Oxbotica, a UK-based autonomous vehicle developer, has announced that it has completed the first deployment of a zero-occupancy, fully autonomous, new-type electric vehicle on publicly accessible roads in Europe. The all-electric AppliedEV vehicle is operating in Oxford, UK, ahead of the first public on-road business deployment with Ocado Group using a goods delivery variant, planned for 2023 onwards.
Oxbotica says it will also now accelerate commercial deployment of autonomous vehicles globally. Working with partners, such as ZF, BP and NEVS, it will work on autonomous passenger shuttles and industry-specific platforms, all driven by Oxbotica’s core product: Oxbotica Driver.
Paul Newman, Oxbotica founder and CTO, said, “Oxbotica is changing the way people and goods move. Our goal is to be indistinguishable from perfect on safety, and this achievement alongside our partners is proof of that. It’s a historic moment for the UK, the transport and logistics sector, autonomous vehicle technology, and Oxbotica.”
The company collaborated with the wider autonomous vehicle ecosystem to ensure the trial was conducted in line with the UK Code of Practice 2019, BSI PAS 1881:2020 and PAS 1883:2020.
Alex Harvey, chief of advanced technology at Ocado Technology, said, “This is a fantastic milestone and we are delighted to see Oxbotica making significant progress towards zero-occupancy goods deliveries. We continue to collaborate closely with Oxbotica and are excited about providing this transformational capability to Ocado Smart Platform (OSP) partners at the earliest possible opportunity.”