Hyundai Motor and Plus partner to demonstrate first Level 4 autonomous fuel cell electric truck in the US
23 May 2024
Hyundai Motor and autonomous driving software company Plus unveiled the first Level 4 autonomous Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell electric truck in the US at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo. A result of the collaboration between Hyundai Motor and Plus, Hyundai Motor’s XCIENT Fuel Cell truck, equipped with Plus SuperDrive Level 4 autonomous driving technology, is on display at the Plus ACT Expo booth.
The Level 4 autonomous XCIENT Fuel Cell truck is undergoing initial autonomous driving assessments in the US, making it the first-ever Level 4 self-driving test on a Class 8 fuel cell electric truck to take place in the country. The collaboration seeks to show that autonomous hydrogen fuel cell trucks can help make trucking safer, more efficient, and more sustainable.
First introduced in 2020, Hyundai Motor’s XCIENT Fuel Cell truck has conducted commercial operations in eight countries worldwide, establishing a successful track record of real-world applications and technological reliability.
At last year’s ACT Expo, Hyundai introduced XCIENT Fuel Cell tractor, the commercialized Class 8 6x4 fuel cell electric model, powered by two 90kW hydrogen fuel cell systems and a 350kW e-motor, providing a driving range of more than 450 miles per charge even when fully loaded.
Plus’ SuperDrive solution is being deployed across the US, Europe, and Australia. The system uses a combination of LiDAR, radar and cameras, to provide surround perception, planning, prediction and self-driving capabilities.
' Plus unveiled the first Level 4 autonomous Class 8 hydrogen fuel cell electric truck in the US at the Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo.'
If this really is level 4 it means no more ludicrous and humanly impossible demands on the driver to grab the steering wheel instantly when the soi-disant autopilot decides to kill you.
I have not been able to track down the tech details on the PlusDrive site, just promotional flannel, so what level of autonomy they actually have working remains unclear, as they may have just decided to do a Musk and put utterly misleading labels on it,
Posted by: Davemart | 23 May 2024 at 03:08 AM