One of the big trends in the industry in recent years has been the start-up of some pretty ambitious potential new truck manufacturers.
Think Volta Trucks, Nikola, Tesla, etc.
Here’s another one – the California-based, Solo ATV. an operation only a bit over twelve months old.
Solo ATV has just announced it intends to push ahead with this truck, called the SD1, with the bold-looking truck promising autonomous operation (i.e. no driver required) and electric propulsion.
They say the long-haul autonomous electric truck will deliver a range in excess of 500 miles (800+ kilometres).
Check out this video supplied to us by Solo ATV:
“Solo AVT was founded in 2021 on the idea that if you started from scratch, you can create something radically different for the freight transportation industry,” – Solo AVT CEO Graham Doorley.
“Retro-fitting new and emerging technologies on truck platforms that haven’t significantly changed in decades is not the way to truly revolutionize freight transportation.”
In announcing plans to push ahead with production of the SD1, Solo AVT told us the truck has been built from the ground up with aerospace-level system redundancy with a sensor arrangement that allows for the easy integration of any autonomous driver system.
There’s no driver’s seat, gauge cluster, windshield, or steering wheel.
One thing that might be a big help in getting the SD1 into operation is that it will be “trailer-agnostic”, meaning it can haul standard trailers and has been designed to integrate with all standard loading docks.
Hauling an equivalent weight to today’s Class 8 trucks is also said to be feasible.
Solo AVT is hoping to have the SD1 on the roads by 2024.
