Based on the Padarbourne Airport, engineer Michael Spengler displayed how far the self-driving technology in Germany is. He enters a route in his smartphone, taps a button, and puts his hands on his lap. The small car starts navigating at a speed of seven kilometers per hour between the building and the parks.
“It can go fast – 20 to 25 km/h [12 to 15 mp/h] There is no problem, “The researcher of the Ougsburg University of Applied Sciences has told while sitting on the driver’s seat – only one security, he notes, if something goes wrong then it is ready to take it.
The camera, radar, so-called light detection and ranging (lidar) sensors, and a high-demonstration computer carries the car on the course. After a small loop, the vehicle applies a brake on its own at the destination, where a crowd is awaited to find the first key of autonomous driving.
The event was organized by Nemo (New Mobility) Paderborn, which was an alliance of academics and 75 partners of the industry. Like many other Consortia across the country, it expects Germany to help claim the role of leadership in technology.
But there are challenges in Germany. High car ownership, a strong taxi lobby, and a well -developed public transit network leaves very little space in the mobility market for newcomers. Once the government funding has dried up, many projects have been featured.
Energy efficient flock
Germany has authorized Level 4 autonomy, which allows passers to watch, work or look at films while traveling – provided that vehicles work on predecessor routes or under distance supervision.
But according to the German Motor -run association ADAC, progress is a slow party, it is absolutely unimaginable for German manufacturers to go into chain production with an insufficient system.
So, while Dribbles taxis are given a general vision in the United States and parts of China, German deployment is fixed, limited to local routes and limited to minibus.
Many German towns and cities such as Munich and Monhem are testing autonomous driving, and even though Ned has been happy with the discovery of a car, traditional car drivers are allegedly angry with their vigilant driving style.
Nemo wants to change it. Its concept includes the “flock” of a light autonomous cab, which handles small trips and first and final-meal connections. For long distances, cars can automatically couple for an autonomous so -called tractor unit, which can create a convoy before separating their destinations.
In late August, the first cab was allowed to drive autonomally on the airport ground. The larger tractor vehicle is still under development, the first commercial rollout in Padarborn by 2026 is expected.
Energy efficiency is the calling card of the project. The cab designed for four passengers is half -weight of a traditional car and only carry small batteries, which limit their boundaries.
To compensate, the tractor unit “wants to recharge them on the moving of its battery, hydrogen tank and fuel cell,” says Thomas Troster of the University of Padarborn, while traveling in the slipstream of the tractor unit, reduces the energy consump of the cabs.
“We are not taking the existing cars back to autonomy; we are fully creating new vehicles,” Troster told DW.
Rural mobility
Munich Startup Inyo is supplying autonomous cars, while Holon – a spinoff of the German auto supplier Bentaler – is the development of tractor units.
The service is designed to be cheaper, but is not more expensive than going by bus. “It depends on that the travelers are ready to accept the waiting time, the goods, and what they accept to include others during the ride,” the truster said. For example, a woman may want to book a vehicle for herself alone at night for an additional fee.
The model of Nemo Descrbe is as “personal public transit” – especially suited to rural arrows where buses are immoral.
A village near Padarbourne, Atalon, is among them. In 2024, it was named “Worlds Smartst” by the world’s largest professional association Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
Talking with DW, Atalon’s Mayor Ulrig Ahle said that the community has been running the so-called e-village car service for five years, in which people can book rides through smartphones. A service for the residents without the driver’s license would be a “next logical step”, said, saying that Atalon had already created a 3D digital twin of the village, where the autonomous cab has virtually driving.
From pilots to mainstream
Somewhere else, the use of Germany’s largest city is moving fast. In Hamburg, transit operators Hochbahan Holon and Volkswagen are deploying about 20 autonomous vehicles in partnership with Mia. Fleet wants minibus for 15 passengers and Volkswagen (VW) electric cars for small groups.
Initially, security drivers will be present, but vehicles will work with fixed routes or schedule. The test users will have to book the ride through the app within an app within the 37-class kilometer zone.
The Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) first predict 4 regular level services that may be launched within five years. Vehicles are technically mature and legally allowed.
But it warns that autonomic driving will not solve the problems of Germany traffic and land use if it replaces 48 million private cars in the country for one by one. Instead, the drills fleet should be integrated into the public transit system, and the scaling up will not come.
Therefore, instead of continuing Mandal Pilot projects, the Industry Group wants the German government to support a nationwide rollout. Only tons, it argues, can the government pledge to become a global leader in autonomous mobility.
This article was original in German.