Nikola will offer a hands-free highway driving system for its trucks starting next year

Nikola volition statesman offering an precocious driver-assist strategy connected its electrical dense trucks starting precocious adjacent year, the institution said Wednesday.

The system, made by Plus and called PlusDrive, is akin to the hands-free road driving systems offered by automakers including Tesla, General Motors and Ford Motor – portion a quality operator indispensable beryllium contiguous and attentive, the strategy tin grip astir road driving tasks connected its own, successful summation to assisting the quality operator successful non-highway situations including backing up to loading docks.  

Nikola CEO Michael Lohscheller said successful a merchandise that the electrical steering and braking systems already utilized successful the company's trucks volition simplify the integration of Plus' system, which includes radar, cameras and lidar sensors to observe obstacles astir the truck.

Plus already provides the PlusDrive strategy to Italian heavy-truck shaper Iveco, a longtime Nikola partner. Iveco began investigating its ain PlusDrive-enabled trucks earlier this month.

Nikola said that respective of its fleet customers, including PGT Trucking and Christenson Transportation, person agreed to trial prototype PlusDrive-enabled Nikola semitrucks. The institution expects to statesman offering PlusDrive connected its regular accumulation battery-electric and substance compartment trucks by the extremity of 2024.

Nikola is scheduled to study its fourth-quarter and full-year results earlier the U.S. markets unfastened connected Thursday.