Plus (autonomous trucking) explained

Plus
Former Name:Plus.ai
Industry:Autonomous driving software
Founded:2016
Founders:David Liu
Shawn Kerrigan
Hao Zheng
Tim Daly
Hq Location:Santa Clara, California
Area Served:Worldwide
Products:SuperDrive, PlusDrive, PlusProtect, PlusVision

Plus is an American autonomous trucking technology company based in Santa Clara, California. The company develops Level 4 autonomous trucking technology for commercial freight trucks. In 2019, the company completed the first cross-country driverless freight delivery in the U.S. The company's self-driving system began to be used commercially in 2021.

History

The company was founded in California in 2016, by a group of Stanford Ph.D. graduates who decided to use their knowledge of artificial intelligence to develop self-driving technology for the long-haul trucking industry. Plus was one of the first companies working on autonomous trucks to receive a California Autonomous Vehicle Testing License the following year, allowing it to test its technology in California.[1]

The company began operating in China during 2018 in addition to the US. Plus also demonstrated its technology in an unmanned truck at Qingdao Port in China that same year.[2] Chinese online freight marketplace, Full Truck Alliance, became an investor in Plus in 2018.[3] In 2019 the company entered into a joint venture with the Chinese truck manufacturer FAW Jiefang.[4] [2]

A commercial freight truck using Plus's self-driving technology drove across the U.S. from California to Pennsylvania in December 2019, hauling butter for Land O'Lakes.[5] According to Popular Mechanics, this was the first time that an autonomous freight vehicle had driven across the country delivering goods.[6]

In early 2021, Plus raised two rounds of funding. In February, it raised a total investment of $200 million. As an extension to that funding, it raised an additional $220 million in March 2021.[7] In April 2021, Plus started a partnership with IVECO, an Italy-based commercial vehicle manufacturer, to develop and deploy driver-in and Level 4 autonomous trucks with Plus’s self-driving technology.[8]

The company announced in May 2021 that it had established a deal to go public through a business combination with the special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V.[9] [10] The companies canceled the planned merger in November 2021, citing regulatory concerns outside of the U.S.[11]

Also in May 2021, Plus carried out a 4,000-mile drive from Suzhou to Dunhuang on China's Silk Road to test the safety and performance of its self-driving system. The truck was autonomous but supervised during the drive.[12]

The following month, Amazon.com made an order to purchase 1,000 self-driving systems from the company.[13] Plus had started to deliver its self-driving technology to Amazon in February 2021.[14] In a separate deal, Amazon gained the option to purchase up to a 20% stake in Plus.[15]

The company completed a driverless truck demonstration on the Wufengshan highway in China, in June 2021. The driverless semi truck was operated using Plus's Level 4 autonomous driving technology, without a safety driver or use of any remote controls.[16]

In May 2023, Plus and Bosch announced a collaboration to combine Plus’ PlusDrive solution with Bosch’s integrated steering system featuring software, sensors, vehicle computers, and actuators to provide Level 2 partial automation solution for commercial vehicles. In November, Plus, IVECO, DSV, and dm-drogerie market, launched an automated trucking pilot in Germany where IVECO S-Way trucks equipped with Plus's automated system are delivering commercial freight between the dm distribution center in Waghäusel and the DSV distribution center in Gernsheim.[17] [18]

In March 2024, Plus announced a long-term global partnership with Scania/MAN/Navistar brands of the Traton Group to deploy Level 4 autonomous trucks, with testing underway in Texas and Sweden. [19] In May, Plus and Hyundai Motor Company announced their collaboration and demonstrated the first Level 4 autonomous Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell electric truck in the United States, an Xcient Fuel Cell truck with Plus's SuperDrive Level 4 self-driving technology.[20]

Product and technology

Plus is developing Level 4 self-driving technology for semi trucks.[21] The company developed a self-driving system called PlusDrive intended for use with a driver in the vehicle, which can be retrofitted into commercial freight trucks.[22] Plus has also partnered with truck manufacturers to build self-driving trucks.[2] The company's self-driving system incorporates hardware and software using artificial intelligence.[23] The hardware employed by Plus includes cameras, lidar and radar that together provide a complete view of the truck's surroundings.[6] The software processes and makes sense of all data about the truck's surroundings collected through the sensors.

The company has carried out road testing of its technology in 17 states in the U.S. as of 2021.[24] In addition to its own road testing, Plus's technology is independently tested at the Transportation Research Center.

Plus has partnered with truck manufacturers and trucking fleets to introduce its driving systems.[2] It began to roll out its system to companies in China and the U.S. in 2021[15] and announced that it would begin production that year.[25] As of 2024, the company is working with Bosch[26], Cummins, dm-drogerie markt[27], DSV, Goodyear[28], Hyundai Motor Company[29], IVECO, NVIDIA[30], Scania/MAN/Navistar of the TRATON GROUP and Transurban[31] on autonomous transportation.

Operations

The company is based in Santa Clara, California,[6] and also has offices in Germany. It carries out testing of trucks in the U.S., Australia, and Europe.[7]

The company is co-founded and led by CEO David Liu,[32] chief operating officer Shawn Kerrigan,[23] chief technology officer Hao Zheng,[33] and chief architect Tim Daly.[1]

In 2023, Plus separated its U.S. and Chinese-focused operations into two independent companies, with the U.S. unit retaining the Plus name and Full Truck Alliance becoming a key shareholder of the Chinese unit, Zhijia Technology.[34]

Notes and References

  1. News: Wiggers. Kyle. Plus raises $200 million to develop its autonomous truck platform . VentureBeat. 2021-08-05. 2021-02-10. Back in March 2017, Plus, which has around 200 employees in its U.S. and China offices, became one of the first driverless trucking companies to land a California Autonomous Vehicle Testing Licensee, which allows manufacturers to test autonomous vehicles with a human in the driver seat..
  2. News: Some Self-Driving Truck Developers Make Case for Supervised Autonomy. Transport Topics . 2021-08-03 . 2021-05-21 . The company expanded its operations to China in 2018 and now has offices in Beijing and outside of Shanghai. Plus conducted an unmanned truck demonstration at China’s Qingdao Port in 2018 … To get there, Plus is forming partnerships with fleets and manufacturers around the globe to roll out its PlusDrive supervised Level 4 technology. … In the meantime, the company is set to begin mass producing its PlusDrive supervised autonomy product in China this summer through a joint venture with truck maker FAW Jiefang. … Plus also is working with truck maker Iveco to co-develop autonomous trucks..
  3. News: China's Uber for trucks close to raising US$1 billion in new funds. South China Morning Post. 2021-08-04. 2018-10-23. China’s biggest online marketplace for long-haul deliveries … Truck Alliance recently invested in plus.ai.
  4. News: Schubarth . Cromwell. Cupertino self-driving truck startup PlusAI may be Silicon Valley's next unicorn - Silicon Valley Business Journal. Silicon Valley Business Journal. 2021-08-04. 2019-08-21. The Cupertino-based company is raising the round to help it set up a joint venture with Chinese truck maker FAW Jiefang.
  5. News: Szymkowski. Sean. Self-driving semi makes first cross-country trip, thanks to Plus.ai tech. CNet. 2021-08-20. 2019-12-10. Plus.ai announced on Tuesday that the startup completed a cross-country trip from Tulare, California, to Pennsylvania to deliver a truckload of Land O'Lakes butter. … Plus.ai's suite of technology is called SLAM, a fun acronym for multimodal sensor fusion, deep learning visual algorithms, and simultaneous location and mapping. With this system, the semi handled 2,800 miles of driving "primarily" in autonomous mode..
  6. News: Linder . Courtney . December 11, 2019 . A Self-Driving Freight Truck Just Drove Across the Country to Deliver Butter . Popular Mechanics . July 30, 2021 . Plus.ai, an artificial intelligence startup in Cupertino, California, has engineered an autonomous driving system for commercial freight trucks. This week, it made the world's first cross-country trip of its kind to deliver butter to a small town in Pennsylvania. … The founders, a group of Stanford Ph.D. students, knew that trucking—which has been experiencing a labor shortage since 2003, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)—is the primary method for shipping goods across the U.S. So they decided to apply their artificial intelligence know-how to long-haul trucking, building out the full-stack self-driving technology needed to make a cross country freight trip possible. … the truck relied on Plus.ai's SLAM technology, which is an acronym for its instant positioning and map building solution. That includes a suite of sensors like cameras, lidar and radar, very similar to what you'd see in an Uber self-driving Volvo or an Argo AI Ford Fusion. What stands out is the company's data fusion system, which combines this information to create a field of front detection that's over 1,600 meters deep, allowing the truck to see far ahead. At the same time, Plus.ai achieves a wide field of view to help the truck adapt to new road shapes and slopes..
  7. News: Self-Driving Truck Startup Plus Raises Extra $220 Million . Reuters . 2021-03-31 . 2021-08-04 . U.S. autonomous truck startup Plus said on Wednesday it had raised an extra $220 million from investors in an extension of a $200 million funding round in February … Plus raised $200 million in February.
  8. Web site: Adler . Alan . 2021-04-12 . Plus will equip IVECO trucks with autonomous driving software . 2024-08-21 . FreightWaves . en-US.
  9. News: Self-driving truck startup Plus to go public through $3.3 bln SPAC deal . Reuters. 2021-08-04. 2021-05-10. Plus said on Monday it would go public through a merger with blank-check company Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V (HCIC.O) in a deal that values the self-driving truck technology startup at $3.3 billion. ... A SPAC is a company with no regular business operations but with a pool of capital raised through an IPO that it uses to take a private firm public..
  10. News: 0099-9660. Smith. Jennifer. Plus's SPAC Merger Marks Autonomous Trucking Shift to Public Markets. Wall Street Journal. 2021-08-23. 2021-05-10. Plus plans to merge with Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V in a transaction that would bring the company, which is based in California and China, about $500 million in gross proceeds and a market capitalization of roughly $3.3 billion..
  11. News: Self-driving truck startup Plus, Hennessy Capital pull merger on regulatory uncertainty . Reuters. 2021-11-11. 2021-11-08. Self-driving truck startup Plus and blank-check company Hennessy Capital Investment Corp V (HCIC.O) have called off their merger, the companies said on Monday, citing developments in the regulatory environment outside the United States..
  12. News: Adler. Alan. Truck Talk: Making the case edition. FreightWaves. 2021-08-04. 2021-06-04. Plus, the fifth and latest SPAC undertaking of Hennessy Capital, completed a 4,000-mile supervised autonomous drive along China’s Silk Road last month. Safety and performance validation testing was the point of the round trip between Suzhou, the silk capital of the world, and Dunhuang … .
  13. News: Kay. Grace. Amazon Is Reportedly Buying 1,000 Autonomous Truck Systems. Business Insider. 2021-08-23. 2021-06-21. Amazon has agreed to buy 1,000 autonomous truck-driving systems from a self-driving trucking startup..
  14. News: 0099-9660. Somerville. Heather . Smith . Jennifer . For Robot Trucks, Navigating Highways Is Just One Bump in the Road. Wall Street Journal. 2021-08-26. 2021-08-18. In February, Plus started providing some cargo haulers, including Amazon.com Inc., with a self-driving system with limited features to use in their fleets..
  15. News: Amazon Snaps Up Option to Buy Stake in AI Truck-Driving Startup. Bloomberg.com. 2021-08-04. 2021-06-21. Amazon.com Inc. has placed an order for 1,000 autonomous driving systems from self-driving truck technology startup Plus and has acquired the option to buy a stake of as much as 20%. … It also has a partnership with European truckmaker Iveco SpA and is working with Cummins Inc. on using autonomous technology in trucks powered by natural gas. … It began delivering its automated driving system PlusDrive to some customers in the U.S. and China this year..
  16. News: Haensel. Brett. Driverless Semi Reaches Milestone in Test, Startup Plus Says. Bloomberg.com. 2021-08-23. 2021-08-05. The startup, called Plus, said the trial took place on the newly built Wufengshan highway in the Yangtze delta in late June. No human safety drivers were present in the truck and no remote controller was used. Other self-driving truck startups have reached a similar degree of automation -- called Level 4, meaning a vehicle can drive itself under certain conditions -- but those tests still included drivers or other human oversight..
  17. Web site: Staff . The Robot Report . 2023-11-17 . IVECO and Plus launch automated trucking pilot in Germany . 2024-08-21 . The Robot Report . en-US.
  18. Web site: Staff . Self Drive . 2024-07-01 . Automated Trucking Pilot in Germany Launches . 2024-08-21 . Self Drive News . en-US.
  19. Web site: Doll . Scooter . 2024-03-12 . These commercial brands are testing Level 4 autonomous trucks through Plus partnership . 2024-08-21 . Elecktrek.
  20. Web site: BIGELOW . PETE . 2024-05-28 . Hyundai and others see hydrogen coupled with autonomy on trucking horizon . 2024-08-21 . Automotive News.
  21. News: Ramey. Jay. Watch Plus Testing Level 4 Autonomous Truck without a Driver. Autoweek. 2021-08-16. 2021-08-11. Autonomous tech developer Plus has recently completed a real-world demonstration of its Level 4 autonomous truck technology on a traffic-filled highway..
  22. News: Adler. Alan. Exclusive first ride: Plus autonomous truck is a gentle giant on the highway. FreightWaves. 2021-08-23. 2021-07-26. Freightwaves accepted an invitation from startup autonomous trucking software maker Plus to experience the current state of its Level 4 software retrofit on a 2020 Peterbilt Model 579 sleeper cab. … Our ride revealed several distinctives of the PlusDrive system. Yes, it was created to perform almost all driving functions without human involvement. Plus conducted a “driver-out” pilot in 2018 in the Port of Qingdao in China, but the software is repackaged to keep the driver “in the loop” for the foreseeable future..
  23. News: Plus.ai's autonomous lorry 'crosses US in three days'. BBC News. 2021-08-20. 2019-12-11. It relied on sensors, cameras, radar and Lidar (light detection and ranging) technology and computer vision software underpinned by artificial intelligence..
  24. News: Juliussen. Egil. Autonomous Truck Software Platform Sweepstakes. EETimes. 2021-08-16. 2020-12-04. Plus has tested their autonomous trucks in 17 states..
  25. News: Wiggers. Kyle. Plus raises $200 million to develop its autonomous truck platform . VentureBeat. 2021-08-05. 2021-02-10. As the company begins mass production in 2021… Its technology relies on a combination of radars, lidar sensors, and cameras to “see” 360 degrees around, with a fusion-based perception system that allows Plus-equipped driverless trucks to track vehicles hundreds of meters away. Plus says it trains and deploys a number of AI models to perform tasks like detecting and analyzing ground objects and road structures, and to predict the behavior of its trucks and surrounding vehicles. Complementary models and mechanisms like odometry provide functional redundancy and ostensibly ensure smooth transitions between operating modes. … It has also put its automated driving system through independent testing via the Transportation Research Center, a vehicle test facility and proving grounds..
  26. Web site: Plus.ai and Bosch team up for commercial truck automation DC Velocity . 2024-07-31 . www.dcvelocity.com . en . Assisted driving technology for commercial trucks got a boost today with news of a collaboration between Bosch and Plus, who will integrate their software and hardware products to achieve Level 2 autonomy features..
  27. Web site: Staff . The Robot Report . 2023-11-17 . IVECO and Plus launch automated trucking pilot in Germany . 2024-07-31 . The Robot Report . en-US . Plus, an autonomous trucking developer, and IVECO, a branch of Iveco Group that designs and manufactures commercial trucks, this week launched an automated trucking pilot in Germany…Plus and IVECO are working with dm-drogerie markt, a large European retail chain of drugstores, and DSV, a transport and logistics provider based in Denmark..
  28. Web site: Goodyear partners with Plus on autonomous trucks . 2024-07-31 . www.fleetequipmentmag.com . The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announced a strategic collaboration with Plus on autonomous trucking solutions. Through this collaboration, Goodyear's suite of services, including connected tires, will further enhance transportation efficiency and safety for semi-trucks powered by Plus's Level 4 autonomous driving technology while also reducing carbon impact..
  29. News: Bigelow . Pete . 2024-05-28 . Hyundai and others see hydrogen coupled with autonomy on trucking horizon . live . 2024-07-29 . . The South Korean automaker and the Santa Clara, Calif., company showcased a hydrogen-powered autonomous Class 8 truck at the ACT Expo clean transportation conference last week in Las Vegas, a vehicle they tout as the first autonomous hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle in the U.S…The vehicle uses Plus' SuperDrive Level 4 automated driving system..
  30. Web site: Osborne . Bradley . 2024-04-09 . Plus and Waabi to use latest Nvidia system-on-chip for self-driving truck technology . 2024-07-31 . truckandbusbuilder.com . en . Multinational tech company Nvidia Corporation of Santa Clara, California has announced it is supplying its next-generation automotive computer architecture – boasting a processing power of up to 2,000 teraflops – to multiple OEMs and developers of autonomous driving technologies, including Plus and Waabi....
  31. Web site: Staff . Sky News . 2023-08-23 . Transurban partners with Plus to advance driverless trucks in Australia . 2024-08-21 . Sky News.
  32. News: 0099-9660 . Vartabedian. Marc. Self-Driving Trucking Startup Taps U.S., Chinese Investors. Wall Street Journal. 2021-08-23. 2021-02-10. Plus Chief Executive and co-founder David Liu … The company’s technology is designed to retrofit traditional semi trucks with autonomous driving capabilities..
  33. News: Anthony. Carl. Plus Selects NVIDIA DRIVE Orin For Next-Gen Autonomous Driving System For Heavy Trucks. Autovision News. 2021-08-04. 2021-03-10.
  34. News: Exclusive: Self-driving startup Plus splits US and China operations amid tensions . 12 October 2023 . Reuters . 11 October 2023.

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