Volkswagen sounds out future mobility models
Sedric, an acronym from “Self-Driving Car”, is intended to provide a concrete insight into the individual mobility of the future that can be used by everyone. A cross-brand platform for the Volkswagen group (Audi, Bentley, Porsche, Seat, Skoda), the Sedric is a central component of the group’s future mobility concept. At the Geneva show, the company already announced that it is intended to create brand-specific variants of the vehicle.
Featuring the same footprint as the Up, currently Volkswagen’s smallest series vehicle, the Sedric has no dashboard and related controls, no trunk and no engine compartment, and therefore it offer much bigger interior space for up to four passengers. No steering wheel – this means that the Sedric meets the definition of level five of the autonomous driving scale. The passenger can enter destination and other instructions via voice control – according to Volkswagen in natural language. The ability of level 5 autonomous driving makes it a means of transport suitable for everyone, including physically disabled persons or persons with impaired vision. and children. Sedric can even perform transport tasks independently and without any accompanying person. “It can drive the children to school, look independently for a parking space, collect shopping or pick up a visitor from the station”, the company describes the versatility of its newest creation. If it carries human passengers that are bored, its windscreen can act as an OLED screen for entertainment programs.
The vehicle has been developed and designed in cooperation with Volkswagen’s new idea factory “Future Center Europe”, based in Potsdam near Berlin. For the company, Sedric has the function of an “ideas platform” for automated driving, and for future forms of mobility including fleets of robot taxis, car sharing and ride hailing.
But with Sedric incorporating the dream of a rather distant future, Volkswagen also has to bridge the gap between the present day and the future. During this time, internal combustion engines will dominate the company’s product spectrum. But Volkswagen also plans to seriously take on the electromobility challenge: By 2025, the company will bring 30 new electric vehicles to series production, said CEO Matthias Müller at the opening presentation.
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