PR99370

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

- New BENTELER brand HOLON presents world's first autonomous mover built to

automotive standards

- Vehicle to combine sustainability, inclusion, comfort and safety

- Design by Pininfarina, a long-term partner of HOLON

- Collaboration with Mobileye, Beep and Cognizant Mobility, among others

- Pilot projects being prepared for the USA and Germany; US production start

planned for end of 2025

HOLON, the new brand from the BENTELER Group, will present its autonomous,

fully electric and inclusive mover for the first time at the Consumer

Electronics Show (CES) 2023 in Las Vegas. The vehicle is the world's first

autonomous mover built to automotive standards – in other words, a leader in

safety, ride comfort, and production quality. The HOLON mover operates

autonomously and with a maximum speed of 60 km/h (37mph). It has a range of

about 290 kilometers (180 miles).

Marco Kollmeier, Managing Director of HOLON: "Our mover is an answer to social

megatrends: Urbanization, climate change, demographics – mobility needs to

change. With our mover, we are proving that emission-free, safe, comfortable

and inclusive passenger transportation is possible. And thus provides the

answer to traffic problems that are becoming prevalent in cities. We are

delighted to unveil the vehicle to the global public today."

Areas of application for the mover are on-demand services, such as ride pooling

and ride hailing, but also normal scheduled services. The first pilot project

has already been announced: in Germany with Hamburg's Hochbahn, the country's

second-largest mass transit company. In the U.S., the mobility provider Beep

will be responsible for implementing the first vehicles. Other areas of

application and thus customers include private institutions such as campuses,

airports and national parks.

Marco Kollmeier continues: "Our mover is specifically designed for autonomous

driving. This is reflected in every step of the development and every detail.

The result is the world's highest-quality vehicle of its kind. As such, we are

creating a new dimension of smart, sustainable mobility that ideally

complements public and private passenger transport."

Mover designed from the ground up to be inclusive

The vehicle catches the eye with an asymmetrical design that combines maximum

functionality with high recognition value. The vehicle has been designed with a

generous spatial concept for up to 15 passengers, thereby closing the gap

between personal and public transport concepts. The comfortable, subtly offset

seating arrangement provides a sense of privacy while meeting all safety

requirements.

"The vehicle design combines two character traits – friendly and inviting as

well as technologically advanced and clear. That goes for both the exterior and

interior. It immediately makes the HOLON mover a design icon," explains Silvio

Pietro Angori, CEO of the renowned Italian design company Pininfarina. "Every

detail of the vehicle is designed to make passengers feel more comfortable and

safer than in any other mode of transportation."

HOLON is pursuing the goal of allowing everyone to benefit equally from the

freedoms offered by mobility. The mover is therefore designed from the ground

up to be inclusive. Electric double-wing doors with photo-electric sensors and

an automatically extending ramp with lowering function are included as standard

for barrier-free access. The automatic securing of wheelchairs inside the

vehicle combines comfort with safety. Information in Braille and an audiovisual

guide provide additional support for visually impaired people during the

journey.

Autonomous, digital and sustainable

The SAE Level 4 mover is based on Mobileye Drive™, the industry's premiere

commercial self-driving system for the use in a defined operational design

domain. "Our autonomous driving system is designed to make ground-breaking

mobility concepts possible – like the HOLON mover. Seeing the mover come to

life is proof of the robustness and scalability of our approach," says Johann

Jungwirth, Senior Vice President, Autonomous Vehicles at Mobileye.

The scalability of the HOLON mover is ensured by a triad of features that help

the vehicle make the right decisions on the road: an advanced sensing system

that makes use of different redundant sensors, an innovative mapping technology

as well as a formal model for driving policy. The combination of these

technologies makes the HOLON mover an industry-leading mobility concept.

Sustainability is an integral part of the HOLON brand. The mover is therefore

completely electrically driven. Over-the-air updates ensure that the vehicle is

always kept up to date without the need for workshop visits. Throughout the

development, emphasis has been placed on the use of sustainable materials.

Strong partners for the future of autonomous mobility services

Amongst others, an additional development partner for the vehicle besides

Pininfarina and Mobileye is the electronics and IT specialist Cognizant

Mobility.

HOLON relies on key partnerships for the vehicle's operation in service.

Leading mobility-services provider Beep is HOLON's preferred partner in the

United States, providing turnkey services and a technology platform for service

management, governance and user experience. "Automotive-grade autonomous

shuttles provide a critical form factor for reducing congestion and emissions,

providing first- and last-mile transportation, and extending mobility equity,"

said Joe Moye, CEO of Beep. "The unique and transformative value of shared,

autonomous electric transportation is rapidly proving itself in our current

deployments and use cases. With this new mover, HOLON is setting a standard for

this kind of vehicle, and we are excited to introduce it to our current and

future customers."

Production of the HOLON mover is scheduled to start in the U.S. at the end of

2025, with additional production capacity to be built in Europe and the Middle

East/Asia in the following years. The particularly flexible platform

architecture makes it possible for HOLON to also bring further variants onto

the market in a timely manner – both for passenger transport and for cargo

applications. Last mile delivery is a particularly important field of operation.

With HOLON, BENTELER is underlining its ambitions in the global business of

autonomous mobility

[https://www.benteler.com/en/press-media/news-and-press-releases/detail/BENTELER

establishes HOLON, a new brand for the autonomous mobility of the future/].

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Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1976454/HOLON_Logo.jpg

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Contact:

BENTELER Group

Birgit Held

Vice President Corporate Communications/Marketing

Tel.: +49 89 3740 8137

Mobile: +49 162 2427 264

public.relations@benteler.com

BENTELER Automotive

Stephan Knüttel

Senior Manager Communications/Marketing

Paderborn, Germany

Tel.: +49 5254 81 307610

Mobile: +49 172 5727257

stephan.knuettel@benteler.com

Source: HOLON GmbH