AVSC is very pleased to be featuring VW in our member spotlight series. VW joined AVSC in October 2019 and is one of our longest-standing members. This spotlight highlights VW's goals, achievements, and current operations.
 
 
Volkswagen is transforming from being purely a vehicle manufacturer to an integrated mobility provider. The company is using advanced technology to improve the quality of people’s lives by offering modern and innovative vehicles that American consumers can rely on and trust. Volkswagen believes that offering safe, electric, automated, on-demand shared rides is the next advancement in moving people and goods efficiently and safely. 

Volkswagen’s approach to safely developing, testing and deploying AVs leverages decades of experience, including collaborating with Stanford University to win the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge and finishing second in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge. Volkswagen builds on experience with automated vehicle pilots in Germany by recently beginning an AV test program in Austin, Texas. Currently, VW operates a fleet of 10 test vehicles with safety drivers on Austin City roads.

Volkswagen has based its automated vehicle fleet on the all-electric “ID. Buzz” van, which is outfitted with an ADS (Automated Driving Systems) developed in partnership with Mobileye. The company plans to responsibly scale its test fleet, expanding test operations from Austin to additional American cities. 

AVSC’s best practices are aimed at advancing standards development in automated driving safety. Volkswagen believes in AVSC's mission, which is why it was one of the first members of AVSC. In addition to AVSC, the company actively participates in SAE, ISO and various other standards bodies. The company actively participates in research programs like the VTTI Automated Mobility Partnership (AMP) project, which intends to understand human driving behavior and use it to inform automated driving development by collecting and analyzing naturalistic driving behavior.

Volkswagen is excited to be testing in United States. With an emphasis on safety and transparency, the company is working to be a trusted partner with local, state and federal stakeholders.
 
AVSC Best Practices that are particularly relevant to Volkswagen’s development and testing programs:

• Adapting a Safety Management System (SMS) for ADS Testing and Evaluation
• First Responder Interactions
• Data Collection
• ADS-DV Test Drivers
• ADS Remote Assistance Use Case

 
AVSC thanks VW for all their efforts and contributions in working towards making AVs safer and more reliable.
 
Check back again to see who is in our next member spotlight.