Volkswagen and Mobileye join forces to launch an autonomous taxi service in Israel

Although it may seem like an ambitious and futuristic plan, the idea of Volkswagen and Mobileye joining forces to offer an autonomous taxi service in Israel will become a reality in 2019.

Volkswagen and Mobileye have joined forces to carry out an ambitious and futuristic idea. It involves offering an autonomous taxi service in Israel, scheduled to start in 2019.

It seems that, little by little, we are getting closer and faster to what science fiction has been showing us in movies for so many years: the concept of autonomous driving, with no driver, enjoying the world around them and without having to keep an eye on the route.

The agreement stipulates that Volkswagen will be in charge of supplying the fleet of electric cars, while, on the other hand, Mobileye will be responsible for the automatic driving technology and Champion Motors, the second largest vehicle importer and distributor in Israel, will manage the fleet.

Mobileye is the computer vision company owned by Intel. The technology company, specialised in developing microprocessors, has stated that “this is not a pilot project”, and that all the steps needed to make it a reality in the short term have already been initiated.

The models will be equipped with the AV kit supplied by Mobileye. It is a turnkey, driverless solution, which includes hardware, a driving policy, safety software and map data.

The project is expected to start at the beginning of 2019, that is, just around the corner. Only a small number of vehicles will begin to make it a reality, and once the feasibility of the project has been studied and verified, the number of electric cars is expected to rise to hundreds of units.

The union between Volkswagen and Mobileye marks the birth of the first commercial force known as MaaS, that is, “Mobility as a Service”.

If the project ends up being a resounding success, it will be the first step in bringing this type of service to the rest of the continents and moving ever closer to the concept of Life 2.0, that is, a life where everything is automated and obtaining goods and services will not require the presence of human beings.