The newly established Schaeffler Paravan Technologie GmbH & Co. KG is intended to develop the SPACE DRIVE drive-by-wire technology and increase sales of the Mover mobility system from Schaeffler. SPACE DRIVE was originally developed by Paravan for people with physical disabilities to give them full electronic control over a vehicle.

This is a key technology for the driverless vehicle market of the future. The core elements are actuation of the throttle and brake and the steer-by-wire function, which reliably keeps the vehicle to its lane by means of electronic control signals alone. There is no need for a steering wheel or a mechanical connection to the steering column.

According to the two companies, SPACE DRIVE is currently the only system solution in the world that meets the highest quality and safety requirements, in particular the ISO 26262 ASIL D safety standard. It is therefore the only system of its type in the world that is licensed for use on the roads and simultaneously has the potential to be technically and commercially competitive in automobile mass production.