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Johann Jungwirth sits in a good mood in front of his computer in Jerusalem.

The German manager shows the app on his mobile phone, which proves: He is vaccinated.

High vaccination rate, digital vaccination certificate - there are several reasons to look in amazement at Israel from Germany.

Another could soon be added: autonomous cars.

Jungwirth is responsible for driverless mobility services at Mobileye.

And he wants to start such a service in Tel Aviv.

Not at some point in test operation, but regularly in 2022. “Next year we will take out the safety driver and offer fleets of self-driving taxis in the first cities,” the engineer announced in an interview with WELT AM SONNTAG.

"I'm really looking forward to it, it's going to be gigantic."

Mobileye, which belongs to the chip group Intel, wants to get approval for the vehicles from the Israeli authorities this year.

They should be able to master what is known as Level 4 of autonomous driving: the car no longer needs a driver.

A fleet of a hundred autonomous cars is planned for the start.

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In Germany, too, robotic taxis could start faster than expected.

"If all the conditions are right, we would like to come to Germany with our service from next year," says Jungwirth.

"I would be happy if the Bundestag, Bundesrat and Ministry of Transport create the appropriate framework for this."

Soon the driver's seat can remain empty

Source: Mobileye / Intel Beatrix Weinrich / Mobileye / Intel

If the law on autonomous driving is passed in the summer as planned, the necessary conditions would be met.

The Federal Motor Transport Authority could then approve the vehicles; the federal states would have to approve operation.

"In principle, the law would create the framework for operating driverless mobility solutions in Germany," says Jungwirth.

In Munich, Mobileye is already testing its cars with security drivers on board.

In Tel Aviv, Volkswagen cars with Mobileye technology were supposed to be used, and a joint venture was even planned.

But nothing came of it.

From industry circles it is heard that Mobileye is starting with vehicles from other manufacturers, VW is apparently not yet ready.

Jungwirth does not currently want to say which models Mobileye will rely on.

Mobileye sees itself as a supplier for the entire industry

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In Wolfsburg, enthusiasm for the project has evidently cooled noticeably.

The developers are still working with the experts from Israel on their self-driving ID.Buzz.

However, the system from Argo AI from the USA, a start-up in which VW and Ford are involved, has priority in tests on the road.

With its technology, Mobileye sees itself as a supplier to the entire industry.

"We work very closely with BMW, VW and the other manufacturers to bring our solutions to market," says Jungwirth.

"Most manufacturers are currently focused on driver assistance systems."

This is a sentence that makes it clear what roles in the automotive world of the future could look like: while car manufacturers offer vehicles with lane departure warning, cruise control or parking assistance, autonomous taxis are operated by software companies.

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Brands like BMW or Daimler are threatened with relegation to interchangeable hardware producers.

"The manufacturers' focus is very much on selling vehicles to end users," says Jungwirth, who knows both sides.

Before joining Mobileye, the 47-year-old worked at Volkswagen.

There “JJ” was considered a digital guru, after all he came to Wolfsburg from Apple in Silicon Valley.

Back then, speculation about the iPhone manufacturer's car ambitions had just died down a bit.

Currently, however, the signs are growing again that the company founded by Steve Jobs could build an iCar.

The engineer does not want to determine whether Apple will be one of the future competitors.

“I still know Steve Jobs and have a lot of respect for the company,” says Jungwirth.

Apple has incredible resources: "If you want to get into the auto business, you can."

VW is the only German manufacturer planning a robotaxi

It is similarly uncertain whether the traditional carmakers will participate in the robotaxi market.

In Germany only VW has announced that it will offer its own service from 2025.

"Every group has to decide for itself when the right time is to get involved," says Jungwirth.

Smaller companies are always faster in business at the beginning of technological leaps.

The market could be occupied quickly: In addition to Mobileye, the Google subsidiary Waymo is considered a pioneer, Amazon, Apple and the General Motors subsidiary Cruise are also investing billions in autonomous driving.

Initially, the level 4 equipment will only pay off in Robotaxi fleets.

"The technology is still so expensive that end users could not afford it as an optional extra," says Jungwirth.

Private vehicles without a driver at the wheel could only be affordable from 2024 or 2025, and then mid-range cars by the end of the decade.

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The Mobileye manager is convinced that only around five companies will develop and deliver the systems for this: “I could imagine that one or two automakers would have the chance to belong to the handful of suppliers - one of them could be Tesla.

But most manufacturers will rely on partnerships. "

Mobileye system has a safety net

The Mobileye system is comparatively complex: "In our Mobileye Drive self-propelled solution, we operate two systems in parallel in the vehicle: both of them could enable driverless driving independently of one another," says Jungwirth.

While one system only uses the images from a total of eleven cameras to analyze the vehicle's surroundings and make driving decisions, the second system can access data from lidar and radar sensors in addition to two other cameras. "With both systems running in parallel and independently, we can show the authorities that the vehicle is safer than a person," says Jungwirth.

For him, the goal of the development is clear: a world without road traffic victims.

"The 1.35 million traffic fatalities per year are unacceptable," says the Mobileye manager.

He is certain that this value will improve very soon thanks to software-controlled autonomous vehicles.

"In Germany I would assume that someone who lives in a metropolitan area and is born today no longer needs to get a driver's license."

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