For the first time Daimler Truck has combined its battery electric drive technology into a truck which also boasts Level 4 autonomous capability.

The autonomous Freightliner eCascadia technology demonstrator 

is based on a production battery electric eCascadia and is equipped with autonomous driving software along with Level 4 sensor and processing technology developed by Torc Robotics. This will eventually enable Level 4 autonomous driving.

While still a research and advanced engineering project, the autonomous vehicle has the potential to evolve into a modular, scalable platform that is propulsion agnostic for flexible use in different trucking applications.

“By combining zero-emission and autonomous technologies in one product, we are testing solutions for challenges our customers are likely to face in the future,” says John O’Leary, president and CEO of Daimler Truck North America (DTNA).

“We want to give them choices that allow them to do what they do best: keep the world moving today and well into the future. That takes a lot of foresight, questioning, testing, learning, improving and co-creating with our customers years in advance to ultimately find the right solution. This truck is a great example of the beginning of that development process.”

Torc reports significant progress towards introducing autonomous trucks in the U.S. by 2027.

“While we target autonomous trucks with conventional propulsion technology for this first market launch, we always look further into the future,” says Joanna Buttler, Head of Global Autonomous Technology Group at Daimler Truck.

For the first time, the autonomous sensor suite and compute power, currently being tested on the autonomous diesel Cascadia, is packaged to fit the smaller day cab configuration of the battery electric eCascadia.

To ensure adequate cooling, the DTNA engineering team developed an advanced prototype air-cooling concept for the compute stack, which is efficiently positioned between the driver and passenger seats.

Customised software provides the autonomous system with control interfaces and feedback on vehicle status. The in-house designed sensor bar cover, which incorporates cameras, lidar sensors and radar sensors, improves aerodynamic performance while providing better protection from damage and soiling. Four additional 12-volt batteries provide enough high voltage power to ensure uninterrupted operation and increased efficiency and safety.

In the currently tested hub-to-hub application, the truck’s intent is to drive autonomously between freight centres along U.S. highway corridors. By identifying synergies between zero emissions and autonomous infrastructure in a future scenario, the charging infrastructure and autonomous freight hubs could be combined to charge and load simultaneously, further enhancing efficiency.

Daimler Truck has been developing and testing autonomous truck technology since 2015 with the reveal of the Freightliner Inspiration Truck as the first licensed SAE Level 2 autonomous commercial truck to operate on open public highways in the United States. The company aims to enter the market with production SAE Level 4 autonomous trucks in the United States by 2027.

Torc has been testing autonomous-ready Freightliner Cascadia trucks in real-world applications with selected logistics companies such as Schneider and C.R. England, successfully moving customer freight autonomously on its test route between Phoenix and Oklahoma City.