Autonomous driving software specialist Plus has announced a long-term partnership with several commercial fleet developers under the Traton Group, including MAN, Scania, and Navistar, to deploy Level 4 autonomous trucks globally. Public road testing is already underway on two continents.
Plus is a global provider of autonomous driving solutions headquartered in Silicon Valley alongside operations in both Europe and Australia. The company specializes in next-generation safety systems, automation like PlusDrive, and its Level 4 driverless technology SuperDrive.
The startup’s proprietary autonomous tech has garnered interest from several commercial vehicle developers, including partnerships with Bosch, IVECO, Nikola, and Luminar, to name a few. Additional partners include multiple brands under the umbrella of commercial vehicle manufacturer Traton Group, like MAN, Navistar, and Scania.
Today, Plus announced an extended partnership with those brands to develop and deploy Level 4 autonomous trucks globally; testing is already underway.
Plus is testing Level 4 autonomous trucks in US and Europe
Top comment by Keith Range
The ADAS system will never get tired, distracted by its phone, or put on makeup while driving. It would never leave you, hurt you, get drunk and shout at you and hit you, or say it was to busy to spend time with you. It will always be there and would die to protect you
I am hugely in favor of level 3/4/5 ADAS equipped semi-trucks. I have a long interstate commute and daily have trucks try to murder me on the road, usually trying to enter my traffic lane - ontop of me. I know the guys have a hard time and I'm not angry at them or anything, but it sure would be nice to not die on the interstate 🙂
The implementation could be L3/L4 operable only on GPS fenced interstate roads where L3/L4 could be most easily designed with its limited access designs of vehicle entry/exit of the roads (ramps), merge lanes, and such. You're not(or extremely rarely) going to encounter school bus stops, pedestrians at a cross walk or jay walking, car doors suddenly opening into the traffic lane when someone exits their roadside parked car, and tons more cases than I could list here.
Plus shared details of its new multi-year Level 4 autonomous truck deployment via press release this morning, stating its new partners will use their existing autonomous-ready base vehicles to be implemented with Plus’ SuperDrive driverless software and hub-to-hub operations. Plus co-founder and COO Shawn Kerrigan spoke about the partnership:
Plus is thrilled to have our industry leading autonomous driving software be chosen for the Traton Group’s impressive portfolio of storied and trusted global commercial vehicle brands across Scania, MAN, and Navistar. Together we will accelerate the global commercialization of Level 4 autonomous trucks and bring to market safer and more sustainable transportation solutions. By expanding our autonomous hub-to-hub program, we are taking a leading position in providing autonomous solutions to our customers.
Plus followed by stating that Traton Group trucks have already been equipped with its Level 4 autonomous technology and are already being tested on public roads in Europe and the US (with a safety monitor present onboard).
The public road testing stems from a joint development between Traton Group and Plus that has been in the works for the past year, including tests in busy freight corridors around Texas. Following today’s expanded partnership, Plus says the Traton Group brands will pilot commercial operations of Level 4 autonomous trucks through 2024.
From there, the partners intend to begin series production and globally deploy the commercial vehicles at scale. Those expansions will continue incrementally along “strategic US corridors,” as well as testing between Södertälje and Nyköping in Sweden for the European routes. Plus states that European fleet customers should also see pilot operations begin sometime in 2024.
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