Last week it was about the attempts of the German car manufacturers to keep up with autonomous driving. Conclusion: More than a maximum of level 3 (highly automated driving) in traffic jams in fine weather is not possible. Strictly speaking, Tesla can – and this was also noted in the forum – only level 2, but experts still agree that the company is ahead of the game with aggressive advertising, risky rollout and, in particular, the consistent extraction of test data when using autopilot.

Approx. 680 Millions of kilometers driven with autopilot, a total of 5 so far, 33 Billion kilometers – in this regard, no one Tesla can do that Hold water. Markus Duesmann, CEO of Audi AG, who is by no means alone in his assessment made in August: “When it comes to computers and software architecture, Tesla certainly has a two-year lead, and automated driving too.” What is missing: In the rapid world of technology, there is often time to rearrange the many news and backgrounds. At the weekend we want to take it, follow the sidewalks away from the current, try different perspectives and make nuances audible.

Questionable stage model The level model of autonomous driving with its six levels may be misleading overall, as it suggests a technical development that is progressing steadily from a low to a high level of automation or autonomy – comparable to the numbering of mobile radio standards (4G, 5G) or software versions. In addition, this representation is often supplemented by a time axis, which also gives the impression that the stages are reached one after the other.

From one level to the next there are definitely worlds, especially from level 3 to level 4, much more changes than the simple version increase suggests. We could also speak of a tiered model of four-wheeled or two-axle transport and thus refer to prams (level 1), go-karts, cars and buses (level 4) – all four-wheeled and two-axle road vehicles. It is obvious that this level scale makes little sense – the differences between the levels are greater than the similarities.

Degree of automation of automated driving

(Image: VDA)

Two development paths Instead of a linear development towards more automation, two separate areas of application are emerging: On the one hand, increasingly advanced assistance systems in private vehicles correspond to this levels 1 to 3 in the standard model. The focus here is still on the vehicle and its driver; The auto industry favors and pursues this technology path.

On the other hand, there is the operation of driverless vehicles in limited areas of application, as robo-taxi fleets in the transport of people or goods. This corresponds to level 4, here, for example, driverless taxis or shuttle services are possible, limited to a specific operational design domain, defined routes or private property. This is also the area in which autonomous shuttles and people movers can be found. A lot happens during this step: The driver becomes a passenger.

This also makes it clear that this variant of autonomous driving is much more similar to public transport – because there is also chauffeur, professionals sit at the wheel of buses, trains and taxis – as the autonomous vehicle à la auto industry, the ever more technologically advanced private car, at the wheel of which despite “Autopilot” (Tesla), “Super Cruise” (General Motors) and “Drive Pilot” ( Daimler) the same tired driver-person is still sitting. Perhaps it would therefore make sense not to speak of “autonomous driving” at all, but instead – depending on what is meant – to speak of “assisted driving” or “driverless passenger transport” to name the two development paths differently.