Australian-based startup Applied Electric Vehicles (Applied EV) has received a $30.7 million investment from the federal government for its Suzuki Jimny-based ‘Blanc Robot’ autonomous vehicle project – funding that could eventually see the vehicles operating on public roads.
The funding comes from the government’s $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC), which has so far invested $1.19 billion in Australian companies.
“We are proud to be investing in a company that commercialises Australian innovation, builds the country’s manufacturing capabilities, and creates highly skilled jobs,” NRFC CEO David Gall said in a statement.
“By focusing on autonomous electric vehicles for industrial use, [Applied EV] has created a sound and scalable business model.”
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“Its proprietary digital control system is made up of a combination of electronics and software that allows autonomous electric vehicles to be operated to the highest global safety standards in conditions that are remote and hazardous for human drivers.”
The investment will allow Applied EV to produce 100 examples of its Blanc Robot cab-less autonomous vehicles, developed in Melbourne under the guidance of co-founder, former Holden designer and engineer Julian Broadbent.
The company currently has 20 vehicles deployed, with the physical platform and its ‘Digital Backbone’ now in its sixth generation. It’s designed to operate as part of vehicle logistics chains, as more industries – including automakers – increasingly rely on autonomy and robotics across assembly lines and in warehousing.
“The world has started to believe that autonomous driving will happen,” Mr Broadbent toldForbes.
“If you’re a logistics company or an operator of fleets, you probably don’t see your whole fleet changing overnight, but if you don’t start thinking about how to have autonomous vehicles in your fleet and your competitors do, you know you’ll miss out.”
Mr Broadbent’s background includes time at former Australian automaker Holden, both locally and in overseas roles with parent company General Motors (GM), as well as running startups in Silicon Valley.
Applied EV was formed in 2015 and attracted investment from Japanese automaker Suzuki following an agreement between the companies in 2021, which the company says has accelerated its development program.
With Suzuki’s involvement, Applied EV is looking to manufacture thousands of its Blanc Robot platforms, using the underpinnings of the popular Suzuki Jimny SUV, into what Mr Broadbent describes as a ready market rather than pursuing the more distant goal of fully autonomous passenger vehicles.
“When traditional automotive manufacturing left Australia, we saw an opportunity, tapping into the wealth of local engineering talent and building something truly innovative from the ground up,” Mr Broadbent said.
“We will have manufacturing elements here in Australia. A lot of the technology and development of that technology will be done here, which includes low-volume manufacturing.”
“The vehicle frames are built by Suzuki, but the boxes that control them are made in Melbourne … but there’s new jobs as well coming in what I call ‘Applied EV 2.0’.
“We have to employ a lot of people to manage the fleets that are in operation remotely.”
The company employed 113 people prior to the NRFC funding announcement.
“We have to have a lot of data analytics and telemetry. We have to provide a lot of support. So, we do see the company growing in Australia and around the world,” Mr Broadbent added.
Applied EV has also attracted investment from Japan Post, which operates a fleet of around 80,000 vehicles – potentially paving the way for the first deployment of the Australian company’s autonomous technology on public roads.
“We’re looking at very low-speed urban sort of work with them. They have big challenges in a lot of cities in Japan due to reductions in populations,” the Applied EV CEO explained.
“We’re using this to solve a problem where there aren’t any drivers in the town to be able to do all of the jobs that this company needs to do.
“It’s what I would call a megatrend-size challenge, but the first steps are quite small.”
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