VW and Bosch are jointly developing autopilots: a thousand people against Tesla

Created: 01/27/2022, 08:22

By: Marcus Efler

A cooperation between the VW software subsidiary Cariad and Bosch is intended to reshuffle the cards in autonomous driving - and to catch up with Daimler and Tesla.

Wolfsburg – For many years it looked as if the American car manufacturer Tesla would outperform the traditional competition not only in electromobility, but also in automated driving.

In the meantime, however, the tide has turned: while the Texans are currently apparently stuck in a dead end with their approach of relying solely on cameras, Mercedes is the first manufacturer in the world to already have an approved system for Level 3 autonomy functions for series production .

(Tesla: Full Self Driving in the Snow: "Like a Young Puppy")

Autopilot development: VW and Bosch join forces against Tesla

The people from Stuttgart mainly developed this on their own responsibility.

A collaboration with the supplier and electronics specialist Bosch to develop self-driving robot taxis had previously failed.

But now Bosch is getting back into the big picture with another German car company: In cooperation with the Volkswagen subsidiary Cariad, Level 3 functions that temporarily take over driving are to be made available quickly for many cars.

Hands off: test drive at Bosch with autopilot.

(symbol image) © Bosch

A total of around 1,000 specialists from the Wolfsburg software company and the digital division of the Stuttgart automotive group want to develop an electronic platform for partially and highly automated driving that processes information in the 360-degree environment of the car in real time.

This could then sooner or later be used in various gradations in all models of the Volkswagen Group, as reported by 24auto.de.

(Study on automated driving: Insurers hardly see any relief)

Autopilot development: Audi used to be at the forefront

After all, it has some catching up to do compared to other car manufacturers: not only Tesla could soon regain its footing when it comes to autopilot, Daimler has also overtaken its competitor Audi in the meantime.

Although the Ingolstadt-based VW subsidiary also had a Level 3 system shortly before it was ready for series production, it did not consistently develop it further due to legal ambiguities.

Seen in this way, the partnership between Bosch and Cariad (for: “Car, I am digital”) represents a hopeful new start for both companies.