Intel Subsidiary, Mobileye Builds And Deploys Electric Shuttle In US

Mobileye, Benteler EV Systems and Beep will launch driverless shuttles. (photo: twitter @benteler_group)

JAKARTA – Mobileye, a business unit of Intel Corp. plans to build and deploy self-driving electric shuttle vehicles with partners in the United States by 2024. According to Mobileye executives, the project is their attempt to improve its automated driving system. excluding taxis and delivery vehicles.

Mobileye, Benteler EV Systems and Beep will launch on-demand driverless shuttles, which will feature 12 to 14 seats and no steering wheel or pedals in the cab.

"The shuttle will operate in a "geo-fenced area" where the speed limit is 35 miles per hour or less," Hinrich Woebcken, a member of the advisory board for Beep, a mobility service provider, told Reuters.

They expect to have several hundred vehicles like this on US roads in their first year of deployment. They also aim to increase the number to between 10.000 and 15.000 globally.

Mobileye had previously planned to deploy robotaxis in Israel and Germany by the end of this year pending regulatory approval from local authorities. They are also working with Silicon Valley startup Udelv to put electric-powered automated delivery vehicles into service in the United States by 2023.

“Mobileye will prove to US federal and state regulators that its self-driving system will be safer than human drivers,” said Johann Jungwirth, vice president of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) at Mobileye.

"On a technology perspective, we feel very, very bullish and very strongly that the technology is actually almost ready," he added.

Executives say the shuttle will help save driver costs and address driver shortages, as well as address urban problems such as emissions and congestion.

"We see this exciting and growing opportunity for autonomous driving, the autonomous shuttle market. So we see it as a blue ocean," said Marco Kollmeier, managing director of Benteler EV Systems GmbH.

Benteler EV Systems, part of the German auto parts group Benteler International AG, will build a transport that meets the automotive industry and safety standards for public roads.

This is proof, if the driver's job in the future will be eroded, it may not even be needed anymore.