Goodbye pedals and steering wheel with the Volkswagen Gen.Urban

Volkswagen launches a new phase of real-world testing in Wolfsburg with its Gen.Urban research autonomous vehicle.

Volkswagen Group has announced the start of urban testing for its autonomous research vehicle Gen.Urban, now authorized to operate autonomously in the actual traffic of the city of Wolfsburg. This experimentation marks another step in the group’s work on autonomous driving, with a clearly identified goal: to analyze the experience of passengers aboard a vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals.

Developed by Volkswagen Group Innovation, Gen.Urban serves as a rolling laboratory. An interdisciplinary group of designers, human factors specialists, software engineers, and materials experts observes and analyzes the behaviors, expectations, and reactions of users. The collected data will feed into the development of future cabin concepts and user experience (UX) for all brands within the group.

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One of the central focuses of the project concerns how time onboard is used: work, entertainment, or relaxation. The teams also study the most suitable digital interfaces, as well as how the vehicle interacts with different passenger profiles, including children and elderly people. The challenge is to evaluate the level of comfort and trust felt in a fully automated driving environment.

Even before departure, Gen.Urban offers advanced personalization. Passengers can define their preferences via an app or directly onboard: temperature, ambient lighting, or interior space configuration. Upon entering the vehicle, the settings are automatically applied. The digital cabin, operated by artificial intelligence systems, adjusts the display, lighting, and sound ambiance according to the user’s choices.

Although designed without traditional driving controls, Gen.Urban incorporates a safety device. A trained driver is present in the passenger seat and can take control at any time via a dedicated panel equipped with a joystick.

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The tests, initially reserved for group employees, take place over several weeks. The route, about ten kilometers long, traverses various areas of Wolfsburg: signalized intersections, roundabouts, residential areas, industrial sectors, and construction sites, replicating typical urban traffic conditions. Each trip lasts nearly twenty minutes, providing a representative framework to evaluate autonomous driving in real conditions.

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