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Q&A

  • Magazine Article
  • 19TOFHP08_13
Published August 01, 2019 by SAE International in United States
Language:
  • English

Daimler Trucks abruptly hit the brakes on its platooning activities, announcing at CES 2019 in January that analysis of its years-long testing on U.S. roads showed no business case for truck platoons due to less-than-expected fuel savings and difficulty in establishing and maintaining platoon formations. Silicon Valley-based Peloton Technology, on the other hand, is hitting the accelerator, unveiling in July the development of a new SAE Level 4 (L4) Automated Following solution.

The advanced platooning system uses vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications and radar-based active braking systems, combined with vehicle control algorithms, to connect a fully-automated follow truck with a driver-controlled lead truck. The company's current Level 1 system, PlatoonPro, has a driver in both the lead and follow trucks. Peloton's CEO Josh Switkes recently spoke with TOHE to share details of its new approach, which he believes will obviate many of the technical challenges facing “standalone” (i.e., single vehicle) L4 systems, and to explain why platooning does indeed have a promising future.