Aurora Innovation has introduced its second-generation driverless trucks, expanding its autonomous freight platform as the company prepares to increase commercial deployments across the United States.
The new fleet will be deployed on Aurora’s commercial network, which currently includes 10 driverless freight routes across the U.S. Sun Belt, supporting additional customers as demand for autonomous trucking grows.
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New Platform Designed for Scale
Aurora said the second-generation trucks are based on the International LT Series Class 8 platform and incorporate the company’s latest self-driving hardware.
According to the company, the upgraded hardware is designed for an operational lifespan of up to one million miles and offers greater computing performance to support large-scale commercial deployment.
Before introducing the new platform, Aurora said it completed its Safety Case process, which evaluates whether the vehicle and autonomous system meet the company’s requirements for operating on public roads without a driver behind the wheel.
Commercial Operations Continue to Expand
Aurora began operating fully driverless Class 8 trucks on public roads last year.
As of the end of June, the company said its Aurora Driver autonomous driving system had completed nearly 440,000 driverless miles.
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Aurora also noted that a customer recently announced plans to purchase 500 trucks equipped with the Aurora Driver system, reflecting growing commercial interest in autonomous freight operations.
“Last year’s driverless launch proved our technology could operate safely on public roads — our new platform now provides the foundation to deliver at scale,” said Chris Urmson, chief executive officer and co-founder of Aurora.
“Deploying our second-generation truck allows us to put hundreds of autonomous trucks on the road and ultimately into the hands of more customers.”
Production Partnership with Roush
Aurora said engineering company Roush is responsible for integrating the company’s next-generation autonomous hardware and redundant vehicle systems into the trucks at a dedicated production facility.
The two companies have also established a standardized upfitting process that is expected to support an annual production capacity of 1,000 autonomous trucks later this year.
“By working with a world-class manufacturing partner like Roush, we can meet our customer demand and continue to make the movement of goods safer and more efficient across the country,” Urmson said.
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