Tesla is thinking about a Utopian future of the automaker industry by producing a self-driving van and shuttle bus. But in the meantime autonomous software company Oxa shows fully electric Fort E-Transit vans and shuttles that are running on roads of UK and US.
Oxa’s VP of Director Strategic Partnerships & Universal Vehicles Autonomy, Paul Reynolds said on LinkedIn, “Great to see Tesla’s Robotaxi unveiled ….including the Robovan. But why wait?” He also said it has a self driving van today that’s ready to deliver on that idea’s promise. It’s hard to argue against the idea that if a self-driving van is a good idea five years from now, it’s a good idea today.
The great thing is that the Oxa’s autonomous-capable hardware is designed to fit snugly on the outside of the popular Ford E-Transit commercial van without encroaching on the van’s interior. It means the fleet will be able to integrate the self-driving vans into existing fleets without the need to redesign their existing upfit solutions – a critical piece of the overall puzzle for fleet managers.
Means the self-driving version of the Oxa-powered Ford E-Transit cab be configured to do everything the conventional ICE Transits can do, and serve logistics (delivery van), trades (work van), and passenger/shuttle services (up to 10 seats in passenger E-Transit trim – which we don’t yet get here in the US).
Gavin Jackson, CEO of Oxa explains, “Making the Ford E-Transit available for autonomous operations is the next step on our journey to deliver safe, scalable, and sustainable autonomous solutions. This vehicle represents an important milestone in our mission to reshape the future of passenger transportation and logistics.”
The electric vehicles also features with a full suite of sensing equipment to “take in the road” that includes a high-definition cameras, lidar, and radar sensors.The Oxa hardware sends a full 360-degree’s worth of perception and long-range detection to the system’s processors, enabling autonomous operation at electronically-limited speeds of up to 35 mph in mixed traffic.
