By Stephen Nellis
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Aeva Technologies on Tuesday said that it has reached a $1 billion deal with Germany's Daimler Truck to supply sensors for self-driving trucks that are expected to hit U.S. roads in 2027.
Aeva, a Silicon Valley-based firm founded by Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) veterans, makes what is known as a lidar sensor that helps vehicles gain a detailed view of the road. Aeva's sensor can detect how fast distant objects are moving, which is useful for avoiding other vehicles and pedestrians.
Aeva said it expects the total value of the deal to be $1 billion, but did not specify how many years it would last or how many sensors would go on each truck. Aeva said some revenue from the deal will start to appear this year and that it plans to start production for the deal in 2026.
The sensors will eventually end up on Daimler Truck's Freightliner Cascadia truck platform, which the company's Torc Robotics unit is equipping with self-driving technology. Daimler Truck CEO Martin Daum told Reuters last year that the firm aims to have self-driving trucks on the road by 2027.
While many makers of passenger vehicles have scaled back their plans for self-driving technology in the wake of a widely reported robotaxi accident in downtown San Francisco, robotic trucking along well-defined routes continues to draw interest because the businesses know precisely how much they must pay human drivers for long-haul trips. Human drivers still handle the last few miles for trips, but not the long stretches between.
"The business case and the efficiency becomes really clear with highway autonomy," Aeva Chief Executive Officer Soroush Salehian told Reuters. "This allows the driver to go home at night."