Autonomous E-Shuttle developed for Hamburg-Harburg

In 2025, the first autonomous vehicle is expected to roll through the streets of Harburg: This has been agreed upon by vhh.mobility (public transport operator Hamburg-Holstein) and IAV (Ingenieurgesellschaft Auto und Verkehr). To this end, Germany's third-largest municipal bus operator and IAV, a leading development partner in the automotive industry, have decided to enter into a research and development cooperation. The partner for the construction and supply of the autonomous shuttles is the vehicle developer eVersum, a pioneer in this field.

Perspective-wise, up to 20 autonomous shuttles are to be deployed

Overall, five vehicles will be developed and supplied as part of the cooperation. In the second half of 2025, the first vehicle, with a safety driver on board, is expected to enter test operation and will be seen on the streets of Harburg. In the following months, all additional shuttles will gradually be put into operation and will commence service in the fleet of the city's on-demand service hvv hop in Hamburg-Harburg. In the long term, the number of autonomous vehicles is to be increased to up to 20.

Voices on the New Offer

Dr. Anjes Tjarks, Senator for Transport and Mobility Change in Hamburg: "Together with our partners, we are pioneering the development of public transport of the future in Hamburg. Through the collaboration between vhh.mobility, IAV, eVersum, the federal government, and the city, we are taking another important step to establish and build an additional pillar of public transport in the south of Hamburg. Hamburg is a trailblazer here—we are not only advancing autonomous driving in the urban center but also in the outer districts, ensuring that all areas of the city are even more interconnected through modern, innovative mobility offerings."

vhh.mobility Managing Director Dr. Lorenz Kasch: "The path for fully autonomous shuttles as part of public transport in Germany is still a long one and real pioneering work."

eVersum Managing Director Holger Postl: "The basis for the autonomous shuttles in the ahoi project is the modular eShuttle from eVersum in the 6.90 m long version with nine seats and additional space for a wheelchair or a stroller."

Pioneering Work: Autonomous Driving Without Safety Drivers

The objective of the project "ahoi" (the name stands for Automation of the Hamburg On-Demand Offer with Integration into Public Transport) is to operate autonomous vehicles at the so-called SAE Level 4, where the vehicles transport their passengers from A to B without any driving personnel – a use case that represents absolute pioneering work and has not yet been realized in Germany. The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport is supporting the project with around 18 million euros.

“Upon delivery of the vehicles, we will initially start the test operation with safety driving personnel on board and without passengers in the second phase of the ahoi project,” explains Lorenz Kasch. “Once all requirements have been satisfactorily developed, we will then open the operation with the autonomous vehicles for our passengers in the Harburg service area as planned in Phase 3 – in addition to the manually operated hvv-hop shuttles.”