Mobileye, the Intel subsidiary dedicated to autonomous driving announced on December 16, 2021, the launch of a taxi service in Paris in partnership with the RATP group. For the company, this involves testing its technology of its vehicles in the heart of heavy traffic and obtaining the necessary authorizations from regulators for large-scale deployment from 2022.
A first limited test, in partnership with RATP and Galeries Lafayette
Mobileye, which wishes to accelerate its development through the implementation of pilot programs in real situations, has just received the necessary authorizations to circulate its vehicles in the streets of Paris. The capital with its high volume of pedestrians and heavy traffic appears to be the perfect playground for demonstrating the reliability of the technology and obtaining the approval of regulators on a larger scale. “It will definitely help us get feedback from drivers and gain experience in one of the most complex driving environments. It’s even crazier than New York City ”, said Johann Jungwirth in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
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For the moment, the test remains quite limited. In collaboration with RATP, Mobileye has organized an on-demand autonomous taxi service that will allow Galeries Lafayette Paris Haussmann employees only to make trips to work four days a week using the Moovit app. Service acquired by Intel in May 2020 for $ 900 million. Each Mobileye test vehicle is capable of carrying two passengers at a time. A Mobileye safety driver as well as a RATP co-pilot will be present during the journeys to ensure the good safety of the passengers during the test. No figures have been released regarding the duration of the test or the number of vehicles deployed.
“Urban mobility is inseparable from the challenges of our time and should enable us to meet the challenges of the sustainable city”, said Alexandre Liot, General Manager of Galeries Lafayette Haussmann. ” Today, it is essential to think about improving and transforming mobility, to prepare for the future of city centers and allow Paris to continue to be attractive. This is why, as the French leader in department stores, we are proud to join forces with Mobileye and the RATP group to participate in this innovative project which reflects on the transport of tomorrow ”.
A sales department from 2022
The company, which also operates test vehicle fleets in New York, Munich, Detroit, Tokyo, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, but also in China, intends to quickly launch the commercial operation of its fleet. The company is expected to launch commercial robotaxis services under the MoovitAV (AV for autonomous vehicle) brand in Munich and Tel Aviv in 2022, after obtaining regulatory approval.
Once autonomous taxis are deployed, technology should very quickly arrive in our public transport. For the RATP group, the world’s third largest public transport operator, it is ” the opportunity to test a new use case: an autonomous car service for companies, which will also allow us to test the vehicle’s autonomous technology for possible integration into other modes of transport such as a bus or a minibus », Declared Côme Berbain, RATP Group’s innovation director.
Through these tests, Intel is slowly but surely preparing the IPO of its subsidiary, 4 years after having bought it for 15 billion dollars. Intel announced earlier this month that it plans to turn its Jerusalem-based subsidiary into a public company with a valuation of around $ 50 billion.