The change in the automotive sector has reached a level that will be noticed by everyone who is more or less interested in the sector. While all automakers, even non-automakers, focus on electric cars, there is also new news about autonomous driving, which is another topic that is on the agenda.
For autonomous driving, there are not yet Level 5 autonomous technologies, where vehicles can perform flawlessly on their own. Moreover, neither the legal regulations nor the ethical discussions on the subject have been completed, but the issue of how to sell autonomous driving features seems to be clarified.
Autonomous driving available by subscription
In-car features also change over time. In the past, when you chose the equipment package of your vehicle, those features would now be fixed. New cars can use the subscription system. This idea is not really new, for example Audi already offers various subscription systems.
Cariad CEO Dirk Hilgenberg tells Bloomberg that this idea can be applied to technologies such as autonomous driving. According to Hilgenberg, a new business model has already been introduced and supports this approach. According to him, if you want the vehicle to continue autonomously, for example, for 100 kilometers in the future, you will be able to do this with a subscription system.
Although Volkswagen does not yet offer Level 4 autonomous driving technology in its cars, according to Hilgenberg, the subscription system will give drivers the chance to switch to autonomous driving whenever they feel like it. Thus, drivers will be able to rest or sleep during autonomous driving.
Currently, Tesla offers a fully autonomous driving subscription. This service is available for $199 per month. Volkswagen’s model, on the other hand, may be advantageous for people who will be distance or time-based and will not use the feature constantly. On the other hand, according to experts, Hilgenberg’s idea of sleeping behind the wheel is not possible for now, fully autonomous vehicles will be used in public transportation in short distances for the first time.
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