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SIXT and Mobileye to Introduce a New Robotaxi Service

Sep 9, 2021

In recent news, the CEO of Intel, Pat Gelsinger, as well as the Co-CEO of Sixt, announced that they will be collaborating to launch a driverless robotaxi service sometime in the next year in the city of Munich. 

Mobileye, a subsidiary of Intel, will have complete ownership of the fleet of robotaxis, whereas SIXT will be responsible for providing mobility services. The latter is a leading international provider of such services, headquartered in Germany. It will also be in charge of operating and maintaining the vehicles. 

Riders will be able to hail these robotaxis whenever they need them by using the Moovit app or opting for the app developed by SIXT for the purpose of ride-hailing, car sharing, car subscriptions, and vehicle rental. 

The ride hailing service offered by SIXT will incorporate the option of the autonomous robotaxi. It was personally demonstrated by Alexander Sixt, at the time of his keynote walk-on. Mobileye also went on to unveil the vehicles, which were branded with SIXT and MoovitAV. These cars will be manufactured in volume and then used for the new vehicle service in Germany. 

This is the first time that Mobileye has publicly revealed its completely integrated self-driving system. It is known as Mobileye Drive and is going to be used for driverless and commercial ride-hailing services. 

Just recently, a law was enacted related to autonomous vehicles (AV), allowing them to operate on German roads. This permitted the companies to begin early-rider testing with the robotaxis on the streets of Munich, which will start off from 2022. 

Once this testing period is complete, the fleet will be moved to commercial operations. However, regulatory approval will still be taken first. Gelsinger went on to express his joy at the launch of robotaxis, saying that Germany has displayed global leadership when it comes to autonomous mobility. He praised the country for expediting an important AV legislation, allowing driverless cars on the roads. According to him, the new law has been instrumental in ensuring that the project of robotaxi will be launched in the city of Munich. 

The current collaboration being undertaken by Intel with SIXT is the first ever to launch a commercial robotaxi service. It is also the first arrangement to have been made on such a project by a mobility services provider and a tech supplier. Prof. Amnon Shashua, the CEO of Mobileye, further added that Mobileye can successfully bring about progress and autonomy by working together with operational partners. 

The Co-CEO of SIXT, Alexander Sixt, asserted that this strategic collaboration is an important step towards helping the company integrate its mobility platform. In addition, he stated that it is going to be an impactful project and help the company become the leading provider in the industry of digital premium and innovative mobility. 

He further expressed how delighted he was that the company was able to successfully leverage the technological leadership of Mobileye. He added that he was proud of the fact that this launch would help bring about driverless mobility to customers in the country of Germany and everywhere else.

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