Volvo cooperates with Aurora to launch self-driving trucks

Volvo has just introduced its first “production-ready” self-driving truck in partnership with Aurora, the self-driving car technology company founded by former executives from Google, Uber and Tesla.

The truck is based on Volvo’s new VNL model, a Class 8 heavy-duty tractor line specializing in long-distance transport. The self-driving version is equipped with many sensors and cameras to support Aurora’s Level 4 autonomous driving system, allowing the vehicle to operate without a human behind the wheel. The two companies said the truck was “custom designed and engineered” to accommodate Aurora’s self-driving hardware and software.

“This truck is the first product in our standard global self-driving technology platform, allowing for additional models to be introduced in the future, bringing self-driving capabilities to all vehicle brands.” Volvo Group trucks, and reaching out to other geographies and use cases”, Nils Jaeger, President Volvo Autonomous Solutions , said in a statement.

Customizing the vehicle is critical to the mass production of self-driving trucks, a key factor for companies to recoup their huge investments in autonomous vehicle development. The truck will be produced at Volvo’s New River Valley plant in Dublin, Virginia, which is the company’s largest plant in the world.

Volvo, which has about 10% of the global Class 8 truck market share, began collaborating with Aurora in 2018 to find solutions for self-driving trucks. The companies have tested their technology on public roads, with Aurora logging 1.5 million test miles on commercial routes.

Aurora said it plans to deploy 20 fully self-driving trucks this year, with the goal of expanding to about 100 by 2025 and eventually selling to other companies. The company is also partnering with German auto parts supplier Continental to deploy self-driving trucks on a large scale by 2027.

Self-driving trucks were once expected to be ahead of self-driving taxis and self-driving personal vehicles in mass adoption, but they have encountered the same obstacles as other vehicles along the way. Some companies have gone bankrupt, while others have cut plans to deploy self-driving trucks as schedules are stretched into the future and funding dries up. Other automakers remain optimistic, designing their own self-driving trucks with specific deployment deadlines.

Furthermore, public opinion of self-driving cars has been on the decline, partly due to mistakes by companies like Tesla and Cruise, with Cruise forced to temporarily suspend operations nationwide after a pedestrian was injured. injured in a collision with one of their vehicles.

Aurora has not had any public incidents, nor has it received negative government attention like some of its competitors. The company reported a net loss of $165 million in the first quarter of 2024, down 16% year-over-year.