British electric vehicle company Voltempo has detailed plans for a cabless, fully autonomous electric truck: a rigid 15.6-metre vehicle that would exceed the UK’s current 12-metre length limit for non-articulated trucks and carry up to 42 tonnes across five axles, against today’s 32-tonne, four-axle maximum. A prototype of the unit, dubbed the “Smart trailer”, is due by September 2027, with production targeted for later that year and first deliveries expected to follow in mid-2028. Removing the driver’s cab is the design’s central proposition. In an interview with Autocar, Founder Michael Boxwell said that the vehicle’s laden weight could fall to between ten and 12 tonnes, against roughly 19 tonnes for a conventional electric articulated truck. The economics behind this argument is strong: if realised, it would free up around 15% more cargo volume and five to seven tonnes of extra payload capacity. That would in turn lift the average freight carried from 16 tonnes to 18.6 tonnes, despite the vehicle sitting 1.5 metres shorter than a standard articulated HGV. “Your average weight on the road is three times lighter because of the rigid body,” Boxwell said. Voltempo will not be manufacturing in-house. Instead, Berkeley Coachworks is building the prototype’s body, with an unnamed major truckmaker supplying the electric powertrain. Testing is planned at an autonomous vehicle test track in South Wales, and the UK’s Automated Vehicles Act, which allows driverless vehicles on public roads, would potentially allow trials to move onto national highways. Boxwell said that every major truckmaker in Europe has already agreed to support formal reclassification of the vehicle category and build to the resulting specification. Having buy-in from industry is essential, given that Voltempo’s design cannot legally operate commercially until regulators approve it. Voltempo is currently targeting fixed logistics routes between ports, railheads and distribution centres rather