Karsan Autonomous e-ATAK has received test approval from KBA (Kraftfahrt Bundesamt - Federal Motor Transport Authority), Germany's official institution responsible for road traffic regulations. With this approval, the Level-4 automated bus Karsan Autonomous e-ATAK, developed in cooperation with technology partner ADASTEC, became the first autonomous bus to operate on public roads in Hannover, Germany, as part of the autonomous bus project “Albus”, supported by the German Ministry of Transport.
The Karsan Autonomous e-ATAK will operate on a 7-kilometre route on line 906 in Burgdorf in Hannover and will manage 10 traffic lights on its route covering 13 stops, crosses intersections, pedestrian crossings and complex urban manoeuvres at a constant speed of 40 km/h, and strongly demonstrates the field maturity of Level-4 driving technology with the flowride.ai software developed by partner ADASTEC. The demonstration drives will take place for one year. Karsan CEO Okan Baş said: "Our Level-4 autonomous full-size bus,
which will start serving on public roads in Germany, symbolises Karsan's determination in the mobility transformation in Europe. It is the first bus to receive Level-4 autonomous driving test approval in public transport in Germany. This success, which we have achieved together with our technology partner ADASTEC, is a strong indicator that our competence in software and automotive engineering is recognised even in the most advanced markets of Europe.”
The Autonomous e-ATAK has been in use in Europe since 2022 in 12 autonomous projects in 11 countries from America to Europe. The autonomous vehicles have carried 35 thousand passengers in 4 years and reached over 100 thousand kilometres of urban road experience in autonomous driving and in weather conditions such as -25 degrees Celsius. The next two projects for the Autonomous e-ATAK will be in the Netherlands at Rotterdam The Hague Airport and the Switzerland Arbon project. The Karsan Autonomous e-ATAK uses a combination of LiDAR, Radar, RGB Cameras, GNSS and sensors that work together to provide precise navigation and situational awareness in different weather conditions. The bus is powered by a 220 kWh battery pack developed by BMW, the 8.3-metre-long vehicle can be fully charged in 5 hours with AC units and 3 hours with DC units.