ComfortDelGro (CDG), on March 30, announced that it will be investing $30 million in an Autonomous Vehicle Centre of Excellence (AV CoE) as it seeks to future-proof itself.
The AV CoE is set up through CDG’s $100 million venture capital fund. It is aimed at building up its capabilities in the operation and maintenance of such vehicles. It will also focus on the research and development of AV-related capabilities over the next five years.
According to CDG, the new CoE will enable it to develop a technology platform to support the delivery of mobility services using AVs, with a view of deploying them commercially.
Further to this, CDG has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Mobileye, where CDG will leverage Mobileye’s AV technology to build new skills in driverless operations, incident response processes, fleet management and maintenance.
Mobileye was acquired by Intel Corporation in 2017. It is a global leader in the development of vision technology for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving. Mobileye has been developing state-of-the-art technologies in support of automotive safety and autonomous driving solutions over the last two decades, with more than 100 million vehicles built to date with its trademark EyeQ technology.
Through the MOU, the AV CoE will also look into building a technology platform to manage AV operations that are scalable and transferable in Singapore and overseas.
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ComfortDelGro chairman Lim Jit Poh called the latest investment a “significant” one for the group.
“This is an investment in our future. AV technology may still be in nascent stages of growth but we believe they will emerge as the main driving force in time to come,” he says. “With the AV CoE, we are positioning ourselves for that eventuality. The objective of this investment is not for us to get involved in the actual development of AV technology but to invest and leverage on AVs to develop driverless operational procedures and trial new mobility services. We want to be ready to not just operate and maintain such vehicles, but be a forerunner in the running of such vehicles.”
As part of the MOU with Mobileye, CDG will deploy two all-electric and self-driving robotaxis for a pilot trial in Singapore by the first half of 2023. The trial will be subject to regulatory approval.
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The two AVs will be equipped with Mobileye Drive, a Level 4 self-driving system
The system combines Mobileye’s True Redundancy sensing systems, Road Experience Management crowdsourced maps and Responsibility-Sensitive Safety driving policy.
The technology has been successfully tested in Israel, the US, Japan, Germany and France.
CDG will be undertaking all maintenance and operations management of the vehicles, with maintenance training provided by Mobileye. Upon completion of the trial, the transport operator and Mobileye will look at a vehicle platform to which to deploy the robotaxis commercially.
“We’re excited to work together with ComfortDelGro to demonstrate the potential for self-driving mobility solutions in Singapore,” says Johann Jungwirth, vice president of Mobility-as-a-Service at Mobileye. “We want to enable autonomous vehicles at scale, globally, and efforts such as the AV CoE mark an important step towards delivering safer, more accessible and more convenient mobility for millions of people.”
The collaboration with Mobileye marks CDG’s fourth foray into the AV scene in Singapore.
As at 2.54pm, shares in CDG are trading 1 cent lower or 0.67% down at $1.49.
