MAN and Scania work with U.S.-based Plus on autonomous truck development
MAN has been advancing autonomous driving for many years with various research and development projects and now will start working with Plus. Scania has launched an Autonomous Commercial Pilot Programme. Moreover, the newly-announced partnership with US-based Plus will allow the manufacturer to integrate its Level 4 technology.
Both MAN and Scania (part of the Traton Group) have announced further developments in view of autonomous trucks. In particular, MAN has been advancing autonomous driving for many years with various research and development projects. From 2018 to 2020, MAN developed and tested a driverless truck in container handling on the premises of the Port of Hamburg in a joint research and development project with Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG.
From 2019 to 2023, the ANITA project with partners Deutsche Bahn, Hochschule Fresenius, University of Applied Sciences, and Götting KG focused on the complete digital integration of an autonomous truck into the logistics process of container handling from road to rail. And since 2022, MAN has been working with twelve partners from industry, science, technical testing and road operations in the ATLAS-L4 project to develop an autonomous truck for use in motorway transport between logistics hubs.
“We are excited to leverage our industry-leading autonomous driving software and deployment experience to accelerate the global commercialization of driverless trucks with MAN. Through our combined expertise, we will bring to market safer, more efficient and more sustainable transportation solutions. This will transform how freight is moved,” said Shawn Kerrigan, COO and CO-Founder of Plus.
Autonomous truck related projects with Scania vehicles
On the other hand, Scania has launched an Autonomous Commercial Pilot Programme. Moreover, the newly-announced partnership with US-based Plus will allow the manufacturer to integrate its Level 4, fully autonomous SuperDrive technology stack. Scania has already been testing autonomous transport solutions on Swedish roads since 2021, with plans to expand pilot operations with customers in other European countries during 2024.
“We are committed to developing fully integrated autonomous solutions. This means technology that is fitted and supported directly from the factory and a solution that is designed to be operated by our customers in their existing infrastructure and operational flows,” declared Peter Hafmar, Vice-President and Head of Autonomous Solutions.
