Volkswagen Group wants to create a standard for self-driving technology together with other carmakers. This standard should give car manufacturers better legal protection against lawsuits arising from accidents involving autonomous vehicles.
This is reported by a Volkswagen manager to Automotive News. The manager wishes to remain anonymous as the plans have not yet been made public. Nor are the plans final yet. "If you are involved in an accident, you will have a better chance in court if you can prove that your car meets the latest technical standards," the anonymous manager said.
Fatal accident in Arizona
Concerns about damage claims and lawsuits arising from accidents involving autonomous vehicles are topical following a fatal accident in March in which an Uber autonomous Volvo XC90 struck a pedestrian in US Tempe, Arizona. The vehicle failed to notice this pedestrian and failed to brake, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board later ruled.
The Volvo XC90 comes standard with technology meant to detect obstacles to prevent accidents. This technology is provided by Aptive. This company reports that this technology was disabled on the XC90 involved in the accident. Uber is said to have deliberately turned off the technology in order to test its own technology.
Fifteen parties involved
By creating an industry-wide standard for autonomous vehicles, Volkswagen wants to ensure carmakers are stronger in court. Volkswagen's anonymous manager would not name carmakers or other companies involved in the talks. They are said to involve more than 15 different parties, including automakers.
Volkswagen hopes to form an alliance with these parties, similar to the Here alliance of German carmakers focused on high-resolution digital maps or the Ionity consortium for fast charging stations for electric vehicles. However, Volkswagen's anonymous manager argues that self-driving vehicles involve a very different level of complexity.
Open source technology
Several parties are said to have already approached Volkswagen with commercial technology. However, Volkswagen would not find the use of commercial technology acceptable and wants to deploy open source technology that can be used by all participants without restrictions. According to the manager, this is necessary to ensure that tests for autonomous vehicles can be compared, so that validated data from one party is also applicable to other parties involved.
BMW has already expressed interest in forming alliances to share the development costs of autonomous vehicles. Klaus Froehlich, board member and head of R&D at BMW, reports to Reuters that carmakers and major automotive suppliers are increasingly in talks about creating a single standard for systems in self-driving cars. "Everyone is interested or should be interested (ed: in standard for autonomous vehicles)," Froehlich said at a recent event at which BMW presented the futuristic electric and autonomous crossover iNEXT.
Securing raw materials for batteries
Froehlich also reports that BMW is aiming to strike deals to secure raw materials for batteries for self-driving cars. By striking deals with mining companies, BMW wants to ensure that suppliers have access to these raw materials at low prices. Batteries are seen as one of the biggest cost items in electric vehicles. Therefore, by reducing the production cost of batteries, carmakers can lower the cost price of electric vehicles and thus strengthen their competitive position.
BMW is said to have already signed one deal, while more are expected to be signed in due course. The main challenge in closing these deals, according to Froehlich, is finding mining companies that do not exploit workers or employ children.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
Source: Automotive News
Source: Reuters
Source: Bloomberg
Source photo: Pixabay / dgozgozz
