Kodiak Robotics, based in Mountain View, unveiled what it says is the first autonomous electric semi at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Long Beach. (Photo courtesy of Kodiak Robotics)
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Imagine a big rig cruising down the freeway with no one behind the wheel.
That’s not only the vision of the self-driving trucking company Kodiak Robotics but the reality it unveiled Tuesday at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Long Beach, with a modified Peterbilt Model 579EV that the company says is the first-ever autonomous electric semi.
What You Need To Know
The Kodiak Robotics fully autonomous electric semi is a battery-electric Peterbilt Model 579EV with 18 self-driving sensors
The truck uses four radar, four LiDAR and 10 cameras to navigate without a driver
Based in Mountain View, Kodiak Robotics is one of several companies working on self-driving truck technologies
Kodiak plans to add the self-driving truck to its fleet next year
“We believe that the future of trucking is the combination of electric and autonomous vehicles,” Kodiak Robotics founder and chief executive Don Burnette said in a statement. “Given advancements in battery and fuel cell technologies, achieving zero-emissions trucking will soon be within reach.”
Kodiak’s fully autonomous big rig pairs its self-driving technology, Kodiak Driver, with a Peterbilt Model 579EV truck that includes additional sensors, many of which are clustered on the side-mounted mirrors. Each self-driving truck has 18 sensors, including four radar to detect obstacles, four LiDAR to scan road signs, traffic signals and road markings, and 10 cameras to see and interpret various visual data. The sensors improve the truck’s visibility and also provide redundancy in case one fails or is damaged by a rock or other debris encountered while driving.
While the new fully autonomous Kodiak truck is battery electric and can travel up to 150 miles per charge, Burnette said its self-driving system can be used on vehicles powered with other types of fuel, such as hydrogen. Autonomous technology, he said, enables a 10% reduction in fuel consumption because it helps trucks drive more efficiently.
Kodiak’s self-driving electric big rig introduction comes days after the California Air Resources Board adopted its so-called Advanced Clean Fleets rule, which requires trucks transporting containers from the ports to be zero emissions by 2035. Kodiak will incorporate the Peterbilt Model 579EV with Kodiak Driver into its fleet next year.
Kodiak is one of several companies working on self-driving truck technology, including Embark Technology based in San Francisco, TuSimple based in San Diego and Aurora Innovation in Pittsburgh. Driverless trucks are currently being tested in various states that allow it, including California, Texas, Arizona and Florida.
Kodiak Robotics is based in Mountain View, but it does not have a permit to test or deploy truly driverless trucks in California. Only seven companies, including Google’s Waymo and General Motors’ Cruise, hold permits to test vehicles without a human safety driver on public roads in the state. Just three companies are allowed to deploy them.
Source: spectrumnews1.com