We’re used to seeing autonomous car concepts, and even autonomous trucks. But Volvo is the first to break free from the incumbency of the form factors with Vera, their forthcoming driverless vehicle that looks pretty radically different from what came before:
“Vera is an autonomous, electric vehicle that can operate with significantly less exhaust emissions and low noise levels. It is controlled and monitored via a cloud-based service, and has the potential to make transportation safer, cleaner and more efficient.”
The idea is that a fleet of these would “optimise transport in highly-repetitive, short distance flows with large volumes of goods, such as ports, factory areas and logistical mega centres, where it offers better delivery precision and flexibility.”
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So for now, at least, it appears this is not intended to replace long-haul truckers. But when that step is eventually taken, whether by Volvo, Tesla or another company, there are going to be a lot of people out of work. Who should address that issue? Volvo? The government? The people that are going to be out of work themselves?
Source: core77