What’s Happening
Zero-emission medium-duty commercial electric vehicle (EV) provider Lightning eMotors, Inc., and autonomous vehicle (AV) software company STEER Tech have unveiled a pioneering partnership. The collaboration will be aimed at equipping Lightning’s EVs with autonomous capabilities, thereby enhancing their safety and operational efficiency.
Why It Matters
This partnership is set to revolutionize the EV landscape by integrating STEER’s patented AV technology into Lightning’s commercial EV product range. This technology, which is currently absent from most medium-duty commercial EVs, introduces critical safety features such as collision avoidance and autonomous vehicle movement. These features could significantly impact various fields, including campus transportation, distribution center cargo movement, and automated parking in crowded areas like school bus yards and transit marshaling yards. Furthermore, the AV technology can be paired with charging stations to automate the charging process, minimizing human intervention.
Key Points
Lightning eMotors CEO and Co-founder, Tim Reeser, expressed his enthusiasm about the collaboration, emphasizing the safety advantages that STEER’s AV solution will bring to their customers. As demand for autonomous driving continues to surge, the ability to reduce pedestrian accidents, particularly in school bus fleets, represents a significant milestone.
STEER Tech’s technology is a comprehensive platform providing a wide range of autonomous driving solutions, from advanced driver assistance to driverless packages. Its system, equipped with a robust sensor suite, high-precision GPS, and stereoscopic camera vision, enables safe navigation within geofenced areas. The flexibility of the platform allows for either remote control from a central command or independent vehicle operation, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and automating last-mile functions such as semi-automatic charging, parking, and loading. An added feature is the AV platform’s dashboard that monitors vehicle health and automated triggers, ensuring a constantly ready fleet.
Bottom Line
The partnership between Lightning eMotors and STEER Tech is anticipated to be a game changer in terms of safety and sustainability in the EV market, as STEER Tech CEO, Anuja Sonalker, notes. By combining their best-in-class electric vehicle solutions with STEER Tech’s autonomous technology, Lightning eMotors is poised to launch a new suite of autonomous electric vehicles, marking a major step forward in the evolution of commercial electric transportation.
