The Volkswagen Group and Bosch partnership is making significant strides in the development of self-driving cars. CARIAD, VW’s software-focused subsidiary, confirmed in a recent blog post that the partnership, known as the “Automated Driving Alliance,” is now testing self-driving cars on the road.
The collaboration, which was announced in January 2022, was given the green light in July by the German Cartel office. Since then, around 1,500 staff, equally split between the two companies, have been working on the project across Germany, with hubs in Ingolstadt and Stuttgart.
The partnership’s immediate priority is the introduction of a driver assistance system that allows for active highway lane changes, which would enable Level 3 hands-free driving. This level of automation is classified by the Society of Automotive Engineers as being able to take control of certain driving scenarios, with the human driver being ready to intervene at all times.
The partnership is also evaluating the potential to extend the capabilities to include Level 4 functionality, which would allow for complete car control in specific geographic locations.
With the software stack for automated driving completed, the partnership is now ramping up testing for its fleet of vehicles, which have been equipped with new sensors and electronic control units. The cars are being evaluated in various scenarios, including on the road, in closed-loop systems where functions are taking over driving tasks, and in open-loop systems gathering valuable data to fine-tune the software stack and develop new algorithms.
Although VW Group has previously stated that “the first functions” of the partnership with Bosch will be implemented this year, they have not provided details on which car will benefit from this technology and when it will be available to customers. The partnership’s progress is promising, and it could be a sign of significant strides in self-driving technology in the coming years.
