Volvo Trucks has just publicly debuted on Wednesday a new truck model designed to hit the road without a driver and is touted as the answer to the ever-growing transit needs of the e-commerce industry as well as the solution to the shortage problem of freight drivers all over the world.
The new self-driving Volvo electric truck, named Vera, has no driver cab - a statement which clearly states the sheer commitment of the world's second-biggest truck maker to create a fully-autonomous vehicle, a report from Reuters said.
Without the cab, it would now become impossible to put a human driver inside should there raises a doubt on the truck's navigation system.
Lars Stenqvist, the chief technology officer for Volvo, said during a conference in Berlin that while they still wanted to see a driver behind the steering wheel, the company's main goal is to fully eradicate human intervention in self-driving commercial vehicles which will be used primarily in confined areas.
Regardless, Volvo said that the Vera trucks are still in development. Upon its availability, the driverless cargo trucks are expected to be deployed first in areas where goods of varying weights are moved on a regular basis such as that of ports, factories, and logistics centers.
As further revealed over at CDL Life News, a trucking news outlet, the electric tractor will be capable of pulling loads of up to 32 metric tons. Volvo designed Vera to be attachable with standard trailers and can only run at a much slower speed than normal for safety reasons.
Its autonomy system will operate in such a way that it links to other trucks and back to a central operations center via could technology.
Volvo declared Vera trucks as vehicles that produce zero emissions and will only emit minimal noise.
The Perfect Solution
Mickael Karlsson, the VP for Autonomous Solutions, said during the same unveiling event that the e-trucks are the answer to the ever-increasing demand for a more efficient and sustainable way of transporting goods, the New Atlas report said.
There is also the undeniable decline of human freight operators around the world which, if left unanswered too, will seriously hit the e-commerce and delivery industry.
Vera, as what Karlsson said, literally means faith and with it, the company puts its faith in the future.
To showcase the capability of the electronic hauler, guests present during the presentation were asked to stand behind a barrier as the Vera drove unaided from a location.
