It’s no mystery that Volkswagen is firmly targeting a large portion of the electric car market. For this, it is investing heavily in research and development and in the launch of new technology-rich models. Nor is it a novelty that the German manufacturer looks to Tesla as a reference point not only for the battery-powered car market but also as a company capable of innovating in the automotive sector.
Last January, CEO Herbert Diess had spurred the CDA to work harder not to miss the electrification train and not to transform Volkswagen into a new Nokia. Quickly innovate in order to continue competing, therefore. After a few months, the objectives have not changed but the CEO has admitted that Tesla’s advantage in the software and in the field of autonomous driving is still very wide. This is what transpires from an internal email that was intercepted by the German magazine Automobilwoche.
To worry Herbert Diess above all the ability of the American manufacturer to distribute many OTA updates that continuously improve cars with new features. To all this is added the integration of the software with the telephones to control the vehicles. Think, for example, of the possibility of being able to recall the car through the app. According to the CEO, Tesla has also been able to create an excellent user experience around the central maxi display.
As far as Autopilot is concerned , what has most impressed Volkswagen is the possibility of being able to exploit more than 500 thousand cars as a large neural network that continuously improves the driving experience. A capacity, according to the CEO, that no other manufacturer can replicate. Thanks to its fleet of vehicles, Tesla can develop assisted driving skills based on real data and not only on computer simulations.
The distance to be bridged is still very wide but the German manufacturer has all the credentials to be able to recover ground and for this, he has decided to create an internal division that will deal exclusively with software development. In summer, the ID.3 will debut, an electric compact vehicle on which Volkswagen believes a lot to bring new potential interested in battery cars closer. On this model, it has been repeatedly speculated that there could be delays due to the immaturity of the software. Problems admitted by the manufacturer who has always officially confirmed, however, that the launch will take place regularly.
