Niulinx: with these rules, it’s the end of autonomous driving in Italia

Elsewhere in Europe, the picture is different, with Germany, France, Slovakia and Croatia already incorporating provisions for autonomous driving – known as Level 4 – into their road traffic regulations.

“Between now and 2028,” adds the CEO, “we will be applying for type approval in many countries, and at that point it will be possible to provide the mobility service remotely and using autonomous driving.”

The current draft, which has yet to be considered by the parliamentary committees, the Council of State and the Unified Conference, contains a number of critical provisions for Niulinx.

Remote supervision, for example, refers to a decree that does not exist. Article 87 makes it subject to ‘the decree referred to in Article 290, paragraph 10’, but that paragraph establishes an Observatory and does not provide for any decree. ‘Until the decree is in place,’ explains Niulinx, ‘the supervisor must remain on board, with no time limit.’ A second point of criticism concerns the role of the supervisor, who – whether on board or working remotely – is ‘treated as equivalent to the driver’ and remains responsible for the vehicle’s movement even when it is operating in fully automated mode. This means that no operator will be able to monitor more than one vehicle at a time, which is a prerequisite for any fleet service. A third point of criticism concerns the procedures for achieving type-approval, with testing permitted only if it is ‘not directly aimed at type-approval and entry into production’. This is a contradiction, given that Regulation (EU) 2022/1426 specifically requires road tests to type-approve an automated driving system. In short, this will result in testing – and consequently investment and the industrial supply chain surrounding the project – shifting to countries such as Germany and Spain, which do permit such field trials.

“In any case, we are pressing ahead,” explains Foresti, “and we have in fact already applied for authorisation to conduct trials in Germany and Spain; this will enable us to gather the data needed to begin the type-approval process, which we hope to complete by 2028,”

A spin-off from the Politecnico di Milano, based in Cernusco sul Naviglio (MI) and with an office in Munich; Niulink has already grown to a workforce of 100 people, a development made possible by the €38 million funding round finalised last April, with the arrival of new investors including CDP Venture Capital, A2A, the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane Group and Pirelli.

Trials are also underway in Italia, albeit with stricter restrictions than those imposed by other countries, and Niulinx has signed ad hoc memoranda of understanding with a number of local authorities, including Milan and Rome, to launch a partnership aimed at exploring this new mode of transport.