Aurora affirms autonomous truck launch in 2023, robotaxi service in first earnings report since IPO

A key part of Aurora’s strategy involves building an autonomous driver versatile enough to be equipped on vehicles that range from minivans to Class 8 trucks. Urmson said such underlying “transferability” should be achieved in the first quarter of this year.

Another evolving feature is Aurora’s ability to bring a vehicle to a safe stop on the side of the road should one or more systems fail. Urmson said that capability is being honed in simulation now and is expected to reach real-world testing by the third quarter.

“We’ll showcase this on public roads, continue to advance that capability and enhance our fault-detection capability on board to handle a broad set of problems that might occur in the future,” Urmson said.

Aurora continues to emphasize testing its virtual driver in simulation instead of logging millions of real-world miles. But real-world driving is growing. Urmson said the company “more than doubled” its trucking fleet from its size late last year. The fleet now comprises 18 trucks.

Those are being used to haul goods for partners such as FedEx and Uber Freight. Aurora is pulling loads five days per week for those partners, and those operations now include nighttime hauls, according to the company’s 8-K filing.

Trucking partners now include U.S. Xpress, a collaboration announced this week that will focus on integrating Aurora’s systems with the trucking company’s digital platform, which will help optimize routes and dispatching.

After a fitful 2021 — which saw Aurora acquire Uber’s Advanced Technologies Group, forge a partnership with Toyota involving Sienna minivans for future robotaxi service and co-develop trucks with Volvo and Paccar — Aurora has $1.6 billion in cash on hand, CFO Richard Tame said. The company anticipates that will carry it through the launch of its autonomous trucking business.

As Aurora and a number of competitors prepare to launch commercial services in the years ahead, investors are increasingly interested in accurate metrics for comparing safety, reliability and performance of systems.