Bosch and Daimler have launched a Robotaxi pilot in San Jose, Calif.
More than a year after first announcing plans for a pilot robotaxi service in San Jose, Calif., Bosch and Daimler have launched the test program. A small fleet of Mercedes-Benz S-class sedans equipped with highly automated driving system are now carrying passengers in the Silicon Valley city.
Like other similar pilot programs, the big Mercedes sedans aren’t completely driverless. A safety driver sits in the left front seat, watching the road and ready to take over if anything goes awry. The right seat is occupied by a technician responsible for capturing data from the vehicle.
Since the California public utility commission requires companies to get a special permit to carry regular passengers, the Daimler-Bosch cars are only carrying employees for now as most AV companies do. Daimler and Bosch hope to begin offering service to the general public in San Jose as soon as possible, but that’s not likely to happen until well into 2020 at the earliest.
For now, this isn’t a go-anywhere service yet. There are fixed pick-up and drop-off points in downtown and west San Jose along San Carlos street and Stevens Creek Boulevard. There’s no word yet from the partners on when the service area will be expanded.
Employees that want to use the service will use an app developed internally by the Daimler Mobility AG division of the automaker. As with most companies running these sorts of pilots, the goals of the test are to gain insights into user experience and better understand how robotaxis can fit into a multi-modal mobility ecosystem that includes mass transit and micro-mobility.
The partnership between Bosch and Daimler pre-dates a separate relationship the automaker has with BMW. The Bosch partnership is focused on developing level 4 (highly automated vehicles that don’t require human supervision or hand-off within a defined operating region) and level 5 (automated vehicles that can operate everywhere) robotaxis. The BMW partnership is focused systems for consumer use such as automated highway driving.
Bosch and Daimler have teams of engineers working in both Stuttgart, Germany (where both companies are headquartered) and Sunnyvale, California. They have access to a specific test track in Germany designed for automated vehicle testing as well as simulation platforms. Daimler Mobility is also developing a fleet management platform to enable integration of many types of vehicles including human driven and automated. A Daimler Mobility ride-hailing platform for human driven vehicles is currently testing in Silicon Valley and Germany .
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