Coventry-based driverless pod firm Aurrigo has announced the completion of Canada鈥檚 first public autonomous pod trial, which it said will open new opportunities for expansion in North America.
Aurrigo joined forces with the Ottawa L5 powered by Invest Ottawa and the Kanata North 老九品茶 Association to give more than 350 local people the opportunity to ride in two of its Pod Zero autonomous vehicles at the Marches Golf Club in Ottawa.
Over the course of three days, community members travelled across a complex route in the vehicle as it was tested on hills, a tunnel, and narrow tree covered bridges.
Feedback from the trial is now being collated by Aurrigo and Transport Canada to enhance user experience and support continued Connected & Autonomous Vehicle policy research.
鈥淥ttawa L5 was one of the early adopters of our Pod Zero technology and, over the last 18 months, we have developed a strategic relationship that truly leverages our respective strengths,鈥� explained David Keene, CEO of Aurrigo.
鈥淥ur pods represent impactful first and last mile transport solutions with deployment opportunities in a commercial, leisure, education or retail environment. There鈥檚 a really strong supply chain in Ottawa that can help support our roll-out in this area and other Canadian cities.鈥�
鈥淲e highlighted Canada as a key strategic location for our technology early on in our international expansion and Ottawa L5 saw a similar opportunity, buying two of our Pod Zeros for use at its state-of-the-art test track and for pilot projects like the one we have just seen at Marches Golf Club.
鈥淎s a business we have invested heavily in this partnership, opening a technical office in Ottawa and making sure our engineers are on-site supporting the testing activity. It鈥檚 a relationship we believe will continue to grow in the coming months and years.鈥�
The Canadian trial comes just a few weeks after Aurrigo announced 拢1.5m of new orders from across the world.
It said demand for its driverless pods has soared following the successful completion of major domestic and international trials from customers in Australia, Canada, Finland, Singapore and the US, with the latest deal seeing one of its 鈥楶od Zeros鈥� heading to China, a potential landmark moment for the Coventry-based business.
This growth takes its annual sales up to 拢4.2m and, with a strong pipeline of future orders in place, the company is predicting a further 拢6m of contracts between now and the end of 2020.