Robotaxis from Mobileye receive TÜV approval for Germany

The vehicles will soon be tested in Darmstadt and Munich. In the future, they will be available as on-demand shuttles and courier services.

The Israeli Intel subsidiary Mobileye has received an approval recommendation from TÜV Süd for its robot cabs. The company made the announcement at the CES technology trade show in Las Vegas. Thus, vehicle type NIO ES8 is now allowed to drive on German roads - and completely without a human driver. 2021 Mobileye selected the car for its Mobility-as-a-Service project. The pilot phase is expected to take a step forward this year, with the first test cars driving in Munich and Darmstadt. Since permits are still missing, a human will still take the wheel for the first trips.

The cars of the company, which was bought by Intel in 2017, can be booked as on-demand shuttles. They are intended as a transport service for people, but can also be used as couriers for shopping, for example. Mobileye is testing the first autonomous vehicles not only in Germany, but throughout Europe together with service providers such as Sixt.

The Mobileye vehicles each use two detection systems, consisting of three long-range and six short-range sensors through a total of 13 cameras and a radar system. Despite these advances, however, a Prognos study commissioned by ADAC predicts that autonomous vehicles will not become a regular part of public transport until 2040.

In May 2021, the Bundestag and Bundesrat passed a law for autonomous driving. In principle, the cars will be allowed to participate in public road traffic, with specific regulations to follow gradually. Since the first of January 2023, autonomous vehicles of level three, i.e. highly automated vehicles, but which cannot drive permanently without human intervention, can also drive up to 130 km/h. Previously, only 60 km/h was permitted.