to when a vehicle can drive itself in the bulk of scenarios when the roads are pre-mapped. Via the investment, the companies' engineering and software development teams will work together to build Level 4 autonomous trucks, including the software, sensors, and cameras inside such a system.The agreement with Torc demonstrates that Daimler is ramping up its commitment to reaching Level 4 autonomy for semi-trucks.there was"no business case" in platooning.
Working with Torc could potentially enable Daimler to bring a Level 4 semi-truck to market earlier than initially planned. Torc has been developing autonomous driving tech since its founding in 2005, giving a wealth of experience and expertise that Daimler can tap. In fact, Daimler Trucks North America CEO Roger Nielsen told Transport Topics that the collaboration with Torc"gives us a chance to make a great leap forward.
However, not all trucking companies should bypass platooning in hopes of staving off Daimler. Startups like TuSimple andlikely can't afford to play the long game and try and beat Daimler to full autonomy. Instead, they have a near-term opportunity to capture a segment of the autonomous truck market via their platooning systems while Daimler works on fully autonomous technology.
Daimler has a long road ahead, but the Troc partnership could accelerate its push toward full autonomy within the decade. Beating its goal would give Daimler a valuable early-mover advantage in a lucrative segment: The global autonomous truck market will grow by more than 50% between 2020 and 2025 to hit nearly $1.7 billion, per Allied Market Research1. Sign up for the Transportation & Logistics Briefing to get it delivered to your inbox 4x a week.