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California has started issuing traffic citations to driverless cars under a new set of Department of Motor Vehicles regulations that took effect July 1, closing a gap that had left autonomous vehicles effectively immune from tickets even when they ran red lights or blocked active emergency scenes. The DMV announced the rules Tuesday, April 28, describing them as the most comprehensive autonomous vehicle framework adopted by any state to date. Under the new system, the agency will issue “Notices of AV Noncompliance” to autonomous vehicle companies whenever their cars commit moving violations, including running red lights, failing to yield to pedestrians, or entering an active emergency zone. Companies must report the details of each incident to the DMV within 72 hours, or within 24 hours for more serious cases. For a car accident lawyer evaluating a claim involving a robotaxi, the change addresses some evidentiary gaps. Existing traffic law was written around the assumption that a human sits behind the wheel. Officers who witnessed a driverless vehicle break the law had no mechanism to document it the way they would a citation issued to a person. When Robotaxis Were Pulled Over Without a Driver The issue became public last September, when a San Bruno police officer pulled over a Waymo for making an illegal U-turn and found there was no driver to cite. The department notified Waymo directly so the company could correct the software error, since remote human operators, often based in the Philippines, provide navigational guidance to the vehicles when needed. “I think it’s a great standard that’s set in place,” San Bruno Police Sgt. Scott Smithmatungol said. “If human drivers are to be held accountable or held to a standard, I think autonomous vehicle companies should be as well.” The regulations also grew out of a December
At the Yimin open-pit coal mine in Inner Mongolia, 100 battery-electric haul trucks work through minus 40 degree winters with no cab, no driver and no diesel There is a coal mine in Inner Mongolia where the trucks have nowhere for a driver to sit. Take a look at this truck for instance. It doesn’t have a cab, windscreen, or seat. The truck comes with a battery pack, an electric motor, and nearly a 100-ton load capacity, working in a pit that may drop to almost -40 degrees in winter. Back in May 2025, at the Yimin open-pit mine near Hulunbuir, China switched on 100 of these Huaneng Ruichi trucks at once—the largest single fleet of its kind anywhere on Earth. It’s been a year since then. They are still running, with each truck delivering about 120% of the output of a human-driven diesel equivalent. Right there, in the same region of Holingol, AT150 driverless trucks have also started operating. So, how did a coal pit in northern China end up with the most advanced haulage fleet on the planet? Does the financial case actually stack up, and who else is racing to build them? Well, back in 2020, China had just around 90 autonomous vehicles working in its open-pit coal mines. By 2025, that figure passed 4,000. You can attribute this massive acceleration directly to government policy. In 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission ordered an immediate push toward intelligent mining, setting a goal for automated baseline operations by 2035. But there was an even harsher driver, and that was safety. After years of fatal accidents, regulators recognized that the single fastest way to prevent injuries in a pit was to remove human operators entirely. On a global scale, China was already late to the race. Rio Tinto
Sponsored by Google Cloud Choosing Your First Generative AI Use Cases To get started with generative AI, first focus on areas that can improve human experiences with information. The fast-growing vendor has attracted significant international funding. Sweden-based vibe coding startup Lovable’s meteoric rise continues with a $400 million Series C funding round at a $13.3 billion valuation. The valuation is more than double the vendor’s $6.6 billion valuation last December, when it completed a Series B round of $330 million. The latest funding round was led by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, and co-led by the Europe Scaleup Fund, managed by EQT, a new private-public funding vehicle backed by the European Commission designed to support European companies. Lovable, based in Stockholm, has been one of the big winners in the explosive rise of vibe coding, in which automated processes and AI tools enable those with little experience in programming to develop apps with simple prompts. This approach has been a big success for Lovable, with apps built with its technology now attracting 900 million visits a month, according to the vendor. Among the major companies Lovable says are now using its products to create new software and replace redundant tools are Adidas, Nvidia and Deutsche Telekom. While Lovable says its early days were about giving people the capability to “turn an idea into software,” it has been steadily evolving its offering with the continuing addition of new features such as payment functionality, better SEO and AI-search tools, deeper integrations with the likes of Google Workspace and Microsoft 365, and automatic security scanning. Now, with the new funding secured, the vendor is promising further improvements, including more proactive software, which better understands what customers are trying to build; developing its data loop to ensure products built by customers have
Europe's regulatory framework for fully driverless commercial trucks has been on the books since 2022 — and as of today, not a single vehicle has received EU Regulation 2022/1426 type-approval under it. That gap is now the stated target of a partnership announced Wednesday between Swedish freight-autonomy company Einride AB (Nasdaq: ENRD) and Dutch truck giant DAF Trucks, a PACCAR subsidiary. The two companies said they will integrate Einride's autonomous driving system, Einride Driver, into DAF's production electric truck platform, with type-approval work beginning from day one of the program alongside the engineering work. The partnership is a structural departure from how most autonomous trucking deals have been constructed. Instead of a startup building its own purpose-designed vehicle, or a demonstration project that achieves impressive technical milestones before stalling at the regulatory gate, Einride and DAF said they engaged the Dutch national research institute TNO and began coordinating with European type-approval authorities as the program's first step — not an afterthought, per the Einride-DAF joint announcement. The EU's Level 4 autonomous vehicle type-approval framework has existed for four years. According to an analysis by TÜV SÜD autonomous driving project leader Dirk Fratzke, the framework is technically ready and independent testing organizations are prepared — but as of mid-2026, no manufacturer has successfully guided a vehicle through the process to certification, per TÜV SÜD's EU approval gap analysis. The bottleneck, Fratzke said, "sits inside the companies themselves." Why Europe's Level 4 Certification Gap Is the Deal's Central Bet At SAE Level 4, a vehicle can perform all driving tasks independently within a precisely defined Operational Design Domain — a specific geography, speed range, weather condition, and road type — without any need for a driver to monitor or intervene, per the SAE J3016 Level 4 definition. Level 4 is classified as
Read more insights from Innovators and finalists: How Innovative Trucking Leaders Turn Change Into an Advantage How HDT’s 2026 Truck Fleet Innovators Are Rethinking Fleet Operations Meet five trucking leaders who are challenging assumptions, solving operational problems, and putting innovative ideas to work. - Five trucking leaders are exploring new strategies to defy traditional assumptions in fleet operations. - Their approaches include artificial intelligence, data-driven tools, electric trucks, advanced safety technology, and new ways of managing everyday fleet challenges. - What sets these leaders apart is a willingness to question assumptions, experiment, learn from setbacks, measure results, and share what they’ve learned with other fleets. *Summarized by AI Every year, new technologies promise to change trucking. Artificial intelligence. Electric trucks. Advanced safety systems. Automation. But technology alone isn’t the same as innovation. Vision and being willing to challenge conventional thinking matter — but so does turning ideas into results. This year's HDT Truck Fleet Innovators all approached innovation differently. Some embraced emerging technology, while others found better ways to solve everyday operational problems. None set out simply to adopt the latest technology. They identified a problem or recognized an opportunity, then found a better way to address it. Some turned to artificial intelligence and data-driven solutions. Others embraced electric trucks, advanced safety technology, or new management approaches. What they have in common is a willingness to question assumptions, experiment, measure results, learn from setbacks, and share those lessons with other fleets. The goal of HDT’s Truck Fleet Innovators awards isn't simply to recognize people with bold ideas. It's to recognize leaders whose ideas are already making a difference — and whose experiences can help other fleets navigate through these fast-changing times. HDT’s 2026 Truck Fleet Innovators: They will receive their awards and participate in a panel discussion during Heavy Duty
Sponsored by Google Cloud Choosing Your First Generative AI Use Cases To get started with generative AI, first focus on areas that can improve human experiences with information. The Paris-based vendor continues to build European AI infrastructure. France’s Mistral has revealed plans to build 1 gigawatt of compute capacity in Europe by 2030, as part of a major expansion of its infrastructure business aimed at boosting European AI sovereignty. The AI lab said the overriding aim of its new roadmap is to advance AI sovereignty, stating in an Aug. 11 blog post: “We believe every enterprise and country must be in control of the model it uses, choose where the intelligence runs, control the compute capacity to scale it and retain its compounding value.” And to help deliver this, the vendor detailed new concrete steps it plans to take. Mistral said it will strengthen regional control of inference, with Mistral Regional Endpoints, which are already available. This format lets customers choose whether their inference runs in Europe or the U.S., allowing them to align the location with their data residency, regulatory and latency requirements. As part of this, a new Priority Tier -- now in public preview -- offers committed service levels for mission-critical workloads. Location, Mistral said, is “only one part of sovereignty,” with customers requiring control of what AI technology runs on their infrastructure. To address this point, the company introduced another key change: allowing third-party open models to run on its infrastructure. The first to be accepted is Chinese vendor Z.ai’s GLM-5.2. Another measure is the formation of a coalition of enterprises and institutions committed to building out AI capacity in Europe together. “Aggregating long-term demand in this way will help determine what capacity is built, where it is located and whom it serves,” Mistral said in
Cranswick automates 240-picks-per-minute sausage line with Rockwell Automation delta robots, freeing workers for skilled roles Cranswick, one of Britain's largest premium food manufacturers, has commissioned a fully automated robotic pick-and-place system powered by Rockwell Automation's Allen-Bradley hardware and autonox delta robots to handle end-of-line sausage packaging at 240 cycles per minute. The deployment, delivered by CWM Automation, removes a manual bottleneck on a high-volume seasonal line and reassigns workers to more skilled positions. The project lands as UK food manufacturers face mounting pressure to find automation ROI amid ongoing labor constraints and rising production targets. This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Industrial IoT teams put it to work with AI Visibility (GEO). Key facts, context, and what it means, in one minute. Key takeaways Cranswick's new autonox delta robot system executes 240 pick-and-place cycles per minute on its pigs-in-blankets packaging line, a throughput rate that manual labor cannot match at scale. Allen-Bradley Kinetix VP servo motors and a GuardLogix 5380 safety controller handle precision detection and orientation of each sausage before placement, per Rockwell Automation's announcement. Workers displaced from the manual packaging stage are being redeployed to more skilled roles on other production lines, a model other food manufacturers can replicate to address labor productivity gaps. Get featured Want to get featured in MarketScale Industrial IoT? Create a free MarketScale workspace and get your company's expertise featured across our Industrial IoT coverage. No credit card, no demo required. Cranswick, one of Britain's leading premium food manufacturers, has commissioned a fully robotic end-of-line packaging system capable of picking and placing 240 sausages per minute, replacing a manual process that had been a persistent bottleneck on its high-volume Christmas production line. The deployment, announced by Rockwell Automation via PR Newswire in June 2026, is built around autonox delta robots running
India: TVS Vehicle Mobility Solutions to deploy 57 electric heavy-duty trucks TVS VMS has partnered with Indian electric commercial vehicle manufacturer Montra Electric for the first phase of its electrification plans. It plans to use Montra Electric’s Rhino 5538 EV 4×2 TT and has taken delivery of the first vehicles at Montra Electric’s manufacturing facility in Manesar, Haryana. The route in Chhattisgarh on which TVS VMS plans to operate the 57 Rhino 5538 EV 4×2 TT trucks spans 190 kilometres. Montra Electric designed the model for heavy-duty freight operations, and the route includes three dedicated charging stations for added operational flexibility. The Rhino 5538 EV 4×2 TT has a gross combination weight (GCW) of 55 tonnes and features a 280 kW permanent magnet synchronous motor, a six-speed automated manual transmission and a 282 kWh LFP battery. It supports dual-gun charging at up to 240 kW and takes about 60 minutes to charge from 20 per cent to 100 per cent SoC. Montra Electric specifies a gradeability of 18 per cent and a range of up to 198 kilometres under standard test conditions. Montra Electric offers the Rhino 5538 EV in fixed-battery and battery-swapping versions, with the latter allowing a battery exchange in less than six minutes. The announcement does not specify whether the 57 trucks will use the fixed-battery or battery-swapping version. According to Montra Electric, the partners plan to deploy more than 300 electric trucks by March 2027. Navneet Sethi, CEO of Montra Electric’s eM&HCV Division, said: “This is a company with over seven decades of running conventional trucking now choosing to enter electric trucking for the first time, and choosing us to do it is validation that our platform can handle the demands of commercial-scale freight. For Montra Electric, this is a marker of how electric heavy trucking
– Abbi Failla to join fellow overall winners on panel at Women in Supply Chain Forum in Charleston – DUBLIN, Ohio, Aug. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EASE Logistics (EASE), a full-service third-party and fourth-party logistics provider, announced today that Abbi Failla, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief of Staff to the CEO, has been named the overall winner of the 2026 Women in Supply Chain Forum Award in the Workforce Innovator category. Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive present the award each year to recognize outstanding women in the industry. Failla joined EASE in 2021 and founded the company's first Strategy and Innovation Department. She has since led the innovation charge through EASE's autonomous vehicle initiatives, including the company's partnerships with the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), DriveOhio and Einride, building on EASE's earlier automated driving system (ADS) and I-70 corridor projects with technology partners Kratos Defense and Bosch. Failla has also been an internal champion for AI adoption as AMMI, the company's AI-driven orchestration layer, has become a cornerstone of how EASE runs. Outside EASE, she is a founding board member of the Ohio Supply Chain Academic Network (O-SCAN) and chairs its Workforce and Education Committee, which creates pathways for students to pursue supply chain careers as Ohio faces a projected shortfall of more than 210,000 supply chain jobs by 2030. “Whether it's our autonomous vehicle projects or AI tools like AMMI, none of it works if our people aren't grounded in how EASE actually operates, our systems, and our core processes,” said Failla. “That's true whether someone is brand new to logistics or has been doing it for twenty years. This award says more about the people who show up every day willing to learn something new than it does about me.” Failla also built and
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DAF Trucks and Swedish technology company Einride have begun a joint development project on autonomous electric trucks. The plan is to integrate Einride’s Driver autonomous driving system into DAF’s electric vehicle platform. The target is SAE Level 4 autonomy. Within a defined operating area and under specified conditions, the truck would be able to perform the driving task independently, without requiring human intervention. The project is notable because it applies an autonomous driving system to the platform of an established European commercial vehicle manufacturer. The approach is also intended to keep the software independent of a particular vehicle brand. 2026 will focus on testing the interfaces Before an autonomous DAF truck can be tested, the vehicle architecture and driving system must be connected and validated as a single system. Working with Dutch research institute TNO, DAF and Einride will first define and assess the necessary interfaces. These must allow the autonomous system to access and control the truck’s functions reliably. The first interface tests and validation activities are planned for 2026. Einride’s autonomous driving software is scheduled for integration and commissioning in 2027. Further interface and functional testing will then be carried out on a DAF truck. The project is therefore still at the development stage. The companies have not disclosed any initial customers, specific transport routes or a timetable for commercial operation. Public roads are already part of the plan The development is not intended solely for closed or private sites. With TNO’s support, DAF and Einride say they are already working with the relevant type-approval authorities. The platform is being prepared both technically and from a regulatory standpoint so that autonomous operation can later be extended to public roads. That does not mean the truck has already been approved for regular road use. The partners have not said
- Heavy-duty self-driving trucks in California threaten thousands of jobs. - The DMV is accused of bypassing regulations to fast-track the approvals. - It’s also alleged the DMV didn’t assess how regular motorists could be impacted. Teamsters California, the state affiliate of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has taken issue with the Department of Motor Vehicles and its regulations for approving the testing and use of heavy-duty autonomous vehicles across the state. In a lawsuit filed in California earlier this month, Peter Finn, vice president at large of Teamsters California, argued the DMV skirted laws requiring it to evaluate and publicly disclose the economic fallout of putting self-driving heavy trucks on roads nationwide. Any such decision, he insists, “must involve public input and transparency.” Read: California Closed The Loophole That Made Robotaxis Immune To Traffic Tickets New regulations adopted by the DMV on April 28 removed a ban on the use of autonomous vehicles weighing 10,001 pounds or more. The hope is that this will allow California to become a national leader in these technologies, but Teamsters contends that having self-driving heavy trucks on the roads is “an existential threat to the livelihoods of Teamsters members,” particularly those involved in food delivery and other essentials, TTNews reports. The suit claims the DMV sidestepped a required Standardized Regulatory Impact Assessment, which kicks in for any regulation carrying an economic hit above $50 million in its first year. 200,000 Jobs on the Line “The deployment of self-driving trucks, authorized by the regulatory changes, has the potential to eventually wipe out the jobs of more than 200,000 employee semi-truck drivers working across California. A similarly large number of self-employed drivers operating commercial vehicles weighing between 10,001 pounds and 25,999 pounds could also be impacted,” the lawsuit claims. The union also alleges the DMV
CiDi Reports 97% Revenue Growth in First Interim Results Since Listing, with Robotics Business Achieving Initial Commercial Revenue Total revenue grew by 97% yoy, and gross profit up 204% as adjusted net loss narrows 82%, bringing the company closer to breakeven HONG KONG, Aug. 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CiDi (03881.HK) , a pioneer in Heavy-Duty Embodied AI, unveiled its 2026 interim performance report today. This marks the company's first half-year financial disclosure following its main board listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. In the first half of 2026, CiDi continued its evolution from autonomous driving into heavy-duty embodied intelligence, entering a new phase of scaled commercialization, delivering a total revenue growth rate of 97% and a gross profit increase of 204%. Revenue records an increase of 97% as profitability improves and cash position strengthens For the six months ended June 30, 2026, CiDi recorded total revenue of RMB 804 million, representing year on year growth of 97.0%. Revenue from Autonomous Driving increased 107.3% year on year to RMB 784 million, accounting for 97.6% of total revenue. Profitability improved alongside the strong revenue growth. Gross profit increased 204% year on year to RMB 212 million, while gross margin rose by 9.3 percentage points, from 17.1% in the prior-year period to 26.4%. Adjusted net loss narrowed by 82% year on year to approximately RMB 19.68 million, and adjusted net margin improved from -27.2% to -2.4%, bringing the company closer to break-even. CiDi also significantly strengthened its liquidity position. Cash and cash equivalents reached RMB 1.214 billion during the reporting period, compared with RMB 186 million in the prior-year period, an increase of RMB 1.028 billion, or 551.7% year on year. The strong cash buffer provides robust financial backing to scale existing product lines, iterate core technology and expand its global market
The latest rail traffic data is in, and it paints a surprising picture of economic recovery. The Freight Rail Index has reached its second-highest level since 2008, indicating a significant rebound in the industrial sector. We break down the North American carload and intermodal numbers, highlighting key growth areas and shifts in freight patterns, including a notable 4.7% increase in US carload traffic when excluding coal. This trend suggests a broader economic expansion beyond just data centers. Discover what these figures mean for the future of manufacturing and logistics. North American rail traffic rose 3.6% in Week 31, with carloads up 3.9% and intermodal up 3.3%, according to Association of American Railroads data — and a broader monthly snapshot shows the industry’s Freight Rail Index, which measures seasonally adjusted volume excluding coal and grain, has now climbed to its highest level since 2008 after four consecutive months of gains. The figures matter to carriers, brokers, and shippers because rail volume grew faster than overall GDP during the period — a milestone that, according to Bill Stephens, hasn’t been seen since before the Great Recession. “Rail traffic grew faster than overall GDP,” Stephens said. “We haven’t seen that in a long time.” Stripping out coal, the numbers look even stronger. U.S. carload volume excluding coal was up 4.7% for Week 31, well ahead of the flat volumes recorded over the prior four weeks. July carload traffic, also excluding coal, was up 3.2%, while intermodal set a record for the month of July and posted a 6.1% year-over-year gain — its sixth consecutive month of growth, and the seventh straight month of overall carload expansion. “Manufacturing and rail activity are moving along together. The manufacturing is expanding at a pace not seen in several years, which underscores the close link between factory
Master's student Nefeli Georgilas (Cybersecurity) was invited to present at the Aerospace Village during this year's DEFCON conference. Founded in 1993, DEFCON is the world's largest hacking and security conference. Georgilas' presentation, "Racing PX4: Memory Corruption and Timing Vulnerabilities" analyzed remote vulnerabilities in the PX4 flight stack, from memory corruption to telemetry desynchronization, demonstrating how a trivial exploit can compromise state-of-the-art equipment. Presentation Abstract: Commercial off-the-shelf autonomous vehicles range from self-driving trucks to military-grade drones. These systems commonly use the PX4 Autopilot flight stack for flight control, navigation, and telemetry. PX4 is a modular stack where logical functions are placed within components. MAVLink is a protocol that facilitates communication between a vehicle and a Ground Control Station. PX4 and its communication facilities are employed in industrial, as well as military environments, where security and correct real-time operation are paramount. This talk will examine how real-time operations and security may be jeopardized by memory corruption and timing-sensitive vulnerabilities in PX4’s communication and logging subsystems. Further, this talk will present a state desynchronization flaw in the MAVLink logging subsystem, MavlinkUlog. This results in a Denial-of-Service where vital commands cannot be sent to the vehicle, sequence tracking is thrown off, and telemetry is unreliable. Through this talk, the unique implications of these vulnerabilities upon autonomous systems deployed in safety-critical environments will be discussed.
Driverless Cars and Human Error When a driverless car makes a mistake, everyone pays attention. A robotaxi stops awkwardly in traffic. A Waymo gets confused near a construction zone. A child runs into the street and is struck. A fleet of empty autonomous cars circles a residential neighborhood. A self-driving vehicle passes a stopped school bus. The incident becomes a headline, then a symbol, then a warning: See? The robots are dangerous. But this is exactly where skepticism is needed. What if, despite the headlines, driverless cars actually make fewer mistakes, and less deadly mistakes, than human drivers? Human driving is not a gold standard but more of a mass-casualty system we have normalized. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported 39,254 traffic deaths in the United States in 2024, with a fatality rate of 1.19 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. Its early estimate for 2025 was 36,640 deaths, still a staggering number. Distracted driving alone killed 3,208 people and injured an estimated 315,167 in 2024. 1, 2 Those numbers are so large that they are hard to fathom. A human driver drifts across the centerline, runs a red light, texts through an intersection, falls asleep, or drives home drunk—tragic but familiar. A robotaxi makes a mistake, and it becomes a referendum on the future of the technology. So, the question isn’t really whether driverless cars are perfect, but whether they are safer than us. The human driver is the control group. The Failures In January 2026, a Waymo vehicle struck a child near a school in Southern California. According to reporting on the NHTSA investigation, the child ran into the street from behind a parked vehicle, and the Waymo braked from about 17 mph to under 6 mph before impact. The child reportedly suffered minor injuries.
Download Daimler Truck Appoints Tobias Brandis as Chief Legal and Compliance Officer Dr. Tobias Brandis will assume responsibility for Legal, Compliance and Corporate Audit at Daimler Truck effective October 1, 2026 He will succeed Dr. Florian Hofer who left the company at his own request Karin Rådström, CEO Daimler Truck: “Tobias Brandis combines a strong business mindset with an empowering leadership style and strong communication skills. He has spent more than 20 years leading businesses and shaping… - Dr. Tobias Brandis will assume responsibility for Legal, Compliance and Corporate Audit at Daimler Truck effective October 1, 2026 - He will succeed Dr. Florian Hofer who left the company at his own request - Karin Rådström, CEO Daimler Truck: “Tobias Brandis combines a strong business mindset with an empowering leadership style and strong communication skills. He has spent more than 20 years leading businesses and shaping corporate functions across strategy, operations, finance, M&A, and legal & compliance. I am confident that Tobias will lead the Legal & Compliance team with clarity, focus and a strong spirit of collaboration, helping to take our company to the next level.” Leinfelden-Echterdingen ̶ Daimler Truck has appointed Dr. Tobias Brandis as new Chief Legal and Compliance Officer effective October 1, 2026. In this role, he will assume responsibility for Legal, Compliance and Corporate Audit and will also take the position of Human Rights Officer at Daimler Truck. Tobias Brandis succeeds Dr. Florian Hofer, who left the company to pursue new professional opportunities. Karin Rådström, CEO Daimler Truck: “Tobias Brandis combines a strong business mindset with an empowering leadership style and strong communication skills. He has spent more than 20 years leading businesses and shaping corporate functions across strategy, operations, finance, M&A, and legal & compliance. I am confident that Tobias will lead the Legal &
Sponsored by Google Cloud Choosing Your First Generative AI Use Cases To get started with generative AI, first focus on areas that can improve human experiences with information. The ambitious plan comes as autonomous truck development lags behind that of autonomous cars. Self-driving tech vendor Pony.ai has revealed bold plans to scale its autonomous truck rollout. The company, based in Guangzhou, says it can deploy between 500 to 1,000 self-driving heavy-duty trucks in its home country over the next two to three years. However, the scale of Pony.ai’s ambitions for its light-duty trucks is significant, with 100,000 targeted to hit the road by 2030. As of November, last year, Pony.ai had a fleet of around 200 trucks. Heavy-duty robotrucks are expected to be used for long-haul freight in ports, on highways and in specialized bulk transportation in western China, while light-duty vehicles will generally operate in urban environments, traveling between retail stores, distribution centers and cold-chain refrigerated facilities. The company has been around for a decade, raising funds and developing automated technology for robotaxis and commercial vehicles, achieving early success with robotaxis in China before expanding into the Middle East and Europe. According to vice president He Xing, the painstaking development process has led to this point, with hardware costs having dropped significantly -- by about 70% in the latest generation of heavy-duty trucks -- and are no longer prohibitive. “We had been waiting for the right moment. Our truck technology had already reached a high level, but the cost of building an L4 Robotruck remained high,” he said in a statement. L4 is considered fully driverless in certain scenarios by the Society of Automotive Engineers. “The reduction in ADK [autonomous driving kit] costs benefited both heavy- and light-duty trucks,” Xing added. That is why we did not rush into
Einride and DAF Trucks have announced a partnership to integrate Einride’s autonomous driving system, Einride Driver, into DAF’s electric truck platform, working toward large-scale commercialisation of Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Level 4 autonomous electric freight. The companies say the initiative responds to industry pressures including driver shortages and rising costs. Working with the Dutch research institute TNO, the two companies will define and test the integration within DAF’s electric truck platform, establishing interfaces needed for safe, scalable autonomous operation. Interface tests are planned during 2026, with integration of Einride’s software following in 2027, all on a DAF truck. The companies are also working with type approval authorities to keep the platform compliant for eventual public-road use. The initiative builds on parent company PACCAR’s automated driving work, including its North American Autonomous Vehicle Platform programme and separate work with other autonomous trucking providers. In a statement, Henrik Green, Chief Technology Officer at Einride, said: “By leveraging DAF’s decades of manufacturing excellence and market strength, we can expedite the global scale-up of Einride’s autonomous technology.” Jeroen van den Oetelaar, DAF Trucks’ Chief Engineer and a board member, added that the partnership combines DAF’s platform with leading autonomous technology to build a more efficient, sustainable freight ecosystem. Source: DAF