Aurora, a Silicon Valley-based autonomous driving startup with a $10 billion evaluation has entered a partnership with PACCAR Inc (PCAR), to make light, medium and heavy trucks. The company seeks long hauling trucks as the first to be marketed for self-driving capabilities. For this sole purpose, Aurora designed its software for trucking use. Its tech focuses on long hauling rather than the last-mile good delivery and passenger-friendly mobile networks.
Paccar will stay ahead of its rivals Daimler AG and Volvo Ab, which are also in the market for self-driving tech for their long-haul operations. Since time is the key, both Aurora and Paccar are pushing forward with their plan to bring to the market.
This deal also helped PCAR in a good way as its stock jumped over 9.9% when extended trading for its shares ended. Paccar also announced that with the launch of a new model for its Kenworth T980 and Peterbilt Model 579, both will be integrated with the Aurora Drive software.
Aurora gained Uber Technologies autonomous division last month, which has made Aurora be worth upwards of $10 billion. Aurora currently houses over 1600 employees and collaborates collectively with Carnegie Mellon University to fulfill its robotic goals. Trucks are being considered being fast adopters of the self-driving concept as they follow the same route over and over.
