Autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the news usually refer to self-driving cars including those from tech giants such as Google, and automakers such as Mercedes and Toyota. However, a cross-continental demo in Europe of semi-autonomous trucks wrapped up on April 6, Wednesday. The European Truck Platooning Challenge was organized by the Netherlands government and included trucks from six European truck manufacturers including Volvo and Daimler.  

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Many robotic big rigs from each manufacturer left their bases, then traveled in convoys to the Dutch port Rotterdam and arrived on Wednesday. Each platoon of trucks was linked via Wi-Fi connectivity that allowed them to be synched so they could drive in tighter convoys than possible with human drivers behind the wheel operating the semis, according to Ars Technica.

In fact, the vehicles were not fully autonomous because they included a human on board. However, the vehicles' radar and sensors made them as robotic as other semi-autonomous cars including those from Tesla and Audi.

The main benefit of the networked convoys is that the reaction time is almost instant. For example, if the lead trailer truck slows down or hits the brakes, all of the vehicles respond at the same time. In addition, the more compact platoon lowers wind resistance, which improves the trucks' fuel efficiency by up to 10 percent and reduces CO2 emissions.  

Meanwhile, the first level 3 self-driving truck in the United States was introduced last year by Freightliner. It caused concerns in an industry that has 3.5 million employees. However, there is a shortage of US truck drivers, and autonomous tech could make trucking easier and less stressful.  

Experts believe that fully driverless trucks will hit the road up to 30 years from now. However, until then semi-autonomous vehicles can help boost road safety and reduce carbon emissions.

In related news, Volvo announced on April 7, Thursday that it plans to test 100 self-driving cars in China, according to BBC. It wants to test the robot cars in everyday conditions.  

The Swedish automaker is now deciding in which city it will conduct the road tests. It believes getting AVs on the road will help to increase road safety and save lives.