Bosch and Daimler are partnering on the production of autonomous vehicle technology with San Jose announced as the pilot city for testing during the second-half of 2019.

San Jose has been chosen as the pilot city for Bosch and Daimler to test their autonomous vehicle technology. During the second-half of 2019, Bosch and Daimler will offer autonomous on-demand ride-hailing services to a “selected user community in San Jose”.

In a joint statement, Bosch and Daimler said, “Using automated Mercedes-Benz S-Class vehicles, Bosch and Daimler propose to offer the service to a selected user community in the San Carlos/Stevens Creek corridor between downtown and west San José”.

The intent is to allow a “selected user community” to hail a self-driving car via an app managed by Daimler Mobility Services, monitored by a safety driver, from a designated pick-up location and drive automatically to their destination.

Bosch and Daimler have a close connection but the two companies have properly joined forces to develop autonomous vehicle technology, with a team made up of employees from both brands working together. One team is based in Stuttgart, Germany and the other in Sunnyvale in Silicon Valley.

The split between the two is along these lines: Daimler’s task is to bring the drive system into the car. The company is providing the necessary development vehicles, test facilities, and vehicles for the test fleet. Bosch is responsible for the components specified during the development work, such as sensors, actuators, and control units. For test purposes, Bosch and Daimler use their laboratories and test rigs, plus their respective test sites in Germany.