Hyundai Motor Company recently revealed their most recent project which involves a self-driving, heavy-duty, hydrogen fuel cell electric truck. This truck is currently still under development, as it is undergoing initial driving assessments, which are taking place within the US.

Hyundai’s Class 8 XCIENT fuel Cell truck, was manufactured through a collaboration with autonomous driving software firm, Plus, and it includes Level 4 autonomous driving technology. Involving this kind of technology in the manufacturing process, means that the truck will, under certain conditions, be able to operate fully autonomously.

So far, Plus’ SuperDrive technology has already been deployed throughout the US, Europe and Australia. This has been done due to the company’s aim to highlight that autonomous hydrogen trucks are ‘safer, more efficient and more sustainable.’

The XCIENT truck was first introduced in 2020 as a manual truck and so far, this vehicle has successfully completed commercial operations throughout eight countries.

Plus has stated that through, ‘using a combination of sensors, such as LiDAR, radar and cameras, the technology provides surround perception, planning, prediction and self-driving capabilities.’

Executive Vice-President and Head of Commercial Vehicle Development at Hyundai, Martin Zeilinger, explained that ‘by adding autonomous capabilities to the truck, it looks forward to “providing fleets and vehicle operators additional solutions that enhance road safety and freight efficiencies thanks to Plus’s industry-leading autonomous driving technology.”’

Chief Operating Officer and co-founder at Plus, Shawn Kerrigan, commented, “A decarbonised future with autonomous hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks that also improve safety and efficiency is one that Plus is proud to support with our cutting-edge autonomous driving technology.”