Applied EV has revealed its new fully-automomous Blanc Robot, as it gears up to manufacture the first 100 examples in Australia, with Suzuki Motor Corporation to supply the Jimny-based body structure.
The Blanc Robot is a cabin-less vehicle with a configurable table-top chassis, which aims to help solve global driver shortages in last-mile logistics by operating in industrial applications where tasks by a traditional driver may be considered dull, dirty or dangerous.
According to Applied EV, the company opted to use Suzuki’s long wheelbase Jimny platform to reduce production costs and enable high-volume production.
“The demand for autonomous vehicle fleets that integrate seamlessly into both emerging logistics companies and established enterprises has never been stronger,” said Applied EV CEO, Julian Broadbent.
“While transportation businesses are eager to adopt cutting-edge technologies, they require complete, real and actual ‘solutions’ to drive meaningful implementation at scale. Applied EV, in collaboration with our partners, has addressed this challenge with a turnkey solution. The Blanc Robot marks the first purpose-built autonomous vehicle released for scale, produced by Suzuki and running on Applied EV software. The first 100 production units are underway in Australia, with the capacity to scale to tens of thousands to meet demand.”
Applied EV’s Blanc Robot is a software-defined machine, based on a safety-rated software and hardware architecture. All functions and features are software controlled including three Applied EV secure interfaces, Applied EV Drive API (autonomous and AI driving software), Applied EV App Space API (non-driving vehicle functions) and Applied EV Cloud API (secure data and diagnostics for 3rd party applications).
The company says its customers can expect double or even triple shift up-time from an autonomous Blanc Robot, improving economics and reducing carbon emissions across large-scale operations.
