Introduction to Autonomous Driving in Germany
On the site of the Paderborn Airport, engineer Michael Spengler demonstrates how far self-driving technology has come in Germany. He enters a path into his smartphone, presses a button, and puts his hands in his lap. The small car begins to roll and navigates at a leisurely seven kilometers per hour between buildings and parked vehicles. The car can go faster, up to 20 to 25 km/h, but for now, it’s taking a slow and steady approach.
The Technology Behind Autonomous Driving
The car is equipped with cameras, radar, light detection, and range recognition (lidar), and a high-performance computer that keeps the car up to date. After a short loop, the vehicle brakes alone at the destination, where many are waiting to get a first taste of autonomous driving. The event was organized by NEMO (New Mobility) Paderborn, a coalition of 75 partners from science and industry.
Challenges in Germany
Germany has authorized level 4 autonomy, which enables passengers to sleep, work, or watch films, provided that vehicles work on pre-tensioned routes or under remote supervision. However, the challenges in Germany are steep, with high car ownership, a strong taxi lobby, and a well-developed public transit network leaving little space for newcomers on the mobility market. Many projects triggered by the government have dried up, and progress is sometimes slow.
The Energy-Efficient Swarm
Nemo wants to change that with its concept of a "swarm" of light autonomous cabins that avoid short trips and connections for the first and longer mile. The cars can automatically link to an autonomous tractor unit and form a convoy before separating near their goals. The first taxis were allowed to drive autonomously on the airport site, and the larger tractor vehicle is still under development, with the first commercial rollout expected in Paderborn by 2026.
Rural Mobility Reinterpreted
The service is cheaper than a taxi but not much more expensive than a bus. It depends on whether passengers are willing to accept waiting times, have luggage, and take care of it while driving. Nemo describes the model as "individualized public transit," especially for rural areas where buses are rare. Etteln, a village near Paderborn, is one such area, where the municipality has been doing a so-called e-village work for five years, in which people can book trips via smartphone.
From Pilots to Mainstream
Elsewhere, the biggest city tests in Germany are moving faster. In Hamburg, the transit operator Hochbahn uses around 20 autonomous vehicles, Moia, in cooperation with the subsidiary of Holon and Volkswagen. The fleet includes minibuses for up to 15 passengers and Volkswagen electric cars for smaller groups. The Association of German Transport Companies predicts the first regular service of level 4 within five years, but warns that autonomous driving will not solve traffic and land use problems if it simply replaces private cars one to one. Instead, driverless fleets have to be integrated into the public transit system, and scaling is not cheap.
