Recently, Volvo has successfully developed the first 8-level semi-trailer truck specially designed for long-distance transportation in cooperation with the autonomous driving start-up Aurora. This vehicle is based on Volvo's new VNL model, and is equipped with Aurora's Level 4 automated driving solution, which has the potential for unmanned operation. This marks that the cooperation between the two sides has entered a new stage of mass production.
It is reported that this truck is the first truck of Volvo's standardized global automatic driving technology platform, which indicates that more models will be launched in the future, bringing automatic driving technology into all truck brands of Volvo Group as well as other regions and use cases.
According to the classification standard of commercial vehicles (trucks) in North America, commercial trucks are divided into three categories and eight levels: Level 1-3 are light trucks, Level 4-6 are medium trucks, and Level 7-8 are heavy trucks. Among them, Volvo occupies about 10% of the Grade 8 heavy truck market. The first self driving truck in this cooperation is aimed at Volvo's demand and positioning in the heavy truck market.
The two companies have conducted technical tests on public roads, of which Aurora has driven more than 1.5 million miles on commercial roads. The company plans to deploy 20 fully autonomous trucks this year, and hopes to expand to about 100 by 2025. This goal shows Aurora's confidence in autonomous driving technology and optimistic expectation of future market potential.
At the same time, Aurora also cooperates with Continental, a German auto supplier, and plans to deploy large scale driverless trucks in 2027. This will help promote the development of automatic driving technology and open up new possibilities for Volvo and Continental in the field of commercial vehicles.
The successful cooperation between Volvo and Aurora is an important milestone, which marks the substantial progress of automatic driving technology in the field of commercial vehicles. The debut of the first "mass production" autonomous truck not only provides Volvo Group with a new product line, but also brings broader development prospects for the entire commercial vehicle industry. With the gradual improvement of technology and regulations, we have reason to believe that more convenience and safety will come from automatic driving technology in the future. Of course, before we see its commercial operation, we should not expect too much of it. Any advanced and complex technology needs to be strictly tested and verified to truly realize its value.
