ORLANDO, Fla. & SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Luminar (Nasdaq: LAZR), a leading global automotive technology company, and Plus, a global provider of highly automated driving and fully autonomous driving solutions, announced a partnership to advance highly automated driving and safety systems for commercial vehicle manufacturers. Under the agreement, Luminar will be the exclusive provider of mid- to long-range lidar for PlusDrive, Plus’s factory-installed assisted driving system for commercial vehicles. In parallel, Plus will be the exclusive third-party provider of AI-based enhanced driver assist software for Luminar’s solution for commercial vehicle OEMs.
“Trucking is a key emerging market for Luminar, and the same products and technology we’ve successfully executed on for our production consumer vehicle programs are beginning to be deployed on commercial vehicles as well,” said Luminar Founder and CEO Austin Russell. “We see Plus as a new strategic partner for us to enable enhanced safety and autonomous capabilities for production commercial vehicles at even greater scale, in light of their commercial success with some of the largest companies in the industry.”
Luminar’s Iris lidar is a first-of-its kind, automotive grade sensing solution that enables high-performance, long-range detections. In addition to production consumer vehicles, Iris uniquely meets the stringent performance, robustness, and reliability requirements for class 8 commercial trucks. Ultra long-range visibility is critical for trucking for both safety and comfort, and Luminar’s lidar is capable of seeing as far as 600 meters ahead. This represents as much as 20 seconds of visibility ahead at highway speeds to ensure even fully-loaded trucks can smoothly come to a safe stop when required. This provides a step-function improvement for ADAS systems while enabling the necessary foundation for fully autonomous driving.
“The partnership between Luminar and Plus unlocks the tremendous business value of next-generation safety and highly automated driving systems for vehicle manufacturers and fleets alike. Luminar will enable PlusDrive to achieve new heights in sensing at further distances and at highway speeds. This will enable the scalable commercialization of driver-in technology today and accelerate our customers’ path to full autonomy tomorrow,” said David Liu, CEO and Co-Founder at Plus.
Plus’s driver-in, L2++ solution, PlusDrive, which enables supervised autonomy is already commercially available and used to deliver freight by some of the largest fleets in the world today. PlusDrive uses components such as lidar, radar, and cameras from award-winning manufacturers to see 360 degrees around the vehicle and hundreds of meters ahead. The AI-based software processes the data, predicts the behavior of surrounding vehicles, and then safely maneuvers the vehicle. It automatically handles stop-and-go traffic, lane changes, lane merges, nudging when next to an oversized vehicle, and staying centered in the lane while the driver remains alert and attentive. New driving features are continuously added via over-the-air software updates.
Plus and Luminar will also aim to collaborate on Luminar’s commercial vehicle insurance program, high definition mapping, and trucking sensor integration called Blade.
About Luminar
Luminar is a global automotive technology company ushering in a new era of vehicle safety and autonomy. For the past decade, Luminar has built an advanced hardware and software platform to enable its more than 50 industry partners, including the majority of global automotive OEMs. From Volvo Cars and Mercedes-Benz for consumer vehicles and Daimler Trucks for commercial trucks, to tech partners NVIDIA and Intel’s Mobileye, Luminar is poised to be the first automotive technology company to enable next-generation safety and autonomous capabilities for production vehicles. For more information please visit www.luminartech.com.
About Plus
Plus is a global provider of highly automated driving and fully autonomous driving solutions with headquarters in Silicon Valley, California. Named by Forbes as one of America’s Best Startup Employers and by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies, Plus’s open autonomy technology platform is already powering vehicles in commercial use today. Working with leading vehicle manufacturers, fleets, and other technology companies globally, Plus is helping to make driving safer, more comfortable, and more sustainable. Plus has received a number of industry awards and distinctions for its transformative technology and business momentum from Fast Company, Forbes, Insider, Consumer Electronics Show, AUVSI, and others.
For more information, please visit www.plus.ai or follow us on LinkedIn or YouTube.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements included in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as “aims”, “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “set,” “continue,” “towards,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “forward,” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our collaboration with Plus will lead to a solution that will be adopted by trucking companies, that Luminar’s lidar has sufficient performance trucking automated driving, and that PlusDrive software will result in safer commercial truck performance. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of Luminar’s management and are not predictions of actual performance. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including that Luminar’s lidar, software of Luminar and Plus, and the integration will be successful, and changes in market conditions and consumer desirability for such products and government authorization to use them; or other risks, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements including the risks discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by Luminar on March 1, 2022, and other documents Luminar files periodically with the SEC. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made and Luminar undertakes no obligation to update any forward looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.
