Autonomous HGV feasibility report
Right. So I'm the one who occasionally wanders in here banging on about electrification and autonomy, usually getting downvoted into oblivion for my trouble. Fair enough.
The autonomous freight feasibility project I've mentioned has now published its report. Connected Places Catapult, Voltempo and Berkeley Coachworks, DfT funded.
The two use cases scoped for UK trials from 2027 are hub-to-hub trunking on motorways and intermodal shuttles under 5km between ports, railheads and depots. Repeatable corridors with controlled ends. Urban deliveries got deprioritised because they're too complex, which tracks with anyone who's tried to deliver into central Bristol on a Friday.
The driver shortage is framed as a problem autonomy might help solve, not a workforce it's coming for, which is a different point than most of the discourse. There's a chunk on the cabless "smart trailer" concept: 42-tonne rigid, 18.4-tonne average payload vs 16 today, on a vehicle that's three tonnes lighter on the road. Already legal in parts of Europe.
eFreight-Early-Stage-CAV-Opportunities.pdf
Have a read. Tell me I'm wrong, downvote at will.