Calypso writes history

"Milestone for logistics"

Two special passengers were even closer to the events: Federal Transport Minister Dr. Volker Wissing and MAN CEO Alexander Vlaskamp, who both climbed out of the Calypso cab visibly impressed. "The first Level 4 test drive of an autonomous truck on a German freeway proves that Germany has taken the lead in Europe with the law on autonomous driving," said Dr. Wissing at the press conference at the Fürholzen service area. "Our goal is to become the leading market for automated and connected driving. Today is a milestone for logistics in Germany. The ever-increasing volume of transportation combined with the growing shortage of drivers is a challenge for society as a whole. Autonomous trucks can help to alleviate the situation. In addition, the intelligent networking of freight transport offers the opportunity to make transhipment from road to rail more efficient and thus strengthen climate-friendly combined transport."

The milestone for autonomous driving was made possible by the work of around 500 engineers who are driving autonomous driving forward at MAN and the TRATON GROUP and whose innovative strength has already enabled over 133 patents to be registered. "Today, we are taking another major step towards autonomous commercial vehicles, the second major future field alongside the switch to CO2-free drives," explained Vlaskamp. "The law on autonomous driving gives our industry the necessary planning security. However, we also need to work closely with infrastructure operators such as Autobahn GmbH to make autonomous driving a reality. Only together can we get autonomous driving on the road."

Logistics becomes safer, more predictable and more efficient

A joint commitment that pays off: autonomous trucks can make logistics safer, more predictable and more efficient and reduce total operating costs by 10 to 15 percent. The new technology can also alleviate the driver shortage - after all, there is already a shortage of up to 100,000 truck drivers in Germany alone, and the trend is rising. This is why MAN has been driving autonomous driving forward for many years in various research and development projects such as ANITA and ATLAS-L4. Calypso still has numerous tests ahead of it this year, and hub-to-hub projects in typical customer applications are planned from 2025 - as the next development step towards series production of autonomous vehicles.

Hub-to-hub transportation is a particularly suitable first use case for autonomous trucks: The trucks are always on the move, have maximum fuel efficiency and are safe to drive. Driving time breaks are no longer necessary and the vehicles can be perfectly integrated into tightly synchronized logistics processes. However, autonomous driving does not only offer tangible benefits for freight transport. This is why MAN is also involved in the development of autonomous city buses in the @CITY, BeIntelli and MINGA projects.