Features
5 nov 18

Mobileye and Volkswagen to invest in autonomous EV ride-hailing service in Israel

Mobileye, Volkswagen Group and Champion Motors have announced plans to create a joint venture to offer Israel’s first self-driving ride hailing service starting in 2019. Operating as “New Mobility in Israel”, the group’s proposal was formally accepted by the Israeli government during a ceremony at the Smart Mobility Summit in Tel Aviv.

Volkswagen Group will provide the electric vehicles and bring its knowledge and expertise in design and deployment of user-centered mobility services. Mobileye will provide its level-4 AV Kit, a turn-key, driverless solution comprised of hardware, driving policy, safety software and map data. Champion Motors will run the fleet operations and control centre. Together, the three companies will add the mobility platform and services, content and other MaaS tools, ensuring a seamless rider experience.

The government of Israel has committed to support the project in three main areas:

  1. Furnishing legal and regulatory support
  2. Sharing the required infrastructure and traffic data
  3. Providing access to infrastructure as needed

While New Mobility in Israel will be the country’s first commercial MaaS service with self-driving vehicles, all facilitations and rulings will be applied to all other ventures that wish to operate a MaaS in Israel.

The New Mobility in Israel project will start in early 2019 and scale to commercialisation by 2022.

“We are delighted to embark on a joint venture with a world-leading automotive OEM, aimed at delivering transformational mobility services,” said Professor Amnon Shashua, Mobileye CEO and senior vice president at Intel. “Our service aims to intelligently and dynamically adapt to the urban mobility needs of the twenty-first century, catering to the mobility-mileage demands within the city while minimising the direct/indirect societal costs - air/noise pollution, congestion and safety.”

Champion Motors, fully owned by Allied Group, has been representing the Volkswagen Group in Israel since 1965 as the direct importer and distributor of Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Seat and Volkswagen commercial vehicles. It is the second-largest car importer and distributor in the country and also provides funding to various mobility startups.

Image source: Mobileye

Authored by: Benjamin Uyttebroeck