The truck of the future, a highly automated Mercedes-Benz, had its premiere on Tuesday. Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, responsible for Daimler Trucks and Buses and a member of Daimler’s Board of Management, unveiled details of their Future Truck 2025.
There was a remarkable demonstration of the innovative technology on the A14 autobahn near the city of Magdeburg in completely realistic driving situations. Later, a conference was held in the presence of several hundred journalists, investors, government officials and capital-market analysts.
The truck features a highly intelligent assistance system called the Highway Pilot which is comparable to an autopilot system in a plane. The human driver can switch control of the truck to the Highway Pilot and the vehicle can drive completely autonomously. The system uses a combination of vehicle-to-vehicle Wi-Fi communication, radars, a stereo camera and the truck is completely connected with its environment. Another system called Predictive Powertrain Control uses information about route characteristics in order to maximize fuel consumption.
Daimler Trucks plans that the technology will be operating on the roads by 2025. However, various laws will have to be updated to make it legal using self-driving vehicles on the highways.
The company may not have to wait until 2025. The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) officially approved the testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads that are set to begin in September.

It looks like driverless vehicles may hit the road sooner than we think.