Daimler’s trucking division has made an investment in lidar technology firm Luminar as part of a larger collaborative effort to create self-governing trucks designed for highway travel without the need for a driver.

This agreement follows closely on the heels of Daimler and Waymo’s announcement of their joint project to develop an autonomous version of the Freightliner Cascadia truck, and represents the latest step by the German manufacturer to shift its focus from robotaxis and ride-sharing services to the application of automated vehicle technology within the freight industry.

The amount of Daimler’s investment remains undisclosed, but it supplements the $170 million Luminar secured through its merger with special purpose acquisition company Gores Metropoulos Inc. Luminar is slated to become a publicly listed company following the completion of its merger with Gores, anticipated in late 2020.

Daimler is pursuing a two-pronged strategy in its effort to bring autonomous trucks to market. The company has been independently developing a truck capable of Level 4 automation – a classification indicating the system can manage all driving tasks without human input under specific conditions, such as highway environments. This development has been expedited since spring 2019, when Daimler acquired a controlling interest in Torc Robotics, an autonomous trucking company that had previously collaborated with Luminar for the past two years. Lidar, a remote sensing technology that uses laser light to create a precise three-dimensional map of the vehicle’s surroundings, is widely considered essential for the safe and widespread deployment of automated vehicle technology.

The intention is to integrate Torc’s autonomous system, alongside Luminar’s sensor technology, into a Freightliner Cascadia truck and establish an operational and network hub for managing these automated vehicles. Daimler Trucks and Torc’s combined self-driving solution is intended for long-haul, point-to-point transportation, particularly for repetitive routes between distribution centers, as stated by Daimler.

Concurrently, Daimler Trucks is engineering a specialized Freightliner Cascadia truck chassis featuring redundant systems to facilitate the integration of Waymo’s self-driving system. In this scenario, Waymo retains responsibility for software development, while Daimler concentrates on the chassis engineering.

This parallel approach underscores Daimler’s ambition to achieve the series production of Level 4 trucks for highway use on a global scale. The agreement also clarifies Luminar’s strategy of concentrating on the most viable and rapid pathways to commercially successful automated vehicles, and consequently, a profitable business.

“Our attention has consistently been directed towards highway autonomy applications, which are relevant to both passenger and commercial vehicles,” Russell explained in a recent discussion, adding that the goal is to create a product suitable for large-scale production at a reasonable cost.

Luminar has already revealed a partnership with an automotive manufacturer for passenger vehicle applications. Volvo announced in May that it will begin producing vehicles in 2022 equipped with lidar and a perception system developed by Luminar, which the automaker will utilize to deploy an automated driving system for highway driving. This agreement with Daimler secures the second application for Luminar’s technology.

“I firmly believe that autonomous trucking represents a highly valuable business model that will exceed the potential of robotaxis and likely be comparable to the consumer vehicle market in the coming years,” Russell stated.