Imagine a cohort of Sedric concepts autonomously swarming through traffic
A rule of the thumb tells us that the future car will be both all-electric and self-driving, with not so much words and ideas spared for autonomous fleets. Volkswagen, however, is also looking to cover this base.
According to Automotive News, Johann Jungwirth, head of digitization strategy at VW Group believes that fleets of fully autonomous ride-sharing cars will be a normal occurrence in “two to five” cities in the next four years.
Mentioning the Sedric concept, Michael Mauer, VW’s design chief stated for the same media outlet that it will first transport the carmaker’s employees at the Wolfsburg factory before heading to public use.
Shown at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, VW’s Sedric prototype is a Level 5 self-driving “cab” integrated in a larger fleet of similar vehicles whose operation would be overseen by a sole operator – think of an air traffic controller, for example.
The report also mentions that getting shuttles like Sedric out in congested cities to serve the population would happen through VW’s collabos with Moia and Gett mobility brands, as the carmaker plans to leave no address uncovered.
ALSO IN THE NEWS: Audi’s Aicon and Elaine concepts shown in Frankfurt 2017 try to speed up the transition towards self-driving EVs for VAG, but the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is quickly making up ground.