Faction Technology, creator of three-wheeled delivery EV solutions, has raised US$4.3m (£3m) in seed funding to further develop a lightweight driverless fleet.
As a technology company, Faction is partnering with manufacturers of light electric vehicles to scale operational fleets. It is working to create a vehicle with the ability to move cargo or allow for a rider.
Faction aims to develop vehicles that are targeted for urban use cases where trips usually fall into the range of three to five miles.
The company added it is focusing on both micro-logistics and ride-on-demand services with a “right-sized approach” to driverless fleets. The company looks to engineer an electric three-wheeled vehicle, produced at a fraction of the cost of a typical car.
“Deploying safety-forward driverless vehicles at scale requires developing from the chassis up,” said Faction CEO, Ain McKendrick.
“Using legacy automobiles for driverless operations is great for development and research projects, but we feel smaller vehicles are the key to alleviating the ever-growing problem of urban gridlock. Faction combines autonomy with remote human teleoperation, which doesn’t require us to wait for 100% autonomous technology. To us, autonomy is an optimisation, driverless is a product.”
The latest funding round was led by Trucks Venture Capital and Fifty Years. Seth Bannon, founding partner at Fifty Years, said: “By building from the ground up with driverless in mind instead of retrofitting existing vehicles, Faction is set to radically improve urban and suburban transportation, cut down on emissions, and create massive economic value in the process.”
Furthermore, the company plans to announce the first customer trials later this year.
