Plus, Cummins Partner on Self-Driving CNG Trucks
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Self-driving truck technology company Plus announced a new initiative with engine manufacturer Cummins Inc. to develop what Plus called the industry’s first driver-in, supervised autonomous trucks powered by natural gas.
The trucks are expected to come to market in 2022.
The compressed natural gas engines provided by Cummins have been certified to near-zero emissions, reducing smog-forming emissions by 90% compared with current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards for nitrogen oxide.
Furthermore, Cupertino, Calif.-based Plus said its trucks powered by the Plus autonomous driving system rely on artificial intelligence-enabled fuel optimization algorithms to increase fuel efficiency.
Shawn Kerrigan, co-founder and chief operating officer at Plus, said the announcement marks “a convergence of these two disruptive trends reshaping trucking — alternative fuel systems and autonomous technologies commercialized together.”
Plus reported it will begin mass production of its PlusDrive system this summer, with plans to deploy the supervised autonomous trucking system globally across the U.S., China, Europe and other parts of Asia. — Transport Topics
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