Iveco to develop autonomous truck technology with Plus

Iveco has signed a memorandum of understanding with autonomous trucking company Plus to jointly develop autonomous trucks.

Under the terms of the agreement, Iveco and Plus will integrate the latest-generation S-Way with the PlusDrive full-stack autonomous driving system. The cooperation will also explore using Iveco’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) engine system to power the jointly developed autonomous trucks.

The partnership combines Iveco’s expertise in heavy-duty truck development, manufacturing, and sales with Plus’s autonomous driving technology with a goal to bring a safe, fuel efficient, and scalable self-driving truck to market quickly, across Europe and other geographies.

Marco Liccardo, chief technology and digital officer at Iveco, said: “The cooperation with Plus represents an excellent opportunity to accelerate the development of the highest levels of automation of heavy trucks. Iveco is already working on ADAS solutions together with selected companies, but when it comes to level 4 autonomy, it is necessary to create an ecosystem of partners.

“Thanks to its technology leadership, its non-linear thinking, and established relationships with the same key component suppliers, Plus is the perfect partner for accelerating in this process.”

Plus, headquartered in Silicon Valley, is applying full-stack self-driving technology to trucks today to enable large scale autonomous commercial transport.

Shawn Kerrigan, COO and co-founder of Plus, added: “Our teams will work closely to develop and deploy autonomous trucks, including one that is powered by natural gas. IVECO’s global footprint in over 160 countries will enable us to accelerate our commercial deployment and magnify the impact of our autonomous driving technology.”