Plus.ai Establishes JV with FAW Jiefang to Develop Self-Driving Trucks for China

Date:2019-09-11 Source:www.chinaspv.com

Plus.ai, a leading provider of self-driving trucking technology, announced a joint venture with FAW Jiefang, China’s oldest and largest truck manufacturer, to develop autonomous trucks for China. The exclusive partnership is also launching its first product, the world’s first production-class L2 semi-autonomous truck, which is built on Plus.ai’s L4 autonomous technology stack.

The formation of the joint venture is the result of a strong partnership between Plus.ai and FAW Jiefang, which share a vision for smart transportation. The two companies have been working together over the last two years to address the growing demands for trucking in China, where over 6.1 trillion metric ton-kilometres of freight are moved by a fleet of more than 5 million heavy-duty trucks and over 14 million light and medium trucks. The FAW J7 L2 truck is the joint venture’s first commercial product, while the product roadmap includes a full L4 heavy truck in the next three to five years.

“We are extremely pleased to cement our partnership with FAW Jiefang in order to bring Plus.ai’s autonomous trucking technology to the massive trucking market in China. This exclusive relationship is a testament to the technological prowess of Plus.ai and our ability to execute with partners like FAW Jiefang,” said Shawn Kerrigan, COO and Co-Founder of Plus.ai.

“We are thrilled that FAW Jiefang and Plus.ai have joined forces to form a joint venture focused on developing intelligent transportation solutions for autonomous trucking,” said Hu Hanjie, Chairman of FAW Jiefang.

Built on Plus.ai’s L4 full-stack autonomous driving technology and tested extensively through pilots in the US and China, the FAW J7 L2 offers semi-autonomy and provides robust safety improvements and fuel optimisation. Key benefits include the ability to automate driving activities to reduce human error and driver fatigue. The FAW J7 L2 was created to address the desire of shippers and fleet operators to start using the semi-autonomous technology that is available today before L4 trucks become commercialised in the near future.