Beep announced a partnership with companies Benteler and Intel-owned Mobileye to develop autonomous moving vehicles on Monday.
The project is expected to begin deploying the autonomous movers as soon as 2023, and the company says the program plans to begin “addressing ‘micro-transit’ inequities in first and last-mile transportation networks, including road congestion, road safety and mobility access.”
Benteler is a mobility-as-a-service company, while Intel-owned Mobileye is a self-driving chip manufacturer and Beep focuses on autonomous operations as a whole.
Beep CEO Joe Moye said in a statement to Tesla North, “our autonomous mobility operations model… combined with Benteler’s and Mobileye’s manufacturing expertise [are set] to make this the first alignment of all capabilities needed to successfully scale the deployment of this important transformation in passenger mobility.”
Beep has also been working closely with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on testing autonomous vehicles, with plans to deploy the platform “with an emphasis on safety.”
“The full benefits of autonomy can only be reached with scale. Working with Beep and Benteler, Mobileye aims to mass-produce first- and last-mile self-driving mobility solutions that will enable the convenient, accessible and safe movement of people across North America,” said Johann Jungwirth, vice president of Mobility-as-a-Service at Mobileye, in an issued statement.
Mobileye unveiled its EyeQ ultra-autonomous driving chip last month, and is expected to begin production in late 2023 — meaning it likely won’t start powering autonomous vehicles until 2025.
