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| Volkswagen ID Buzz passes the self-driving test |
Volkswagen has announced that it will use its new ID Buzz electric vehicle for Tier 4 commercial autonomous services by 2025.
"This year we used the autonomous driving system developed by Argo AI for field tests in Germany for the first time and we used a copy of the ID Buzz," said Christian Singer, Managing Director of Volkswagen Autonomous.
Argo AI is an independent startup that has been invested in Volkswagen and Ford.
Volkswagen said: The commercial use of ID Buzz would be similar to that of Moia, a travel agency founded in 2016 and owned by the Volkswagen Group.
Moia, which owns its own electric car, operates jointly in two cities in Germany.
Alongside this announcement, Volkswagen has also released a schematic diagram of an autonomous test vehicle that Germans can see on the road at any time.
The LIDAR sensor can be seen near the corner, and more technology must be used on the overhanging roof to allow the truck to better recognize its surroundings.
Level 4 autonomous driving means that the ID Buzz electric delivery truck can be operated without manual intervention, but can only be used in a specified geographical area.
No automaker currently offers this level of automation, but Honda has indicated that its next-generation iconic car has reached Level 3 in Japan.
General Motors Cruze began testing Level 4 autonomous vehicles in San Francisco in the second half of last year, and Waymo expanded the availability of its autonomous vehicles to more customers in Phoenix in 2019.
Volkswagen announced in late 2019 that it will partner with the Qatar Investment Authority to roll out autonomous electric transmission systems in Doha by 2022 to supplement public transportation in the city.
In addition to the World Cup games, the company plans to launch the ID Buzz electric minivan in Qatar, which will be used as public transportation when driving on semi-hard roads.