improve urban mobility

The Volkswagen Group wants to shape the mobility of the future: We are convinced of the potential of autonomous driving to improve the driving experience for everyone, to increase road safety and to save resources. The Volkswagen Group is increasingly evolving from a traditional vehicle manufacturer to an integrated mobility provider. With the MOIA carpooling service, we already offer a well-known “Mobility-as-a-Service” service in Hamburg and Hanover. By the middle of the decade, we want to put the first driverless vehicles on the road. Safety is our top priority and takes precedence over everything else.

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As soon as our vehicles drive autonomously, there will be a wide range of opportunities through ridepooling. But what does that mean? Ridepooling is a dynamic and demand-driven mobility concept in which several passengers share a vehicle to cover the same or similar distance. Autonomous operation allows us to expand our offering quickly and efficiently compared to driver-based services to serve a larger and ever-growing number of customers. And that's where our ID. Buzz comes in – an excellent vehicle size for this type of service. After all, it is spacious enough to transport not only passengers, but also parcels comfortably and efficiently – for example, for smart transport solutions (Transportation-as-a-Service).

Advantages for urban mobility

The VW ID. Buzz at autonomous driving.

Less traffic and emissions for a better quality of life: We are firmly convinced that the use of autonomous driving in ridepooling has a significant social benefit. Cities around the world are longing for more efficient and climate-friendly transport, and we believe that ridepooling solutions can play a crucial role in this. As a pioneer in this field, MOIA is already making an important contribution to this and shows how ridepooling can optimize urban traffic.

Our goal is not only to improve urban mobility and reduce inner-city traffic through autonomous ridepooling, but also to increase safety on the roads and the quality of life in cities at the same time. In addition, such offers enable people who were previously dependent on other means of transport to make their mobility independent and flexible. In this way, autonomous ridepooling can also contribute to an inclusive society.

Our approach as a provider of autonomous driving

At the Volkswagen Group, we consistently focus on innovation and are actively shaping the future of autonomous vehicle technology. Our goal is to take advantage of autonomous driving while ensuring high safety standards. Here you will get an insight into how we, as a provider of autonomous driving, are proceeding to successfully implement this forward-looking technology.

1
Use of tried-and-tested standard technology

For the autonomously driving ID. Buzz, we are relying on technology from the ID. family, one of the most popular electric vehicle series in Europe. This tried and tested technology forms a stable basis for reliable operation and enables easy maintenance of our vehicle fleet, which will be in continuous use.

2
Partner for maximum potential

In order to make even better use of the potential of autonomous driving, we are collaborating with a development partner that is offering a highly scalable approach to technology and is already achieving impressive driving performances.

3
MOIA as the perfect test basis

Since 2019, the Volkswagen Group subsidiary MOIA has been offering its ridepooling service in Hamburg and Hanover and has established itself as a reliable and innovative mobility service. More than 7.5 million passengers have already benefited from MOIA's services. Thanks to this early investment in driver-based ridepooling, the Volkswagen Group is in a perfect position for the further development of this type of mobility service, thus creating an optimal test basis for autonomous driving. MOIA's offer is already very popular, as the app's excellent reviews noticeably show.

A self-driving VW ID. Buzz on a road in Germany.

Insights for the future: Test driving under real conditions

Whether on the test track or in a wide variety of traffic situations, we have been subjecting our autonomous ID. Buzz prototypes to intensive testing for three years. But that's not all: This year, we will also be actively present in our future areas of application within commercial vehicle use. For the first time, we invite media representatives and decision-makers to experience the innovative technology of autonomous driving up close. And in the coming year, the focus of our work will be on the promotion of test customers. They will then be able to book their journeys conveniently via app – as is already the case with MOIA today.

  • Safety

    Automated vehicles can increase road safety – for example, through a high level of attention, reliability and compliance with traffic rules. Before that, however, it is essential to validate through extensive tests whether these design-related properties, which improve road safety, are permanently present. Therefore, the capabilities of automated vehicles are put to the test in real traffic situations. Developers can then closely observe how automated vehicles respond to various challenges – be they pedestrians, cyclists or other vehicles. The vehicles currently in circulation are pure technology carriers with a Level 2 driving system in accordance with SAE J3016. They are operated with safety drivers. The approval required for this has been granted by the city of Braunschweig. This approval is applicable throughout Germany and has been granted on the basis of individual approval pursuant to sections 21 and 19(6) StVZO (German road traffic licensing regulations). Whether in road traffic or in a simulator, these extensive tests can be used to identify and minimize potential safety risks.

  • System capability

    Intensive testing under real world conditions makes it possible to evaluate the capabilities of automated vehicles in various situations. This is the only way to reliably check and fully assess that the systems are working as planned – regardless of whether they are dealing with difficult weather conditions or complex traffic scenarios. Every test drive in the real world provides us with invaluable data to evaluate the performance of the technology and identify areas for improvement.

  • User Experience & Adoption

    The road as a mouthpiece: The development of automated vehicles is also about the needs and concerns of the people who use and interact with them. Therefore, driving under real conditions is of immensely high value in order to gain a deep understanding of the needs of users and other road users – and thus to create broad acceptance for automated vehicles. Our extensive testing allows developers to gather valuable feedback from test drivers, passengers, and other road users. This information is hugely important in identifying areas where we can further improve comfort, usability and public acceptance of automated vehicles.

Tests and their results are more than just numbers and data: they are a key success factor in the development of automated vehicles – especially when tours are undertaken under real conditions. They provide us with unique insights into the safety issues, capabilities and acceptance of autonomous driving. These insights enable us to make informed decisions to continuously improve technology and shape the future of mobility.

Reality is the ultimate touchstone in the development of automated vehicles

We check drivers and technology

It is necessary to operate the technology under safe conditions and in a planned area of operation. This enables us to gain valuable experience with automated vehicles on public roads and to prepare them reliably and safely for the specific requirements of public transport.

Our strategy is to maintain test operations with automated vehicles manned with safety drivers until the safety and reliability of autonomous driving are proven. The safety drivers always bear full responsibility for the vehicle. This is designed in such a way that safety drivers can master it at any time. All safety drivers are carefully trained and tested by us. In addition, we analyze and verify the technology used before use to ensure that it is error-free and usable for the safety drivers to avert possible risks.

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