Autonomous trucks eye wider applications

In addition, courier company SF Express has selected Plus for China's first commercial freight pilot to demonstrate how supervised autonomous trucks improve logistics operations.

As part of the ongoing pilot, Plus ran its autonomous trucks on two long-haul routes－Wuhan to Wuxi (1,440 km round-trip) and Changshu to Wuhan (1,600 km round-trip).

"Thanks to the convergence of machine learning and artificial intelligence, big data, mobility and advanced sensors, the autonomous revolution is on the horizon. Autonomous trucks are one of the best applications for autonomous driving in the near term, and this application is close to becoming a reality," said David Liu, CEO and co-founder of Plus.

"We are on track to start mass production of autonomous trucks this year", Liu said, adding that large-scale use of autonomous driving technologies is conducive to making freight transportation on expressways safer, lowering costs and enhancing operational efficiency.

The company is also working with Iveco, one of the top global truck manufacturers in the world, to jointly develop autonomous trucks that will be deployed across China, Europe and elsewhere.

Based both in the United States and China, Plus is developing low-cost, high-performance full-stack L4 autonomous driving technologies to make long-haul trucking safer, more efficient and more sustainable.

According to Allied Market Research, a global consulting services provider, the global self-driving truck market may have generated $1 billion in 2020 and is further expected to generate $1.67 billion by 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 10.4 percent from 2020 to 2025.

"At present, autonomous trucks are mainly tested or applied in relatively simple scenarios, such as ports, mines and some closed roads," said Jiang Zheng, an expert at the research and development center affiliated to Guangzhou Automobile Group.

Jiang said that compared with self-driving passenger-carrying robotaxis, the routes of autonomous trucks are more fixed, which provides certain conditions for the large-scale commercialization of autonomous driving technology.

"In addition, logistics companies see rising demand for autonomous trucks which increases work efficiency, saves labor costs as well as reduces delivery and transportation costs," said Jiang, adding that he is bullish on autonomous truck prospects.

The Chinese government is also quickening the commercialization of autonomous driving technology, and formulating guidelines to allow self-driving companies to test their vehicles in a wide range of scenarios, Jiang said.

TuSimple, another self-driving truck startup that went public earlier this year, is slated to mass-produce its L4 self-driving semitrucks in cooperation with truck maker Navistar.

It has obtained intelligent connected vehicles demonstration application qualification in Shanghai, and plans to carry out road tests on designated roads in the Lin-gang Special Area the China (Shanghai)Pilot Free Trade Zone.

Zhang Xiang, a researcher at the automobile industry innovation research center, North China University of Technology, said there are some difficulties and challenges in the process of promoting the commercial use of self-driving trucks.

"The operational costs of self-driving trucks equipped with advanced sensors and radars are much higher than conventional trucks. Moreover, it is a little bit difficult for authorities to manage such long-haul trucks, whose operational range covers several provinces."

Zhang said more efforts are needed to make breakthroughs in key technologies, supervision, relevant laws and regulations to promote the commercialization of self-driving technologies.