GreenPower Motor Company announced the development of the first fully autonomous EV Star shuttle to undergo testing for transit applications. The company is a leading manufacturer and distributor of zero-emissions electric-powered vehicles, serves the delivery and cargo, micro-transit, private transportation, and school bus markets. Perrone Robotics (PRI), a robotics software company is currently coalescing the autonomous components to deliver a perfect vehicle to Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA), an agency responsible for public transit in the city of Jacksonville, Florida.
According to JTA Chief Executive Officer Nathaniel P. Ford Sr, “With this new partnership, Jacksonville Transportation Authority will expand and ramp up its AV-Test & Learn activities.” He further added that this development is leading towards setting the foundation of the nation’s first public transportation network powered by autonomous vehicles.
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) launched the Autonomous Vehicle Test and Learn track in 2017, with AV technology. JTA appointed a former Amazon executive to lead their automation team and has created the “Golden 20”, the minimum specifications for autonomous vehicles. GreenPower’s EV Star has met the most of any bus reviewed by JTA; 19 of the 20. JTA has been working with local colleges, medical campuses, and other partners for this technology to get further assent for developing a public transportation network in downtown Jacksonville, presuming the fully autonomous EV Star to be in service following this year.
Brendan Riley, President of GreenPower asserted that they are thrilled to partner with Perrone Robotics, with the delivery of the first fully autonomous transit bus in the United States entering test operations, to serve this industry-leading AV program with the JTA. He further added that the current environment is accelerating the evolving speed of the fully autonomous transit market. The autonomous movement taking hold over the market and the transit footprint becoming agile augurs a crisp market position for GreenPower with the EV Star.
Paul Perrone, CEO, and founder of Perrone Robotics said “We are very excited to be working with Jacksonville Transportation Authority on their AV Test program.” He further stated that the combination of PRI’s TONY autonomous kit with GreenPower’s EV Star rings out the most compelling autonomous transit solution. TONY brings the best of today’s and tomorrow’s autonomy to the fantastic EV Star platform with future-proof architecture and rich autonomous capabilities; the company is looking forward for great results with the Jacksonville Transit Authority.
GreenPower works with four distinct models serving the cargo delivery, paratransit, private shuttle, and micro transit markets leveraging its flagship EV Star Platform. The EV Star is the only bus in its class that allows optimal flexibility in route planning for any duty cycle with a standard J1772 level 2 fast charging and CCS DC fast combo charge system.
About GreenPower Motor Company
GreenPower is a manufacturer and distributor of high-floor and low-floor vehicles serving the cargo and delivery, transit, and school bus markets. GreenPower employs the purpose of zero-emission all-electric vehicles, designing and manufacturing the buses. It launched the EV350 transit bus in 2014, utilizing a custom battery management system and a proprietary Flex Power system for the drive motors. GreenPower has access to the OEM platform, allowing it to meet the operator’s specifications while providing standard parts for ease of maintenance.
To learn more, visit www.greenpowerbus.com
About Perrone Robotics
Perrone Robotics is a robotics software company, creator of the “TONY” Autonomous Transit retrofit kit, software for robotics and autonomous vehicles. Perrone Robotics’ autonomous technology has made it possible for standard vehicles of any size to be able to drive on public roads in traffic, handling typical scenarios.
To know more, visit www.perronerobotics.com
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