IVECO and Plus Begin Public Road Testing of Next-Generation Highly Automated Trucks in Germany

TORINO, Italy & SANTA CLARA, Calif. – IVECO, the commercial vehicle brand of Iveco Group and a leading provider of alternative fuel vehicles, and Plus, a global provider of highly automated driving and autonomous driving solutions, have announced the start of public road testing of their jointly developed next generation highly automated trucks in Germany.

Starting this month, the companies will collect road data as part of the public road testing to validate the autonomous truck’s operations and begin 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,” said Marco Liccardo, Chief Technology & Digital Officer at Iveco Group. “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.”

The public road testing will expand to Austria, Italy, and Switzerland in the coming months, exposing the highly automated truck to a broad range of terrains, road gradients, weather conditions, and driving scenarios in each country.

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. Our highly automated driving solution, PlusDrive, will help improve road safety, sustainability, and address driver recruitment and retention issues confronting fleets in the region.” Germany alone is facing a shortage of 60,000 truck drivers, making the deployment of autonomous trucks a crucial solution to the region’s challenges.

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Self Drive News
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