Mobileye allowed to test autonomous cars on public roads in Germany

Mobileye has received an automated vehicle (AV) testing permit recommendation from the independent technical service provider, TUV SUD. This allows Mobileye to perform AV testing anywhere in Germany, including urban and rural areas as well as the Autobahn at regular driving speed of up to 130 kilometres per hour. The AV testing in Germany in real-world traffic is starting now in and around Munich.

As one of the leading experts in the field of safe and secure automated driving, TUV SUD enabled Mobileye to obtain approval from German authorities by validating the vehicle and functional safety concepts of Mobileye’s AV test vehicle.

Johann Jungwirth, vice president, Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), Mobileye said, “Mobileye is eager to show the world our best-in-class self-driving vehicle technology and safety solutions as we get closer to making safe, affordable self-driving mobility solutions and consumer vehicles a reality. The new AV Permit provides us an opportunity to instill even more confidence in autonomous driving with future riders, global automakers and international transportation agencies. We thank TUV SUD for their trusted collaboration as we expand our AV testing to public roads in Germany.”

Why this matters?
Mobileye is one of the first non-OEM companies to receive a permit to test AVs on open roads in Germany. Until now, AV test drives in Germany have primarily taken place in closed and simulated environments. The basis for the independent vehicle assessment by TUV SUD in Germany builds on Mobileye’s existing program in place in Israel, where it has tested AVs for several years.

Patrick Fruth, CEO Division Mobility, TUV SUD added that, “With the TUV SUD AV-permit we bring in our broad expertise as a neutral and independent third party on the way to safe and secure automated mobility of the future. Our demanding assessment framework and test procedure considers state-of-the-art approaches to safety and combines physical real-world tests and scenario-based simulations.”

With the ability to test automated vehicles with a safety operator on public roads in Germany, Mobileye is taking another significant step toward the goal of a driverless future. On the heels of Mobileye’s acquisition of Moovit, a leading MaaS solutions company, as well as recent collaborations to test and deploy self-driving vehicles in France, Japan, Korea and Israel, the new testing permit strengthens Mobileye’s growing global leadership position as an AV technology as well as complete mobility solutions provider.

How it works
The new permit will allow Mobileye to demonstrate to the global automotive industry and partners the safety, functionality and scalability of its unique self-driving system (SDS) for MaaS and consumer autonomous vehicles.

The Mobileye SDS is comprised of the industry’s most advanced vision sensing technology, True Redundancy with two independent perception sub-systems, crowd-sourced mapping in the form of Road Experience Management (REM) and its pioneering Responsibility-Sensitive Safety (RSS) driving policy.

Although the first tests of AVs using Mobileye’s SDS will be completed in Munich, the company plans to also perform AV testing in other parts of Germany. In addition, Mobileye expects to scale open-road testing in other countries before the end of 2020.

In order to obtain the authorisation, Mobileye-powered AV test vehicles underwent a series of rigorous safety tests and provided comprehensive technical documentation. Part of the application also included a detailed hazard analysis, vehicles safety and functional safety concepts and proof that the cars can be safely integrated into public road traffic – an assessment that was made possible using Mobileye’s RSS.

As Mobileye begins self-driving vehicle testing in Germany, Mobileye and Moovit will start demonstrating full end-to-end ride hailing mobility services based on Moovit’s mobility platform and apps using Mobileye’s AVs. Intel is pursuing the goal of continuing to develop pioneering technologies together with Mobileye and Moovit that will make roads safer for all road users while also improving mobility access for all.