WABCO Holdings Inc., a global supplier of technologies that improve the safety, efficiency and connectivity of commercial vehicles, announced that it is working with Peloton Technology to advance an innovative solution for truck platooning, integrating commercial vehicle-to-vehicle communication and other automation technologies that further improve safety and fuel efficiency. Based in Mountain View, California, U.S.A., privately held Peloton is an industry-leading provider of connected and automated vehicle solutions.
By electronically linking two or more tractor-trailers to form virtual road-trains on highways, platooning increases fuel economy by more than 7 percent, namely up to 4.5 percent for the lead truck and up to 10 percent for following trucks due to improved aerodynamics, according to independent evaluation by the North American Council on Freight Efficiency and further validation by the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. Department of Transportation.
WABCO will contribute to this work with its portfolio of braking, advanced stability and emergency braking systems, including predictive cruise control. Peloton will bring its proprietary platooning technologies, which are currently under testing on U.S. highways.
WABCO’s OnGuardACTIVE collision mitigation system, with its 77GHz radar sensor, is a key enabler of the platoon’s trucks. When necessary, it provides active braking to avoid or mitigate impending rear-end collisions.
Peloton’s systems enable platooning through advanced vehicle-to-vehicle wireless communication, enabling tractor-trailers to accelerate and brake together and safely operate at closer distances to gain aerodynamic efficiencies. Peloton’s Network Operations Center supervises the platooning trucks, allowing platooning only where, when and how it is safe to do so.
Peloton’s system also processes real-time data gathered from sensors linked to other vehicle active safety and automation systems, including WABCO’s OnGuard emergency braking system and from WABCO’s source of instant digital information about the vehicle’s systems and their performance.
“WABCO shares our mission of increasing safety and efficiency for fleets and other transport customers," said Josh Switkes, Peloton CEO and founder. "Today’s announcement builds on our past work together, and we continue to be excited about the synergy with WABCO, a global technology leader in advanced driver assistance and active safety systems. Working with WABCO we can make trucks and drivers safer on highways whether in platoon or operating individually.”
“We are excited to expand WABCO’s strategy to offer differentiated solutions and services that empower tomorrow’s fleets, and working with industry-leading Peloton Technology demonstrates how WABCO is mobilizing vehicle intelligence to support driving automation,” said Jacques Esculier, WABCO chairman and CEO.
In addition, WABCO reports that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a global tier-one automotive industry supplier headquartered in Asia to bring active steering and other technologies to the commercial industry through a new joint venture (JV). The MoU sets a framework to establish a JV agreement for a new business that will develop, manufacture and sell electronically controlled active steering systems for the global truck and bus market.
The JV will leverage WABCO’s braking, vehicle control and advanced driver assistance systems expertise with its partner’s steering system technology and capabilities. This integration will result in significant innovation for advanced safety-enabling solutions that support automated driving through intelligent control of both the longitudinal and lateral movements of vehicles.
