Plus Selects AWS as its Preferred Cloud Provider in Preparation for the Mass Production of the Plus Automated Driving System in 2021
Plus (www.plus.ai), a leading provider of self-driving truck technology, has selected Amazon Web Services as its preferred cloud provider to support the commercial deployment of the Plus automated driving system. In addition to the partnership with AWS, Plus has specifically curated and vetted a select group of automotive Tier 1 suppliers for their enterprise technology to meet the stringent requirements needed for a commercial driving system. Mass production of the system will start in 2021, and thousands of pre-orders have been received so far.
“We are excited to be the first autonomous trucking company to start mass production of an automated driving system. This milestone requires close collaboration with a number of top tier suppliers that offer the best-in-class components and services. Specifically for compute and storage capacity, the AWS team rose to the challenge with a solution that matches the scale we need for our driving system that will power thousands of automated trucks,” said Shawn Kerrigan, COO and Co-founder.
Automated trucks will reshape the trucking industry, offering not only increased safety, but also enhanced fuel efficiency, improved driver comfort, and reduced carbon emissions. Each automated truck is equipped with the latest sensing technology that collects terabytes of data to give the truck superhuman awareness of its surroundings. As automated trucks are deployed commercially across private and managed fleets, the trucks will require the vast compute and storage capacity that AWS offers to collectively learn from the enormous amount of data observed each day.
“Plus is bringing advanced self-driving technology to the commercial trucking industry that is rapidly innovating. AWS is excited to be partnering with Plus on that transformation, especially in the areas of machine learning and compute infrastructure,” said Jon Jones, Compute Services Leader at Amazon Web Services, Inc.
“Using AWS services, Plus has the performance, security, and reliability to make their first commercial deployment a success, as well as to help them grow and scale their business in the years ahead,” said Bob Van Nortwick, Startups Leader, Amazon Web Services, Inc.
Mass production of the Plus automated driving system is the culmination of its technology development efforts over the last several years. Plus has been conducting pilot tests of its automated driving system for some of the top 10 logistics providers, with pre-orders coming from these early pilot partners. In China, the Plus automated driving system will power the intelligent trucks of FAW, the largest truck maker in China, starting with the J7+. In 2019, FAW manufactured over 200,000 heavy duty trucks, which also makes it the largest heavy-duty truck maker in the world by volume. The Plus automated driving system will power tens of thousands of trucks globally in the coming years.
