VECO, the commercial vehicle brand of Iveco Group (MI: IVG) and a pioneer in the commercialization and manufacturing of vehicles powered by alternative fuels, and Plus.
A leading global provider of highly automated driving and autonomous driving solutions, that this month the companies are starting public road testing of their jointly developed next generation highly automated trucks in Germany.
As a part of the public road testing, the companies will collect road data to validate their autonomous truck’s operations and start designing the potential factory production. The PlusDrive-enabled IVECO S-WAY truck is designed to improve safety, efficiency, driver experience, and to provide a more sustainable option for fleets.
“Germany is a leader and trendsetter in autonomous driving, so we are excited to launch our public testing program in a country that has long embraced technology innovation and the life-changing impact of safety solutions like highly automated trucks.
This is an important phase in our plans to bring highly automated trucks to market,” said Marco Liccardo, Chief Technology & Digital Officer, Iveco Group.
The public road testing starts in Germany, and will expand to Austria, Italy, and Switzerland in the coming months. Each country’s unique roadways and driving conditions will expose the highly automated truck to a broad range of terrains, road gradients, weather conditions and driving scenarios.
This will help to continuously expand the capabilities and features of Plus’s autonomous driving technology.
Shawn Kerrigan, COO and Co-founder at Plus, said: “Real-world experience is an invaluable part of the testing and validation of our technology as we prepare our autonomous driving product for commercial deployment in Europe.
Given that Germany alone faces a shortage of 60,000 truck drivers, our highly automated driving solution, PlusDrive, will help improve road safety, sustainability, and driver recruitment and retention issues confronting fleets in the region.”
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
