A self-driving version of Ford’s E-Transit electric van is being made available on UK roads by autonomous technology company Oxa.
The model, also available as a minibus, is the first mass-production model to be converted using Oxa’s technology.
With fully autonomous driving not currently legal on UK roads, a trained on-board safety operator is needed to monitor the system.
Oxa says the converted E-Transit, which is available now for integration into commercial fleets, can operate autonomously at speeds of up to 35mph in mixed traffic, using a combination of cameras, lidar, and radar, and Oxa’s Driver software.
When asked by What Van? why fleets should be interested in such a vehicle when human monitoring is still needed, CEO Gavin Jackson argued that benefits included improved vehicle utilisation, mitigation of driver availability issues, allowing businesses to learn about autonomous technology in preparation for wider adoption, and helping to build trust both inside and outside their businesses.
He said: “When businesses start adopting autonomy somewhere – on a small scale, now – it opens up the door for autonomy in many places, and eventually everywhere, in the future.
“We work closely with our early customers to truly understand where autonomy will make the biggest operational impact, as they have far greater expertise in their individual sectors than we do, and they define how it fits with real business workflows.
“We have a highly experienced team of solutions and vehicle engineers who can then work through the product optimisations required for repeated deployments, at scale.
“These early adopters are co-founders in an entirely new paradigm of mobility and transportation. Maximising the first-mover advantage, we support those customers to hone their understanding of the transformative impact of autonomy and how they can best take advantage right now, in order to reap long-term business benefits.”
