The world’s biggest truckmaker says Silicon Valley should hit the brakes on expectations for self-driving lorries. Martin Daum, chief executive of Daimler Trucks, says it will take at least five years before driverless technology becomes commercially available to its customers — a more cautious prediction for self-driving technology than promoted by rivals such as Tesla. “What I am talking about is a truck that can follow another truck without a driver behind the wheel” on motorways, Mr Daum said, referring to Daimler’s efforts in “platooning”, in which trucks are wirelessly connected in order to synchronise braking with a human-driven lead vehicle.
“Seeing a truck completely driverless would potentially take even more [time],” he added. Daimler is one of a number of companies developing autonomous capabilities for freight trucks, along with fellow manufacturer Volvo and tech upstarts Waymo and Uber. Tesla has said its electric Semi truck, which competes directly with Daimler’s freight trucks, will go into production next year, with its Autopilot semi-autonomous capabilities included as a standard feature. Autopilot, which is already available in Tesla’s passenger cars, requires a human at the wheel but the software will help the truck stay in its lane and brake automatically, according to chief executive Elon Musk.