USA – Traxen Inc1 has announced a contract with United Road Services Inc, a haulage firm, also based in Plymouth, Michigan, to begin production of a smart-adaptive cruise control technology for Class 8 trucks which Traxen claims can reduce annual fuel consumption by 10%.

The contract to produce 400 units of the ‘iQPilot™ marks Traxen’s first order such since it was founded and follows on from year-long pilot testing with United Road Services. The iQ-Pilot™ is designed by Traxen and assembled from components supplied by third parties. Formerly known as the ‘iQ-Cruise™’, the iQ-Pilot™ monitors road conditions, gradient, curvature, traffic patterns and weather conditions up to three miles ahead of the vehicle and adjusts vehicle speed accordingly. Driver alerts are also provided via an onboard graphical user interface.

Traxen’s contention is that driverless solutions will not be deployable in the next 7-10 years. Their business proposition is an ADAS product that will achieve fuel efficiency and safety gains in the meantime and will continue to have applicability even after full autonomy becomes commercially viable. Traxen claims that the fuel savings that would be achieved by all U.S. haulage fleets employing its adaptive cruise control technology would be equivalent to five billion gallons of fuel, or 50 million metric tons of CO2 emissions per year; or, a potential cost saving of USD 7,000 per truck per year.

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