The IAA is Germany’s largest car trade fair and will remain so in 2023. Despite the new name – the trade fair has been called IAA Mobility since 2021 – and the promise of wanting to offer a platform for other forms of mobility, car manufacturers will dominate the picture again this year. Anyone interested in alternative mobility needs to take a closer look. The offering isn’t exactly extensive, but there are still a few interesting exhibitors there. For example, there are some e-bike and cargo bike manufacturers or a few local public transport projects. One thing stands out: the industry seems to see the future of public transport in, among other things, electric autonomous shuttle buses.
For example, there is a joint project between the automotive supplier Schaeffler and the Dutch industrial group VDL. Schaeffler is known for producing bearings and other components for cars, VDL makes its money, among other things, from the electrification of heavy commercial vehicles and has supplied some German transport companies with electric buses. Now the two companies have presented an autonomous shuttle at the IAA. The vehicle is almost five meters long and can accommodate up to nine people. It should drive without a safety driver. Externally it resembles a classic public bus, only shorter, rounder and more futuristic. The Israeli company Mobileye, which belongs to Intel, produces the autonomous driving system for the minibus.
No safety driver necessary
Till Ackermann from the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), an expert in autonomous driving in local transport, has high hopes for such autonomous shuttles: “We are glad that there are companies that want to use Level 4 shuttles in certain areas.” There are five levels of autonomous driving in Germany. At level 1, the driver still steers himself; there is only automatic assistance such as a lane departure warning system. Level 4 means that the vehicle can navigate independently in traffic on specified routes, it does not need a safety driver and can drive both with passengers and empty. “This level is sufficient for local public transport; here you travel in an on-demand area, on a line or in a network,” says Ackermann. In Germany, the “Autonomous Driving Act” enables the use of such Level 4 vehicles on fixed routes and in specified operating areas.
The Paderborn automotive supplier Benteler has developed a vehicle similar to that from Schaeffler and VDL under the Holon brand. This shuttle, the Holon Mover, will also be exhibited at the IAA. At first glance, the mover doesn’t differ much from the shuttle from Schaeffler and VDL, similar length, 360 degree window, and a wide entrance. Up to 15 people are to be transported in the mover, ten of them sitting and five standing. The company also emphasizes the inclusivity of the mover, which is equipped with an automatic ramp for wheelchair users.
There are already a few pilot projects in Germany in which autonomous shuttle buses are being tested in local public transport. In Regensburg, starting in 2021, a shuttle from the French company Navya drove on a one-kilometer-long test route for two years, but always with a safety driver on board. “Everything we’ve seen so far hasn’t really made it to level 4,” says Ackermann. The shuttles tested so far would need a safety driver, a remote control or a closed route. Ackermann hopes that the models from Schaeffler and VDL or Holon could be seamlessly integrated into normal traffic: “Only then can these vehicles be scaled up, i.e. used on a large scale.”
Ackermann sees a great need for autonomous buses. Especially in the outskirts of cities and in rural regions, the demand for public transport is not as great as in metropolises, but the supply is often poor. Autonomous shuttles could drive here. There would no longer be a need for large, mostly empty buses to run as before; the shuttles would be smaller, but would run more often or on demand.
They are still expensive prototypes
The start-up Inyo from near Munich has developed an autonomous light vehicle, the Inyo Cab, for use on the so-called first and last mile, i.e. the route between the train station and the workplace. The company is part of the Bayern Innovativ initiative represented at the IAA and is showing its vehicle to the public for the first time at a separate event on the sidelines of the trade fair. The Inyo Cab is smaller than the competition’s shuttles and can only accommodate four people. The cabs should be even more flexible and efficient to use than the larger models.
Companies like Inyo, Schaeffler and Holon are showing at the IAA that autonomous shuttles are already technically possible. However, a lot still needs to be clarified before they are actually used. It is not clear what customer service or ticket control will look like in the shuttles. In addition, the vehicles are expensive and would have to be purchased in large quantities. Till Ackermann is calling for support from the federal government and hopes that autonomous shuttles will be part of the cityscape in Germany by the end of the decade.
There are some interesting ideas on the subject of alternative mobility at the IAA. However, Ackermann doubts that the trade fair is the right place to negotiate tomorrow’s public transport. This would rather be defined at the Deutsche Bahn “Future Local Transport” event taking place at the same time in Berlin.