Strategic collaboration aims to scale production beginning in the second half of 2025
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Kodiak selects Roush as manufacturing partner for autonomous truck upfitting
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(Photo: Kodiak Robotics/Roush)
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Kodiak Robotics announced on Thursday it has selected Roush Industries as its manufacturing partner to scale the upfitting of trucks equipped with the Kodiak Driver autonomous system. Starting in the second half of 2025, Roush will begin upfitting these autonomous trucks at its facility in Livonia, Michigan, with initial production focused on vehicles for Kodiak’s customer, Atlas Energy Solutions.
The partnership includes a production line dedicated to the scaled upfitting of trucks with Kodiak’s modular and vehicle-agnostic hardware. This includes Kodiak’s proprietary SensorPods, AI compute systems, Actuation Control Engine safety compute, and redundant actuation elements. Roush has committed to designing and implementing a flexible manufacturing process capable of rapidly scaling to meet increasing customer demand.
“Kodiak’s autonomous trucking technology is an exciting advancement in the mobility industry,” said Brad Rzetelny, VP contract manufacturing at Roush in the release. “Together we’re working to build a robust and repeatable manufacturing process that supports Kodiak’s transition from limited production to full-scale deployment.”
Roush brings nearly 50 years of mobility industry experience to the partnership. The company has developed specialized expertise in upfitting and delivering complex vehicles, including autonomous vehicles for multiple developers.
“Roush’s deep experience upfitting autonomous vehicles makes them an ideal production partner for Kodiak,” said Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak. “We believe that Roush’s strong quality management processes will ensure our customers’ Kodiak Driver-powered trucks will be built to exacting standards.”
The partnership offers advantages over traditional factory-line integration, including manufacturing flexibility to support various vehicle configurations and customization options that trucking customers require. This collaboration comes as Kodiak pursues plans to go public through a SPAC with Ares Acquisition Corporation II, expected to close in the second half of 2025.
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Motiv Appoints Scott Zion as Chief Product and Engineering Officer
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(Photo: Motiv Electric Trucks)
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On Thursday, Foster City, California-based medium duty electric truck maker Motiv Electric Trucks appointed Scott Zion as its Chief Product and Engineering Officer. In this role, Zion will oversee Motiv’s product roadmap and ensure the company’s technologies and vehicles meet high quality standards while fulfilling customer specifications.
Zion brings over 30 years of experience in vehicle engineering and electric vehicle technology to Motiv. Most recently, he served as Chief Product Officer at Bollinger Motors, where he led product strategy and development for electric commercial vehicles. His previous roles include Head of Engineering at Xos Trucks, Director of Medium Duty Vehicles, and General Manager and Chief Engineer of Zero Emission Vehicle Programs at Hino Motors Manufacturing USA.
“Scott’s proven expertise in product planning and his experience leading engineering and product teams in the commercial electric trucking space is a perfect fit for where Motiv is today,” said Scott Griffith, CEO of Motiv Electric Trucks in the release. “His background and leadership will be critical as we scale our team to continue to design and produce the most technologically-advanced, reliable, sustainable and cost-competitive electric trucks and buses for the largest fleets in North America.”
The news comes as Motiv celebrates 15 years of manufacturing electric step vans, box trucks, shuttles and buses. The company has deployed nearly 400 vehicles that have collectively driven over 5 million miles. Currently, 10 of North America’s 20 largest medium duty truck fleets have deployed Motiv vehicles, including Purolator, Vestis, Cintas, and Bimbo Bakeries.
Motiv now accounts for 45% of electric step vans in California and 19% of step van deployments across the U.S. The company reports that 64% of its vehicles have been delivered to repeat customers.
“Medium-duty commercial trucks are especially well-suited for electrification given their relatively short-range use cases, predictable duty cycles and depot-based charging, which avoids dependency on public charging infrastructure,” added Zion.
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Toyota and Daimler Truck finalize merger of Japanese vehicle subsidiaries
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Japanese subsidiaries of Toyota and Germany’s Daimler Truck have finalized a $6.4 billion merger in response to growing competition from rival Chinese truck makers. The deal combines Hino Motors, a subsidiary of Toyota and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus, a subsidiary of Daimler Truck AG. The combined entity is projected to sell over 200,000 units annually.
Growing competition in China comes in the form of electric vehicles and autonomous trucks, with the country continuing to focus on fleet electrification. Harry Dempsey with the Financial Times wrote, “Robin Zeng, the billionaire behind China’s battery champion CATL, forecast last month that half of new trucks sold in China in three years’ time would be electric, underlining the upheaval coming for the heavy goods vehicle market.”
The finalized deal was two years in the making, with both companies announcing in May 2023 their intent to work together on new technologies including hydrogen fuel according to the Associated Press.
"We believe that the future is for us to build together. Today’s final agreement is not the goal but the starting line. Our four companies, aiming to achieve a sustainable mobility society, will continue to create the future of commercial vehicles together." said Koji Sato, CEO of Toyota in a press release.
The release adds Daimler Truck and Toyota will each aim to own 25% of the (listed) holding company of the integrated Mitsubishi Fuso and Hino. Karl Deppen, CEO of Mitsubishi Fuso will be the CEO of the combined company which will employ over 40,000 workers.
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The U.S. Department of Transportation and NHTSA announced a streamlined review process for autonomous vehicle exemptions, allowing up to 2,500 vehicles per manufacturer to operate without traditional controls like steering wheels or pedals. The process, previously criticized for lengthy delays, will now take months instead of years, reducing regulatory hurdles.
Kodiak Robotics recently announced the delivery of two additional driverless trucks to Atlas Energy Solutions. The two new Kodiak Driver-powered trucks are part of a 100-truck order placed by Atlas as the company seeks to automate its supply chain. Kodiak offers its Kodiak Driver-powered trucks under a Driver as a Service model, where customers pay a per-mile or per-vehicle licensing fee that covers driverless operations and ongoing system support
Zero-emission yard tractors are emerging as frontrunners in the heavy-duty electric vehicle market, achieving 2.82% penetration of the total yard tractor fleet—the highest market share among all zero-emission truck (ZET) segments, according to a new CALSTART report. Seventeen states now have more than 1,000 Zero Emissions Truck (ZET) deployments, with 39% of cumulative U.S. ZET deployments occurring in states that have adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks regulation
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As always, thanks for watching and reading.
Thomas Wasson
twasson@firecrown.com
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