June 12, 2019 Vol. 16 No. 12

Well, here’s an interesting one, not the wildest bit of news but a twist on what you might expect. Fiat Chrysler US (FCA) and Aurora Technologies are getting together to develop self-driving commercial vehicles. Note: not cars, rather commercial vehicles.

The FCA press release doesn’t specify the trucks or vans in question but I’ll presume their first target would be the ProMaster van with a view to entering the last-mile delivery market. I haven’t had time to check on this.

Aurora is an interesting company, founded in 2017 and rising to quiet prominence only in January of 2018, led by three extremely capable men with expertise in machine learning and robotics. They hold track records a mile long with companies like Google and Tesla. Investors have not shied away and not long after forming they had project deals with Volkswagen, Hyundai, and Chinese electric-car maker Byton. So far they have six such relationships, including one with an unnamed class-8 truck-maker.

FCA and Aurora have signed a memorandum of understanding and plan to integrate the Aurora ‘Driver’ system into FCA vehicles. That’s a self-driving platform that comprises the hardware, software, and data services that can deliver level 4 autonomy, meaning technology that can sense and navigate the environment without human intervention.

“As part of FCA’s autonomous vehicle strategy, we will continue to work with strategic partners to address the needs of customers in a rapidly changing industry,” said Mike Manley, FCA’s CEO. “Aurora brings a unique skillset combined with advanced and purposeful technology that complements and enhances our approach to self-driving.”

Aurora’s investors include Amazon, Sequoia, Greylock, and others. Based in Silicon Valley, it has offices and tests its vehicles in Palo Alto, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh.

SCANIA’S VISION BREAKS GROUND. Scania’s NXT is just a concept vehicle at this point, but it’s a mighty intriguing one, a vision of the future that we may or may not see. If nothing else, it’s food for a lot of thought. It’s been on display at a convention in Stockholm this week.

NXT has been designed as a prototype for testing and evaluation, but also to exhibit and thus to get feedback on the concept.