car manufacturers are raving of the advantages of the networked driving: in the Future, cars will warn about each other in the smoothness or obstacles – and even with traffic lights and road signs to communicate. This fast exchange of data to ensure better road safety and less accidents. In addition, an intelligent network could help to save Fuel, by green light waves faster, and to reduce emissions.

For this beautiful new and connected car world, the vehicle and the transport infrastructure should, however, speaking a common language. However, the industry is divided as to what technological Standard, the data is transferred back and forth ends up to be: by Wi-Fi or cellular.

In a nutshell wants to make the EU-Commission requirements, therefore, the movement now comes in a dispute that divided the German automotive industry.

cellular or Wi-Fi as the base?

companies such as BMW, Daimler, and Deutsche Telekom put on a solution to the mobile base, which should currently work with LTE, and soon with the faster successor, 5G. The EU is currently the favored Standard, however, is based on a Wi-Fi method.

“This technology setting slows down the development of the future 5G network and inhibits the roll-out of higher levels of automation in Europe”, he stated in an internal BMW-reasoning paper, which is the MIRROR. In addition, the Wi-Fi-based solution in need of a “costly infrastructure”, which is unlike the more versatile 5G-Standard for road use. In this respect, the proposed definition of the EU do not fit to the current 5G-plans and objectives of the Federal government, says the BMW-speaking note.

The counter-position is headed in Germany by VW, the own favorites, especially in cooperation with Siemens in wolf Burger intersections tested and further developed. You have decided in 2016, the Wi-Fi Standard, as it is stated in Wolfsburg, meanwhile, Renault, GM and Toyota in the series put him alongside VW itself vehicles. In the coming year, VW wants to use the Standard as well as standard in models with high sales volume.

VW one is angry

by 2017, virtually all premium brands have continued to support the Wi-Fi solution that annoys you in Wolfsburg. As the coordinated introduction of advanced appointment closer, would have taken “a single manufacturer’s internal other decisions”. “We see it with Regret, that not all manufacturers adhere to the common agreements,” says a VW spokesman.

The competition from Bayern, in contrast, considers the mobile for versatile, powerful and future-proof. In the case of BMW, it refers also to a recent study by the 5G-Auto-lobby Alliance “5GAA”, according to which the mobile radio standard to its competitors in several respects superior to, for example, he is supposed to be less interference-prone to interference, when multiple devices were operated in parallel.

the trend of the industry in the key markets of USA and China in this direction. “If Europe says his goal is seriously to want to be a leading market for connected and automated vehicles, it needs to implement the 5G-technology quickly,” said BMW development chief Klaus Fröhlich.

For a compromise solution, Ilja Radusch, an expert on cross-linked To the research institution Fraunhofer Fokus argues. “The EU Commission should write in your upcoming decision, only the General objectives and not to the actual technical way,” he says. “After all, there is more to road safety. I, personally, would even like to see both systems in any car, if one is in a dangerous situation faster than the other.”

This theme comes from the new MIRROR-magazine – available on newsstands from Saturday morning and every Friday at LEVEL+ , as well as in the digital magazine edition.

What is the new LEVEL, you will learn every Saturday for our free Newsletter THE LOCATION of the six times will appear in the week – in a compact, analytically, the opinion, written by the editor-in-chief or the heads of our capital office in Berlin.