Gatik’s mission is to deliver goods using autonomous vehicles. With a fleet of light- and medium-duty trucks, it focuses on short-haul B2B logistics for the retail industry. The company has an existing partnership with Walmart, for which it operates multi-temperature box trucks on autonomous short runs.

Now Gatik, which has offices in Palo Alto and Toronto, has introduced an Electric Autonomous Box Truck that it produced collaboration with VIA Motors.

VIA’s all-electric powertrain delivers a range of 120 miles and can be fully charged in less than 1.5 hours. Gatik is working closely with its customers to install charging stations at distribution hubs and vehicle depots.

VIA Motors, founded in 2010, started out converting GM vehicles into PHEVs, but now produces fully electric commercial vehicles for fleets. VIA is developing a skateboard platform for Class 3-5 commercial vehicles, which will be available in 2023.

Gatik will deploy the new electric trucks for customers in New Orleans this month. The company has already been testing autonomous vehicles in the area, piloting Walmart’s trucks on a 20-mile route between a supercenter in the city and a pickup point in Metairie, Louisiana. The autonomous vehicles have been operating with a human safety driver on board.

“Our Electric Autonomous Box Trucks are defining a new frontier in sustainability, while continuing to offer the cost reductions and shorter delivery times our autonomous solution is known for,” said Gautam Narang, CEO and co-founder of Gatik. “The B2B short-haul market is ideally suited to electric technology thanks to the route lengths involved. Trucks can charge while they’re being loaded, enabling continuous service during operational hours.”

Source: Gatik via Transport Dive