Volkswagen conducts its first autonomous driving tests with passengers

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles has conducted its first autonomous driving tests with passengers on board.

A fleet of self-driving prototypes, based on the Volkswagen ID.Buzz, have hit the roads in Munich, where they will carry decision-makers from politics, public authorities and business.

The manufacturer has also launched a test programme in parallel in Austin, Texas, with the aim to expand both the establishment of commercially available transport services and the varied mobility portfolio of the Volkswagen Group.

The initiative is focused on the vehicle’s commercial use in urban centres in Europe and North America, both for ride-sharing schemes and transport services.

Christian Senger, member of the board of management responsible for development of autonomous driving at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, said: “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.

“This will help us to test, validate and refine the technology on American roads as well.”

The all-electric ID.Buzz vehicles, which offer mass production technology and are also equipped with a self-driving system from Mobileye, are classified as level 4 vehicles according to the SAE standard.

During the trial, all vehicles, which offer space for four passengers, are occupied by a supervising human driver.

The test fleet collects data on miles driven in a variety of driving scenarios to study as many traffic scenarios as possible.

Unlike in Germany, where Volkswagen Group subsidiary MOIA will be the first to use autonomous vehicles, Volkswagen will not operate autonomous driving services itself in the US in the future; instead this will be done by external companies from the mobility and transport sector.