NOT ONLY WILL HVS ’ INNOVATIVE HGV DECARBONISE ONE OF THE BIGGEST POLLUTING VEHICLE SECTORS ON THE ROAD , IT WILL EXPEDITE THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUB-TO-HUB AUTOMATED DRIVING TECHNOLOGY .
INDUSTRY WATCH
NOT ONLY WILL HVS ’ INNOVATIVE HGV DECARBONISE ONE OF THE BIGGEST POLLUTING VEHICLE SECTORS ON THE ROAD , IT WILL EXPEDITE THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUB-TO-HUB AUTOMATED DRIVING TECHNOLOGY .
Autonomous , self-driving vehicles have the potential to revolutionise haulage and logistics sectors , particularly the longhaul , heavy-duty goods vehicle market .
The consortium , made up of world leaders in their fields , HVS , Fusion Processing Ltd and ASDA , will build two prototype vehicles that will allow Level 4 autonomous-driving .
Hydrogen Vehicle Systems ( HVS ), a UK-based hydrogen-powered commercial vehicle innovator , has revealed that the consortium it leads , Hub2Hub , has been awarded £ 6.6 million to develop and deliver a revolutionary , world-first , autonomous zero-emission HGV for the UK market .
Accelerating towards the next generation of transportation and logistics , the Hub2Hub consortium will create a self-driving heavy goods tractor unit , which will begin vehicles trials in 2024 , with major UK retailer , ASDA , supporting on end-user needs as strategic partners . It ’ s hoped that the cost savings an autonomous lorry could provide will speed up the adoption of zero-emissions vehicles by the freight sector , reducing the industry ’ s contribution to climate change .
The £ 12 million venture has been selected by the Centre for Connected Autonomous Vehicles ( CCAV ) as a recipient for its joint industry and governmentfunded project with the aim of showcasing the potential of autonomy in the transportation sector with unprecedented levels of efficiency , safety and operational cost savings for logistics operators , as well as providing new employment opportunities .
HVS , which laid out its plans to disrupt the haulage industry by revealing its game-changing hydrogen-electric powertrain technology demonstrator in November 2022 , will receive £ 3.4 million as one of seven grants being announced from the CCAV and Connected and Automated Mobility ( CAM ) programme .
The first hydrogen-electric HGV prototype will be fitted with a driver ’ s cab and tested on the road in autonomous operation , using the Fusion Processing Ltd ’ s Automated Drive System , CAVStar , with a human safety driver at the wheel .
The second prototype will have the driver ’ s cab removed and replaced by an aerodynamic fairing . During the project this vehicle will be evaluated on test tracks , with the CAVStar system in this application allowing a remote human driver , located in a control hub , to operate the vehicle .
Together these two prototypes point to an optimised future logistics system where vehicles could be operated in autonomous mode on a hub-to-hub route , with a remote driver then taking control to drive the vehicle from the hub to its end destination .
Not only will HVS ’ innovative HGV decarbonise one of the biggest polluting vehicle sectors on the road , it will expedite the development of Hub-to-Hub automated driving technology . As a UK leader in autonomous vehicles , Fusion ’ s collaboration in the project will see the development and integration of its advanced CAVstar system where a fusion of vision systems , AI and route planning can deliver a fully autonomous vehicle that takes over from a human driver and hands back control at pre-determined hubs on a route .
The result will help British companies seize early opportunities to develop experimental projects into scalable commercial offerings , ready for the market .
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