So, we’ve been discussing (Wednesday, yesterday) electric trucks- the big rigs, Class 8 vehicles. And, you’d think that Tesla was the only one getting ready to market these rigs from those discussions. No way!
Anthony Levandowski helped Otto (yes, the controversial fellow who left Google- with(?) confidential data) , which is now a Uber subsidiary (swallowed up for some $ 690 million) prove the concept of a driverless truck. Way back in 2016, this pilotless truck carried about 2000 cases of Budweiser some 120 miles over trick terrain. Once the rig needed to exit the highway, the driver (who was resting in the rig) took over the tractor’s operations and finished making the delivery.
The big issue for these driverless vehicles is not highway driving- where there are (mostly) straight travel lines, defined traffic patterns, and well-designed turns. Nope. It’s the navigation of city traffic- which is about 50 times more complex.
And, just like that Budweiser trial with Otto, Embark has been proving its mettle. Headed up by a 22 year old (Alex Rodriguez), the firm envisions its vehicles to be driverless – except at the beginning and ending of the journey, when city traffic must be navigated.
Even Cummins is getting into the electric truking act. (Our firm’s trucks all were Cummins- equipped. Cummins was [and still are] considered to be one of the best choices for the drive train.) Right now, Cummins is devoting its efforts for buses and city delivery trucks (even fork lifts)- all of which travel shorter distances and, therefore, need much smaller batteries.
But, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its eye on the long term. It’s also partnered with Daimler AG (which now owns Freightliner, one of the firms from whom we bought many a tractor), which is developing an electric version of its tractors.
The key fact is that newer trucks are getting smarter- even if they aren’t yet autonomous. Stefan Selz-Axmacher heads up Starsky Robotics, which develops and produces software, radar, and cameras for the big rigs. But, like all the options discussed here, these systems only operate on highways, ceding control to the driver at the ends of the journey. (Like Otto, this firm has demonstrated a driverless routing, in this case- a 68 mile course in Florida.)
Thor Trucks (headed by Dakota Semler, another 20+ year old) also has an entrant- the ET1. Moreover, Thor is not sticking only with Class 8 rigs, but plans to offer short-haul and delivery vehicles. Right now, ET1 has a 22 inch touchscreen as part of its dashboard, an electric motor, and enough battery packs to haul 80,000 pounds (including the weight of the rig, about 45K of cargo is the goal). Priced akin to the conventional rigs, but with only a 300 mile range, the truck will be considered a medium duty delivery vehicle. (NOTE: Thor doesn’t build trucks from scratch- it jury-rigs existing vehicles by replacing the diesel motor and replaces it with batteries and an electric motor.)
Or, TuSimple (obviously not!). This Chinese firm (with an office in San Diego) is partnering with Nvidia to render its trucks autonomous. One of its test sites is in Shanghai, the other operates between Tucson and Phoenix (about 120 miles).
Now, I don’t want you to think the autonomous revolution is limited to just electric vehicles. Nikola Motor is working on a Class 8 rig powered by hydrogen fuel. The proposed rigs are expected to travel from 800 to 1200 miles on one “fill-up”.
I love the looks of these trucks. But, I probably won’t have to re-up my Class 8 license anytime soon. I’ll just say- home, James…
Love the look of the Nikola motor.. need to show this article to my son as well
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I think a lot of these trucks look pretty cool, Vidya!
As I’ve said before, this entire series has been very interesting!! But here’s what I’m wondering: how much does it help the driver who will have to navigate the city traffic? Does he get enough sleep during the non-driving time that it creates an improvement over being the driver during that time?
Driving in city traffic will require (at least by my reckoning) a conventional truck driver. And, if the driver is just “along for the ride” his hours won’t start until he takes over the wheel.
It is kind of a scary thought that the trucks would drive in city traffic. I think it will be a long time before they won’t need actual people to do that part. They do look pretty sleek though and it’s going to be interesting which company comes out on top.
Yes. Not only autonomous trucks- but driverless cars, will probably be limited to highway driving at first. For safety and a slew of other reasons.
Some of the trucks look so futureistic. I’d still wonder about recharging them.
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We certainly need to set up a recharging system to make the concept viable. Plus, what my next post will discuss, Martha!