New Volkswagen Golf has best car-to-car connection in Europe

MANILA: As automakers around the world come up with proprietary systems to facilitate vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications in aid of increased road safety and as a prerequisite to achieve autonomous driving, Volkswagen gets high praise for what they have already installed in the Golf.

The eighth-generation compact car is the first European vehicle to have as standard the Car2X technology, which is based on the Wi-Fi p wireless standard.

“This is an exciting area of safety. Volkswagen are to be congratulated for making the technology standard in vehicles selling in high numbers like the Golf,” said Michiel van Ratingen, secretary general at Euro NCAP.

Car2X is tailor-fit for local communication between vehicles and does not use a mobile phone network. Vehicles within a radius of 800 meters can directly exchange positioning data and information with one another in order to avoid contact and collision.

The German automotive association ADAC tested Volkswagen’s Car2X technology by sending the new Golf into eight typical hazardous situations in which a driver, without being warned, would not be able to react at all, or would only be able to react much later. In all eight situations, the vehicle warned the driver reliably and in time, often even 10 or 11 seconds before the impending accident. ADAC declared Volkswagen’s new technology a “technical milestone”, comparable to systems such as ABS or airbags.

https://youtu.be/Pl_MSJR4IEc

In the latest Golf, the Car2X system is active at speeds over 80kph. Volkswagen is currently working on making communication with traffic lights possible in order to increase safety when driving in the city and to also control traffic flow.

After the Golf, new models from Volkswagen will also come out with this technology as standard.

Also read: Volkswagen to debut near-production concept Golf GTD in Geneva