Volkswagen is working hard to develop autonomous driving technology: it will implement a pay-as-you-go model, and how much does it cost to run farther?

IT House reported on July 10 that Dirk Hilgenberg, CEO of Cariad, Volkswagen’s software division, said that Volkswagen will provide a pay-as-you-go model in functions such as automatic driving assistance, which means that Volkswagen’s automatic driving assistance system will support mileage in the future. Paid option.

IT House has reported that Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess has said that software is their only way out, and that only by strengthening its software construction can Volkswagen surpass Tesla and continue to become the leading automaker. So the company created a new division called Cariad.

Dirk Hilgenberg, CEO of Cariad, said in an interview: “There is a new business model now — the subscription model, or pay-as-you-go model. If you want, you can choose to buy 50 miles of autonomous driving one day. Service” That is, Volkswagen will provide pay-as-you-go methods in features such as autonomous driving assistance, and support pay-per-mile.

In addition, he also pointed out that the integration of software with other services is very important. “You have to make sure you have what we call a digital services platform that lets Google, Apple, Amazon, and other external software into your ecosystem, where you can watch TV, watch live, whether it’s for entertainment or work, and that’s us The product to be sold, the product is our platform.”

Bloomberg spoke to Cariad CEO Dirk Hilgenberg about the self-driving software space.

When I came, the people at Cariad had just started working. At that time everyone was fully committed and eager to make this goal a reality. But there are still many problems and we have a lot of tasks to sort out. But we did it, and we’re still doing it, because that’s part of the mission. Some ideas do come to fruition, some we need to correct because the world is changing so fast, you need to get the software out as soon as possible.

The layout of our next group structure is similar to what Tesla originally introduced, but we want to go a step further. That means a high degree of integration, more computing power, and of course a different scope. Our models range from entry-level to the latest Bentleys, and of course their software and hardware needs are quite different.

We didn’t want to duplicate features; we wanted to deliver in time for both standard operating procedures, which also meant we had to pursue a different approach to software development. It’s not that every platform is new, it’s that you keep developing software to the next stage on top of what’s already there — allowing you to take advantage of what you’re already doing well.

Of course, vehicles are much more complex than commercial applications, so we have to make sure that data protection, security and safety are on completely different levels.

A new business model has emerged — subscription models or on-demand features — where AI will tell you the answer, and you can opt for 50 miles of autonomous driving in the future if you want. We support this theory. We can let you do what you want for the next 50 miles, relax, sleep or whatever.

We don’t have Level 4 autonomous driving yet, but you can see that there are areas where AI can provide driver assistance. This service saves you time in the car while you work, relax, watch a movie or communicate with other people in the car. You can even make money if you provide the service. You have to make sure you have what we call a digital service platform and bring in software ecosystems like Google, Apple, Amazon, like streaming, entertainment, or office, video conferencing, or preparing for the next meeting. That’s what we’re going to sell. Products are our platform.

Small updates to the platform can be done within a week. If you really want to do a function release, the package is pretty big. We don’t want to bother customers too often, you want to make sure it runs with a very low failure rate. Our batch and premium architecture supports continuous updates.

With the next group architecture, we can even speed up the update cycle and will enable smaller features like infotainment systems and apps to be updated daily. Cariad’s role is to continuously work on releases, and brands can then choose their update cycle from this development. But this must be done under due process. We also don’t want to overwhelm customers with weekly updates.

Yes, in triathlon terms, we just got out of the water and are now on the bike. We still have a marathon to run. Transformation is an active process; there is a lot of friction. But it’s 20% technical challenge and 80% change — change of mind, change of culture.

The classic automotive industry always works in modules. In software, this doesn’t work anymore, you need a seamless toolchain. You need to think holistically.

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