Las Vegas Mobileye is one of the world’s leading suppliers of sensory systems for the car. Now founder Amnon Shashua is focusing on Germany. “We are currently holding talks with potential German customers and are open to new partners,” says the head of the company from Israel, which specializes in autonomous driving, in an interview with Handelsblatt.
Most recently, Volkswagen had agreed on a comprehensive cooperation with Mobileye – and at the same time discontinued the Argo AI joint venture launched with Ford. Shashua does not want to comment on the deal. Together, the new partners want to improve autonomous driving performance on the motorway, among other things, according to industry circles.
As the founder confirms, another partnership with a major car manufacturer that does not come from Europe is to be announced in the coming weeks. It would be the seventh cooperation: Mobileye has already signed contracts with four Chinese and two European manufacturers, according to its own information.
Autonomous driving: BMW turned away from Mobileye
In 2017, the chip manufacturer Intel took over the Israeli company and took it to the stock exchange again in parts last October. For Mobileye, attracting new customers is extremely important. In 2022, the company had recorded some setbacks. So BMW had turned away from Mobileye.
Top jobs of the day
Find the best jobs now and
be notified by e-mail.
At the moment, the vehicles of the Munich-based company are equipped with the system from Israel. However, for future generations of electric cars, BMW is cooperating with Californian competitor Qualcomm. “We will hopefully have a closer relationship again in the future,” says Shashua about BMW.
Amnon Shashua
The Mobileye CEO is recruiting for other partners in the automotive industry.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
US chip giant Nvidia, on the other hand, recently announced a new partnership with the world’s largest contract manufacturer Foxconn at the CES technology fair in Las Vegas to jointly develop autonomous vehicle platforms.
>> Read also: Tech companies and vehicle manufacturers are fighting for the car of the future
Mercedes-Benz has also brought Nvidia on board. The Swabians expect the upcoming approval of their autonomous driving system on the highways of the US states of Nevada and California in the coming weeks. From a speed of up to 60 kilometers per hour, with these systems of the so-called level 3, the driver can turn his attention away from the road, the liability passes to the manufacturer.
Mobileye CEO criticizes Mercedes approach
Shashua thinks little of this approach. “All autonomous driving systems below a speed of 130 kilometers per hour do not make sense,” he says. Too often, drivers would have to intervene, the system switches on and off at will. “This is not marketable in a sustainable way.“ The goal must be for the car to drive autonomously from the motorway entrance to the exit – and also to be able to deal with dangerous situations without the driver having to intervene.
Basically, the Jerusalem computer science professor thinks little of the previous five-stage classification of autonomous driving systems: “Level 2, 3, 4 is a term for engineers, not for users.” Mobileye distinguishes between systems in which the driver can take his hand off the wheel and those in which he no longer has to look at the road at all. “The driver needs to know when the system intervenes and when it doesn’t,” says Shashua.
The 62-year-old is optimistic about the use of robotaxis in Germany: this is getting closer. “Our test fleet in Munich collects data every day,” he says. The technology recently received a recommendation for approval from Tüv Süd. This will enable Mobileye to operate autonomous vehicles with a safety driver on all German roads.
Mobileye had originally announced the launch of a Robotaxi service in Munich for 2022. Now it was said that the pilot phase would “continue to pick up speed” in 2023, after the legal requirements had been launched.
In Germany, Benteler from Paderborn is also relying on Mobileye technology. At CES, the automotive supplier presented its autonomous minibus “Holon”.
Fully autonomous vehicles: Additional sensors required
Shashua also thinks little of Elon Musk’s repeated promises: “Tesla’s approach is dangerous.“ The head of the electric car manufacturer had announced the launch of fully autonomous vehicles several times and then had to row back. In contrast to all competitors, Tesla uses only cameras, no additional radar and lidar sensors. After a series of sometimes fatal accidents, the US Traffic Inspectorate is investigating.
Test of self-driving taxis in Munich
Soon Mobileye could expand its test drives to the whole of Germany.
(Photo: dpa)
The Mobileye CEO believes that Tesla will have to make a fundamental change soon. “What Tesla says in public is different from what they do internally. Tesla will have to add active sensors, I’m sure of that,” says Shashua. There are already reports that Tesla is testing imaging radars.
Mobileye offers several autonomous driving systems in parallel. The inexpensive basic system “Supervision” supports the driver with cameras. According to Mobileye, there is a strong demand for this in China. More than 70,000 owners of a Zeekr electric car will soon receive an update that will unlock important map-based features. Zeekr is a brand of the Geely Group, the most important Mobileye partner in the country.
The “Chauffeur” and “Drive” systems contain additional radar and lidar sensors, as well as chips. One day, a car equipped with “Drive” should be able to travel without a driver.
“Mobileye has interesting advantages over its competitors, such as the comprehensive mapping system,” says Sam Abuelsamid, chief analyst at industry expert Guidehouse. The division of the autopilot into several systems is unusual. The advantage: “Mobileye can thus sell the basic camera system individually.“
However, the camera data determined the driving decisions at all levels – radar and lidar would only be added as an additional safety level. “It remains to be seen whether this model is sustainable,” says Abuelsamid.
Mobileye: Rosy plans, but red numbers
Founder Shashua is optimistic: “The challenge in the robot car business is not the technology,” he says. Apart from a few borderline cases, autonomous driving is already working. “Most providers fail to scale up and build a profitable business model.” For 2030, Mobileye expects autopilot sales of more than $ 17 billion. There is no need for major acquisitions, Shashua emphasizes.
The plans seem ambitious from today’s point of view: in the third quarter of last year, Mobileye generated sales of $ 450 million. At the same time, the company slipped into the red and posted an operating loss of $ 25 million. Shashua hopes that it will pick up again in 2023, mainly due to the strong chip business. “We are at a turning point in terms of growth.“
More: Elon Musk’s Boring Company Stagnates – A Ride shows the limits of technology
First publication: 16.01.2023, 04:18 o’clock.
