Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has begun the very first tests of its autonomous driving models in Munich, Germany. On the road to series production readiness, the self-driving all-electric Volkswagen ID. Buzz AD (Autonomous Driving) will be hitting the road for the first time over the next few weeks. Volkswagen’s test programme has also launched in parallel in Austin, Texas, USA. The AD vehicle development process is focused on the vehicle’s commercial use in urban centres in Europe and North America.
The Group subsidiary MOIA has been on the market as a mobility provider of ridesharing services since 2019 and has transported more than 8.5 million passengers to date. MOIA also contributes its data to the daily development work.
The growing test fleet collects data on miles driven in a variety of driving scenarios. Each of the vehicles, which are classified as level 4 vehicles according to the SAE standard, is equipped with cameras, radar and lidar technology. During the test phase, all vehicles are occupied by supervising human drivers at all times.
“Expanding our autonomous vehicle programme to North America is the next step in our global strategic roadmap and the result of a long-term investment,” said Christian Senger, member of the Board of Management responsible for development of autonomous driving at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles. “This will help us to test, validate and refine the technology on American roads as well.” The aim is to expand both the establishment of commercially available transport services and the varied mobility portfolio of the Volkswagen Group.