Toyota to introduce driverless tech for trucks first
Japanese giant becomes second car-maker to admit its advanced autonomous driving tech is better suited to commercial vehicles than passenger carsToyota says it plans to introduce its advanced autonomous driving technology on commercial vehicles before rolling it out on passenger cars.
Speaking to
, Toyota's research boss James Kuffner said the reason trucks would get self-driving tech first is that they do not require the same constant and direct human-monitoring that vehicles like taxis demand.Toyota says it still needs more time to refine its Level 4 "mind off" driving system for personally-owned cars but i now ready to launch its Level 2 tech capable of self-driving on the highway.
Recently Daimler CEO Ola Kallenius surprised journalists when he admitted he too was planning to push Benz's autonomous driving technology in a new direction, employing it on heavy trucks hauling freight and goods.
Kallenius' reasoning was that big-rigs mostly operate on less complex highways rather than in chaotic environments where even the most sophisticated cameras, lasers and software struggle to spot potential dangers.
His comments follow numerous high-profile accidents involving vehicles with autonomous driving tech but are based on financial common sense, he claims.
Instead of sinking billions into robotaxis or private cars with the technology, the Daimler boss thinks there’s a greater chance of recouping the billions already invested by introducing it first on commercial vehicles.
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