Aeva signs self-driving truck firm Plus as first production customer

Fabrinet

10/11/2021 21:05

By Stephen Nellis
    Nov 10 (Reuters) - Aeva Technologies Inc  AEVA.N  said on
Wednesday it will provide sensors to self-driving truck firm
Plus, the company's first disclosed mass production customer.
    Founded by former Apple Inc  AAPL.O  engineers, Aeva makes 
what is called a lidar sensor, which helps self-driving vehicles
gain a multidimensional view of the road. Aeva has development
partnerships with firms such as Denso Corp  6902.T  around lidar
sensors for vehicles and Nikon Corp  7731.T  for sensors for
robotic factory production lines.
    On Wednesday, though, Aeva said it had struck it first
high-volume production deal with Plus, which is developing
self-driving truck technology. Aeva, which earlier on Wednesday
said it has selected Fabrinet  FN.N  to contract-manufacture its
sensors, said it will start supplying sensors to Plus late next
year. The companies did not disclose how many units the deal
will involve, but Plus has said it aims to put 100,000 systems
on the road by 2025.
    "There are 80,000 drivers short in the trucking industry, so
there's a lot of consensus around autonomous driving for trucks
being one of the first commercial applications that takes off,"
Aeva Chief Executive Soroush Salehian told Reuters.
    Aeva was also expected to announce third-quarter earnings on
Wednesday after markets close. Wall Street expects sales of
$2.99 million and an adjusted loss of 11 cents per share,
according to IBES estimates from Refinitiv.      

 (Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco
Editing by Matthew Lewis)
 ((Stephen.Nellis@thomsonreuters.com; (415) 344-4934;))