USA / China - Plus.ai, a Silicon Valley, California-based provider of self-driving trucking technology, has announced a joint venture with China’s FAW Jiefang Automotive Co Ltd¹ of Changchun, Jilin province (a subsidiary of the FAW Group and which is understood to be China’s largest truck manufacturer) to develop autonomous trucks for China. The exclusive partnership announced also that it would be launching its first product, which they claim is the world’s first production-class L2² semi-autonomous truck, which is built on Plus.ai’s L4 autonomous technology stack. 

The formation of the joint venture results from a strong partnership between Plus.ai and FAW Jiefang, which share a vision for smart transportation. They state they have been working together during the last two years to address growing demand for trucking in China, where over 6.1 trillion metric ton-kilometres of freight are moved by a fleet of more than five million heavy-duty trucks and over 14 million light and medium trucks. The FAW J7 L2 truck is the joint venture’s first commercial product. A full L4 heavy truck is planned in the next three to five years.