Aurora expands self-driving trucks route to El Paso

Aurora has added a 600-mile driverless route from Fort Worth to El Paso, the autonomous vehicle technology company’s second for its self-driving trucks.

The company announced the expansion on Tuesday alongside its third-quarter earnings report. Aurora also said it has completed more than 100,000 driverless miles on public roads with five self-driving trucks, a milestone for the company that launched its commercial service in May. The company’s next pre-stated goal is to expand to Phoenix by the end of the year.

Aurora’s initial commercial service began with a Dallas-to-Houston route with launch customers Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight. At the time, the company said it planned to build up to “tens of thousands of self-driving trucks” and expand to El Paso and Phoenix by the end of 2025. 

The Fort Worth-to-El Paso route is long enough to become compelling to carriers, according to Aurora, which cites staff challenges and the difficulty of completing a 10-hour haul in a single day. Customers on the El Paso route include Hirschbach Motor Lines as well as Russell Transport.

Aurora also shared details on next-generation hardware, which is made by Fabrinet and is being integrated with the Volvo VNL Autonomous trucks. It says the hardware is more durable and has better performance, yet it is half the overall cost. The company’s new generation of lidar detects objects 1,000 meters away, which is twice the distance of its current generation. Aurora also has improved its sensor cleaning, which it says will operate more reliably in harsh weather conditions.

“The integration of Aurora’s next-generation hardware with the Volvo VNL Autonomous on the pilot line at our New River Valley facility marks an industry-first partnership and highlights the meaningful progress we are making together,” said Nils Jaeger, President of Volvo Autonomous Solutions. “By manufacturing trucks purpose-built for autonomy, we’re moving beyond prototypes and creating scalable solutions that are ready to meet the demands of a modern supply chain.”

This next-generation hardware will come ahead of a suite of higher volume hardware that is being jointly developed with Aumovio, formerly Continental, which is slated for production in 2027.