Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess recently participated in an "Ask me Anything" event on Reddit. Just in case the previous sentence is useless to you, Reddit is a web based service that allows people to form communities known as subreddits. Each subreddit is dedicated to an interest such as cars, history, or Star Wars. Occasionally professionals or celebrities related to the communities will announce an AMA, which is a time for users across the site to write out questions to be answered at a set date and time. When Mr. Diess announced his AMA an amazing 1.1k comments were submitted and we are excited to share some of what he sees in store for VW and the wider automotive industry.
Questions related to VW's Project Trinity, a fully automated EV, were on many people's minds:
One question about the use of laser range finding tech, Lidar prompted Mr. Diess to say:
“Lidar technology is still expensive, but today the only way to offer redundant perception to the 360 camera systems which are a must. Safety is really crucial in autonomous driving. For level 3 driving you need redundant perception.”
Another question about Autonomous driving asked how VW will avoid the trap Tesla's self-driving promises have fallen into to reach something closer to Mercedes Level 3 permissions:
“[A]utonomous driving is the biggest game-changer for the automotive industry. we will be able to drive our customers safe and comfortably. This will be a gradual process from taking over responsibility on open highways in good weather conditions getting to more complex environments and weather situations worldwide. So this will be a long process of competition for a long period to come. We are building up competencies to become a serious competitor in this race.”
Any plans to catch up to Plug-and-charge standards?
“Yes, we will offer Plug & Charge on MY23 ID.4s and on earlier cars with an OTA update. Just tested it together with Elke (https://www.linkedin.com/in/elke-temme/) - really convenient, high time for introduction.”
Other's questions were more rooted in the brand's history than its technological future. One user demanded VW bring back the beetle as an EV. Mr. Deiss called it a priority to bring it back:
“Our most emotional car in our history is definitely the micro bus. This was my first priority to bring this icon back to life. But yes, many other emotional cars are possible on our scalable MEB platform.”
With some asking about a recent change in the language the company has been using in calling itself a part of the "mobility" industry.
“NEW AUTO is a combination still emotional and very desirable cars being owned, shared, leased, rented,... & mobility services for people and goods. It requires technology for autonomous driving, in car user experience and software platforms for sharing, rental and ridesharing, fleet management - a complex world which offers many new opportunities for us. We are very active with own activities in all those segments."
One question asked about standardization, both in the vehicle features, but also across the corporate structure.
“Volkswagen will remain a multi brand mobility company working worldwide and being present in many segments. To reduce complexity we are focusing on platforms, even more in the future. One hardware platform SSP, unified battery cells & one shared software stack with CARIAD will ensure that we leverage our economies of scale fully. Being present in volume and premium markets and addressing many of our different customer preferences. But yes, in some segments we are still too complex in our product offering. We are making good progress in reducing complexity. Already with our MEB platform 70 percent of the car value is shared between Audi, Skoda, Cupra and Volkswagen.”
In the end Mr. Deiss was gracious with his time and mostly very clear and direct with his answers. This sort of direct to the consumer awareness generation has worked for other personalities and products in the past, and it seems many attendees left with a little more knowledge than when they arrived. The future of VW will surely be as interesting as its past, and we can only guess the same can be said for the practice of direct connections between brands and consumers as the world becomes a more connected place by the moment.