Car2X in the new Golf:
A “technological milestone”

We are no doubt all familiar with the scenario and secretly dread it: hectic city traffic at rush hour, a junction with ten lanes coming from four directions. Your traffic light switches to green, the queue of vehicles starts moving and suddenly you hear the sirens of an emergency services vehicle – from somewhere close by. You can’t tell from which direction and are unable to see any blue lights. How are you supposed to react? Stop, pull into a gap or just carry on to get across the junction?

Volkswagen developer Thomas Biehle can offer a much better solution. “In the new Golf we can support drivers with our new, Car2X technology, which is fitted as standard”, the safety expert explains. Thanks to the traffic hazard alert function the car will automatically indicate the critical situation within the system’s limits. The “Emergency services vehicle” warning appears on the Digital Cockpit, an arrow indicates the direction from which the emergency services vehicle is coming and the system also indicates the approximate distance and outputs an acoustic warning. For this reason, drivers have plenty of time to make the right decision.

The innovative Car2X technology, which Volkswagen as the first European manufacturer has integrated as standard, is based on the Wi-Fi p wireless standard. Biehle explains the principle: “Wi-Fi p, in Europe officially designated as ITS-G5, was specifically developed for spontaneous, local communication between vehicles and it operates without the need for mobile phone networks. Consequently, it works across EU countries and provides blanket coverage within the limits of the system. Vehicles equipped with the associated hardware modules – in our examples this also includes the emergency services vehicle – directly exchange positioning data and information using Wi-Fi p. This is potentially possible within a radius of up to 800 metres and within a matter of milliseconds. The data is not saved anywhere and thus data privacy is maintained.”

The new Golf in the ADAC test: eight typical hazardous situations

Independent safety experts are full of praise for Volkswagen’s Car2X technology. German Automotive Association ADAC tested it at its premises in the Bavarian town of Penzing. For this purpose, it sent the new Golf into eight typical hazardous situations in which a driver, without support, would not be able to react at all, or would only be able to react at a dangerously late stage. One example was – apart from the emergency services vehicle scenario – a broken down car at the side of the road positioned behind a tight corner. Thanks to Wi-Fi p the new Golf identified it eleven seconds prior to the potential impact – at a speed of 100 km/h and from a distance of around 300 metres.

The other tests were completed in a similarly successful way. They centred around a trailer indicating a blocked carriageway as part of roadworks and a strongly braking vehicle ahead. In all these scenarios the car reliably warned its driver in due time. ADAC assessed the Car2X technology (certified by TÜV) declaring it a “technological milestone”, comparable to systems such as ABS or airbags.

Euro NCAP: “An exciting area of safety”

The Euro NCAP organisation, dedicated to driving forward road safety in Europe, has a similar opinion of the technology. It honoured the traffic hazard alert functionality with the Advanced Award – a special award for ground-breaking safety features manufacturers introduce on their own initiative. “This is an exciting area of safety,” explains Secretary General Michiel van Ratingen. “Volkswagen are to be congratulated for making the technology standard in vehicles selling in high volumes, like the Golf.”

The Euro NCAP Advanced Award was introduced in 2010 but has not been awarded since 2014. Volkswagen received the award five times in the first four years of the award’s existence for its driver assist and safety systems. The new award for the traffic hazard alert function takes the already impressive safety package of the new Golf to the next level. Indeed, the compact car already received the top score of five stars in the classic Euro NCAP test at the end of 2019. The Euro NCAP organisation intends to incorporate Car2X technology functions into this rating as a future criterion.

At the first stage, which is now hitting the roads in the new Golf, Car2X technology concentrates on the traffic hazard alert by means of which it can support drivers in eight typical scenarios. It has been geared towards country roads and dual carriageways and activates from a speed of 80 km/h, i.e. at the point where the City Emergency Braking System reaches its limits.

Benefiting safety and the flow of traffic: new technological development stage

According to Thomas Biehle Volkswagen is already working intensively on shaping the future. “At a later development stage new Car2X solutions are also intended to boost safety in city traffic – for all road users, that’s particularly important to us. Two major junctions in Wolfsburg have been fitted with permanently installed sensors as part of a test. They are said to be able to record pedestrians’ and cyclists’ positions down to the centimetre and millisecond. Affected drivers are warned should a critical situation develop.”

A further area in which Volkswagen’s Car2X technology brings about major benefits is the flow of traffic so that it contributes to environmental protection. In this context, Biehle notes that: “If the car is communicating with traffic lights in the vicinity using Wi-Fi p, drivers can adapt their speed to sail through green traffic lights. A test in Wolfsburg is already on-going and a similar project will soon launch in Braunschweig – where the traffic light control system will also be optimised thanks to Wi-Fi p.” Platooning also represents a further use case for Car2X technology: commercial vehicles that form convoys on motorways to provide one another with a slipstream and thus save fuel.

Progress for all customers: further new Volkswagen models with Car2X technology

Close integration using Wi-Fi p in road traffic can already be implemented in EU countries at low costs. It does not rely on the establishment of a 5G mobile phone network. It applies the principle of swarm intelligence, i.e. it improves with the number of participants it integrates. That is why Volkswagen is now rolling out its Car2X technology on a large scale. After the Golf, it will feature in further models by the brand. Around the globe, other major automotive manufacturers are also working on this.