Mobileye, Intel's chip business for vision-based independent cars, has stated it would start a robotaxi service in Germany in 2022. This is the last major step of an enterprise that seeks to reverse the direction of AV development, both by becoming a supplier of autonomous driving technology and an afloat operator and service provider.


The taxi service will be run in conjunction with Germany's Sixt and Moovit rental vehicle business, an Israeli start-up specializing in $900 million in mobility data purchased recently by Intel. Customers may enjoy either the Sixt or the Mobileye app.


However, the launch will not be a full-service robotaxi service. Mobileye claims that "early driver testing" is scheduled for 2022 in Munich, but it does not go from testing to full-scale operations unless German authorities approve it. A spokesman stated that the vehicle would also have safety drivers behind the wheel "until regulatory clearances have been obtained."


Among today's self-driving businesses, Mobileye is unusual in its future ambitions. The firm is developing four different products with varying degrees of automation, including an advanced ADAS driver assistance system that it now provides to 25 companies and a premium ADAS to be launched with Zeekr, a Geely-recently announced electric car brand. None of the ADAS systems includes lidar, the laser sensor that detects the position of objects on the road in real-time.

The other two products of Mobileye will utilize lidar and are sophisticated in automation technology. Mobile Drive is an autonomous driving system using EyeQ systems on a single chip, together with a data crowdsourcing tool called Road Experience Management or REM, which leverages mobile-equipped car real-time data to create a worldwide 3D map. Customers such as Udelv, Transdev, Lohr, and Schaeffler will utilize this product for applications like delivery trucks and self-driving transport.

Mobileye CEO and President Amnon Shashua stated that robotaxi with Sixt and Moovit would be the most sophisticated form of AV technology. He said that while the company's ADAS operates solely utilizing cameras and software, the type of hardware configuration is not "safe enough."

Mobileye uses three Luminar lidars for object identification by the robotaxi — but the Intel-owned firm develops its in-house sensors for future cars.


"It's up to us to build a public trust for a business that deploys many thousands of self-driving cars," Shashua added, "and to prove that you are a lot, much better than human drivers."

Earlier, Intel stated in collaboration with Volkswagen that it plans to establish a robot taxi service in Israel in 2022. In addition, the chipmaker has an agreement to test autonomous cars in South Korea for a robotaxi service as well. These proposals are also awaiting local consent from authorities.

Mobileye has recently revealed intentions for testing its cars in New York City, a famously congested and challenging town for testing AVs. But the proposal already has difficulties with local legislators. The city's Transportation Department adopts new regulations requiring AV firms to acquire a Test Permit before any cars are deployed.

The question is if operators should be permitted to declare their autonomous cars "as excellent as human drivers" without any critical indications of performance, Shashua added. "It throws up a bunch of problems that essentially make suppliers or businesses who want to test run away from the city of New York," he added.