California DMV officially clears 80,000lb self-driving semi-trucks for public road testing
It looks like California has just taken a huge step towards putting autonomous freight trucks on the roads.
This comes after the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles granted Aurora Innovation and Kodiak AI permission to begin testing their technology on public streets and highways.
California had previously prevented autonomous vehicles weighing over 10,000 lbs from undergoing public-road testing but all of that is about to change.
The move was made back in April when the California DMV approved a new set of autonomous-vehicle regulations.
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These rules have established a framework covering heavy-duty autonomous vehicles and opened the door to testing vehicles far larger than the robotaxis that have already become familiar on California roads.
Aurora and Kodiak have now become the first companies to receive permits under that expanded system, with Kodiak already beginning a small amount of testing on public roads.
Does this mean truck drivers might soon be out of their jobs? Well, the short answer is no, at least not yet, because the new rules come with a catch.
These trucks aren’t actually allowed to roam around the streets of California completely driverless just yet, because there needs to be a human safety operator behind the wheel who can step in if necessary.
There are also limits to where the trucks can drive, with testing being prohibited on roads with posted speed limits of 25mph or below unless the vehicle is travelling on a direct route between destinations.
These won’t be the first autonomous trucks on US roads as Kodiak has accumulated considerable experience outside California, with its driverless vehicles having been used commercially for some time now.
The new regulations are a first for California though, with it indicating that driverless cars and trucks could be the inevitable future.
This comes as Elon Musk is still working to bring his fleet of Robotaxis to life as part of his vision for Tesla.
The car has officially been launched but currently only on a small and limited scale.
The vehicles are so far only in operation in select cities, including Austin, Dallas, and Houston in Texas, and Miami, Orlando, and Tampa in Florida.
Other driverless taxi services such as Waymo are in operation around the US, and while it has taken longer for these vehicles to make their way across the pond to Europe, due to them needing to meet strict EU regulations, the firm announced that it will be launching to the German market next year.