The Volkswagen Group hopes to make a huge catch-up in the EV field with its brands. This will undoubtedly succeed to a large extent in the coming years, but CEO Herbert Diess is not confident about Tesla’s lead. Especially when it comes to semi-autonomous driving technology.
Where five years ago Tesla was still seen as an interesting newcomer, the American brand is now an example on various fronts. It was the first brand to make electric driving popular on a large scale and is one of the pioneers in the field of (semi-) autonomous vehicles. Volkswagen is now also making meters in the field of electric driving and is continuously working on systems that must make its cars increasingly autonomous. Especially with the latter, however, the group is not yet as far as Tesla and that is said to worry CEO Herbert Diess.
Internal documents reviewed by Automobilwoche clarify Diess’s concerns: “What particularly worries me is the driver assistance systems. 500,000 Teslas act as a neural network, continuously collecting data and updating drivers every 14 days thanks to an update. driving experience, no manufacturer can do at the moment, “said Diess. According to the CEO, therefore, a plan is being made to ‘overtake’ Tesla in this area. Tesla is the example, which, according to Diess, is ‘ahead of any other manufacturer’ in terms of software.