Volkswagen Subsidiary Launches Self-Driving Trucks in U.S., Europe

Silicon Valley start-up Plus has made a major step forward in its driverless trucking program by releasing its Level 4 autonomous software in tandem with Traton Group brands Scania, MAN and International.

After months of testing in both the United States and Europe, the Beta 5.0 version of Plus’s AI-based SuperDrive tech is now operational in trucks on both continents.

In addition, hub-to-hub routes have been identified by Plus and Traton – a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group – for phased commercial deployment in Texas, and fleet trials are already planned for the next few months. A pilot run between San Antonio and Laredo has already been completed.

The milestone has been achieved following a focused development program, where safety has been the number one priority.

Initially, testing was conducted offline, before the companies graduated to closed course evaluations. After that, an extensive series of public road testing was carried out, with teams based in Sweden, Germany and the U.S. all liaising closely to ensure coordinated progress.

Key elements of this included a defined testing process to ensure comparable performance and reliability; establishing key metrics to ensure that all participants in the program were moving towards autonomy at the same rate; producing a global product roadmap for software architecture that took into account hardware differences in Europe and the U.S.; and ensuring features were consistent across all platforms.

Related:Highly Automated Truck Being Tested on Public Roads in Germany

Among the benefits this brings is reliable performance in conditions varying from snow in Sweden to the extreme heat of Texas and an ability to adjust to the varying driving behaviors of humans in different parts of the world.

Scania’s Peter Hafmar, who has led the coordination of autonomous solutions at Traton, hailed the effort. 

“Deploying a global product requires seamless integration across people and technology,” he said. 

“We’re proud of the progress we’ve made in our Level 4 autonomous trucking program with Plus, and excited to move to the next phase of our collaboration, which will include continued technology development in addition to fleet trials in Texas in the coming months.”

Shawn Kerrigan, COO and co-founder at Plus, added: “[This] milestone exemplifies Plus’s ability to quickly deliver a safe and scalable AI-centric autonomous driving system that can already operate on two continents for the Traton Group. 

“The next phase of fleet pilots will help fleets gain a practical understanding of how to integrate our autonomous trucks into their operations, and the safety and efficiency benefits these trucks bring.”

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Alongside Traton, Plus has also been working with some of the world’s other leading commercial vehicle makers, including Italy’s Iveco and Hyundai of South Korea.