I was introduced to Richard Goebelt through my H+C partner Martin Adler. The Director for Automotive & Mobility of the TÜV — the Technischer Überwachungsverein — Richard’s primary field of work, not to mention his passion and interests, rests entirely on the safety and regulatory landscape of all things automotive and mobility generally, with, of course, a focus on autonomous vehicles.

Unsurprisingly, then, our conversation spanned the gamut from his thoughts about Tesla; a brief history of TÜV and Germany’s impressive grasp on automotive safety; the social impacts of autonomous vehicles especially on matters of equality, or lack thereof; and much more besides.

This episode should be especially interesting to listeners in the US since we don’t really have anything like the TÜV. I suppose a loose analogy might be local agencies that require smog checks every few years. At a minimum, the TÜV requires certification of compliance to validate roadworthiness of all vehicles, including everything from turn signals to suspension; engines and emissions; headlight alignment; and anything else besides, and certain of these certifications are required every two years.