Volkswagen: autonomous driving billed at 7 € per hour to be profitable
In the current state of things, 100% autonomous driving would simply be unaffordable for all motorists. To give an idea of the price, the VW marketing boss explains...
28/03/2022
In the current state of things, 100% autonomous driving would simply be unaffordable for all motorists. To give an idea of the price, the VW marketing boss explains that this would represent a cost of 7 € per hour of use.
In recent months, many engineers, managers and experts in artificial intelligence have explained that autonomous driving, the real one, would be expensive. Very expensive. So much so that it will not be within reach of the average budget of motorists for a whole year. Between the massive data connections required, the enormous computing power and sensors of all kinds, the budget to make a car completely autonomous (level 4) is significant.
According to the Volkswagen marketing boss, the sum would be in the five figures. Clearly, several tens of thousands of euros for a single car. Unthinkable, in the current state of things.
In an interview with our colleagues from Top Gear UK, the interested party specifies that according to Volkswagen's calculations, level 4 autonomous driving would be viable at a cost of 7 € per hour, in an option format at the increasingly popular demand with some manufacturers.
"Think of a train journey from London to Southampton. How much is the train ticket? Probably a lot more than £7 for an hour." The comparison is not risky: a totally autonomous car (and not assisted like the ones we have today) would ultimately be like a personal train.
The other advantage would be not to pay a delirious price for a technology which one would not use often. This is why the case of a "pay to use" is mentioned here by the head of marketing, who simply gives the value of €7/h as an indication, in a current context where technology is still far too expensive.