IVECO and Plus Successfully Complete Initial Phase of Autonomous Truck Pilot, Ready for Public Road Testing in Europe
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.
About IVECO
IVECO is a brand of Iveco Group N.V. (MI: IVG). IVECO designs, manufactures and markets a wide range of light, medium and heavy commercial vehicles, off-road trucks, and vehicles for applications such as off-road missions.
The brand’s wide range of products include the Daily, a vehicle that covers the 3.3 – 7.2 ton vehicle weight segment, the Eurocargo from 6 – 19 tons and, in the heavy segment above 16 tons, the IVECO WAY range with the on-road IVECO S-WAY, the off-road IVECO T-WAY and the IVECO X-WAY for light off-road missions. In addition, the IVECO Astra brand builds off-road trucks, rigid and articulated dumpers as well as special vehicles.
IVECO employs close to 21,000 individuals globally. It manages production sites in 7 countries throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania and Latin America where it produces vehicles featuring the latest advanced technologies. 4,200 sales and service outlets in over 160 countries guarantee technical support wherever an IVECO vehicle is at work.
For further information about IVECO: www.iveco.com.
About Plus
Plus is a global leader in the autonomous trucking revolution, with award-winning high-performance full-stack driverless technology. Named by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2022, Plus is the only autonomous driving company with customers operating its product on the road today. Working with one of the largest companies in the U.S., vehicle manufacturers and others, Plus is making long-haul trucking safer, more fuel efficient, more sustainable, and more comfortable for the drivers. Plus has received a number of industry awards and distinctions for its transformative technology and business momentum from Fast Company, Insider, Consumer Electronics Show, AUVSI, and others.
For more information, please visit www.plus.ai or follow us on LinkedIn or YouTube.
