Pilot Paves Way for Factory Production of Semi-Autonomous and Fully Autonomous Trucks.
Torino, Italy and Santa Clara, CA ‒ September 19, 2022 ‒ IVECO, the commercial vehicle brand of Iveco Group, and Plus announced today the successful completion of the initial phase of their autonomous trucking pilot which focused on deep engineering integration and closed course testing. This milestone showcases the technical feasibility and capabilities of the PlusDrive-powered IVECO S-WAY truck, and its readiness for the next important phase of the pilot which is to conduct public road testing. This achievement paves the way for IVECO and Plus to produce a semi-autonomous product as a first step and to prepare for ultimately manufacturing fully autonomous vehicles.
Marco Liccardo, Chief Technology & Digital Officer, Iveco Group, stated: “Our pilot project with Plus is accelerating our progress towards an increasingly automated truck. By leveraging IVECO’s deep expertise in commercial vehicles and Plus’s leadership in autonomous driving technology, we are advancing our capability to develop and later commercialize the next generation of innovation-driven, safety-enhanced, sustainable transport solutions. This is an exciting time for our respective companies, for our customers, and for the trucking industry.”
“Our ability to safely, collaboratively, and quickly move from the initial phase to public road testing is made possible by Plus’s substantial practical experience deploying autonomous driving technology to customers and partners. Combined with the manufacturing know-how of the Iveco Group team, we are a powerful partnership. We are thrilled to start public road testing across Europe to collect real-world experience and work towards production,” said Shawn Kerrigan, Co-Founder and COO at Plus.
Initial public road testing in vehicles supervised by a safety driver will cover a number of countries in Europe including Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. The diversity in terrain, road gradient, weather, and driving scenarios all help to continuously expand the capabilities and features of Plus’s autonomous driving technology.
The IVECO S-WAY truck powered by Plus’s Level 4 autonomous driving technology will be on display at the upcoming IAA Transportation held in Hannover, Germany, from September 20-25, 2022, at IVECO’s booth in Hall 24.
