FairPrice Group (FPG) has received approval from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) for the final stages of trials to use autonomous vehicles by Zelos Technology on public roads in Singapore for cargo transportation.
The ongoing public road trial has two phases. In the first phase, which began on October 18, the autonomous vehicle will undergo daily and nightly test drives accompanied by a safety vehicle. The second phase will involve the autonomous vehicle taking daily and nightly test drives without an accompanying safety vehicle.
Each of those phases will conclude once the autonomous vehicle satisfies the LTA’s rigorous standards for autonomous vehicle road safety.
Upon successful completion of the trial, FPG will add Zelos Z10s to its fleet which will transfer palletised goods between its Benoi and Joo Koon distribution centres. Each vehicle has a load capacity of up to 1.5 tonnes, a range of up to 210 km, and 10 m3 of cargo space.
According to a joint press release, the Zelos Z10 is the first fully driverless autonomous vehicle designed for the logistics sector to receive the LTA’s M1 permit, a required licence for operating autonomous vehicles on public roads.
“These public road trials are the culmination of many months of hard work from our teams and partners to break new ground on the use of autonomous vehicles in Singapore. By integrating autonomous vehicles into our supply chain operations, we aim to improve our productivity, reduce our carbon footprint, and ultimately make every day a little better for our customers, our people, and the planet,” says Vipul Chawla, group CEO of FairPrice Group.
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Terry Zhou, managing director of Zelos Technology (Singapore), adds: "We believe that new energy combined with automation is the ultimate solution for commercial vehicles and that our partnership with FPG will help accelerate the adoption of autonomous driving in Singapore."
The autonomous vehicle initiative supports FPG’s ongoing efforts to ensure a sustainable and efficient supply chain that enables it to deliver on its social mission of keeping daily essentials within reach. These efforts include the ongoing expansion of FPG’s electric vehicle (EV) fleet, expected to grow to over 30 EVs by the end of 2024.
