UK autonomous vehicle technology company Aurrigo has announced that it has secured international orders totalling over £1.5m (US$2m).
Coventry-based Aurrigo said that it has seen demand for its driverless pods soar following the successful completion of major trials in the UK and Australia.
Sales have come from customers in Australia, Canada, Finland, Singapore and the USA, with the latest deal seeing one of its Pod Zero vehicles heading to China.
This growth takes the company’s annual sales up to £4.2m (US$5.1m), with a further £6m (US$7.3m) of contracts projected to be secured between now and the end of 2020.
David Keene, chief executive of Aurrigo, said: “Our Pod Zeros have been in development for several years and, thanks to trials with UK Autodrive, Blind Veterans UK and Elliot Gardens in Australia, we have been able to refine the autonomous technology on real world applications.
“This has helped us prove to potential customers across the globe that we offer a viable, safe and cost-effective solution for ‘first and last mile’ transport issues and our pods are now in operation at universities, airports and innovation districts. There has even been talk about putting one of them into a shopping centre in the Middle East.”
Aurrigo has invested in its global presence, creating offices in Houston, Ottawa and in Adelaide. It’s now building a network of distributors with deals agreed in Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.
The company’s Pod Zero seats four people and travels at a maximum speed of 15mph (24km/h) off road and will run for 60 miles (96km) on a single charge. Customers can buy the full autonomous pod or purchase the platform and then fit their own autonomous control system.
Keene concluded: “At the last count we’ve got 30 pods operational across the world and this number could double in 2020.
“We’re now looking at applying our solutions to other applications, most noticeably a 12-seater autonomous shuttle in Cambridge and the world’s first autonomous luggage dolly, which is currently being trialled at Terminal 5, Heathrow.”
