VW Plans to Have Autonomous Microbus Ready for Roads in 2025
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Volkswagen AG 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.
The ultimate development focus will be on densely populated urban areas that pose “high complexity for the technology, but also offer the basis for intensive use of mobility offerings,” said Christian Senger, the head of autonomous driving at VW’s van unit.
VW and fellow Argo backer Ford Motor Co. are trying to catch up to leaders such as Waymo on self-driving technology that has proven extremely expensive and challenging to bring to market safely. General Motors Co.’s self-driving unit Cruise backed off plans to deploy robotaxis in 2019 and has yet to roll any out. Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. each reached deals in recent months to sell their driverless divisions.
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