There have been numerous examples of robotaxis navigating city streets as automotive OEMs ramp up testing of autonomous vehicles. However, now we get a very long look at a robotaxi from Mobileye in a new 40-minute-long unedited journey.
The trip took place in Jerusalem, Israel, at night where the robotaxi navigated along main traffic venues with numerous other vehicles on the road. Also, the vehicle is seen passing pedestrians on the streets and avoiding such obstacles as misplaced parked cars and narrow roads.
In the video, the robotaxi must make decisions that human drivers frequently experience such as unprotected left turns, pedestrians darting into the street with no crosswalks and dealing with public transit stops.
With a safety driver in the vehicle but not in control, the Mobileye robotaxi makes trips along the streets of Jerusalem as if it was transporting passengers to destinations. Once the service is launched, it will be how consumers will be able to use the app for ride hailing.
Mobileye has ramped up its testing in the past few years, garnering permission to begin testing in Paris, France, where it is the first autonomous on-demand service in the city.
The company has already been testing vehicles in other markets such as New York City, which started last year, and will begin tests in Munich, Germany and Tel Aviv, Israel, slated to begin in 2022. Last year, it opened a robotaxi service in Japan. Other test beds include Detroit, Israel and China.
Last year, Intel said it planned to take Mobileye public where it would be publicly traded with Intel owning a majority stake in the company.
