Aurora to add night driving, new routes as it ramps driverless trucking

Autonomous conveyance exertion institution Aurora Innovation plans to grow connected the occurrence of its archetypal driverless commercialized launch and adhd nighttime driving to its operations.

Aurora said Thursday successful the 2nd fractional of 2025 it volition commencement sending its self-driving trucks retired astatine nighttime and during adverse upwind conditions similar rainfall oregon dense wind. The company, which provided the update successful its first-quarter shareholder letter, besides plans to grow its driverless trucking way beyond Dallas to Houston, and into El Paso and Phoenix.

Aurora already runs freight with self-driving trucks successful those conditions, but with a quality information relation down the wheel. The institution said it has completed much than 4,000 miles successful a azygous self-driving motortruck without a operator ruuning freight for its motorboat customers Hirschbach Motor Lines and Uber Freight. 

In the week since Aurora’s commercialized launch, the institution has already expanded to 2 driverless trucks operating connected a regular basis, and says it expects to run “tens of trucks” by the extremity of 2025. 

The milestone, and aboriginal plans travel alongside different large displacement astatine the company: the resignation of co-founder and main merchandise serviceman Sterling Anderson.

Aurora shared caller details Thursday successful its first-quarter shareholder missive astir plans to turn its autonomous freight service, signaling it volition connection much circumstantial timelines for cardinal milestones arsenic it expands.

Aurora reported $211 cardinal successful operating expenses, including $153 cardinal for R&D. It utilized $142 cardinal successful operating currency and $8 cardinal successful capex successful the archetypal quarter, ending with astir $1.2 cardinal successful currency and short-term investments. Aurora expects to walk $175 to $185 cardinal per 4th for the remainder of this year. The institution didn’t supply gross figures successful its Q1 report.

In the short-term, Aurora plans to own, operate, support and insure its ain trucks – made available connected the Uber Freight network – for customers. The institution is moving with partners Paccar and Volvo Trucks to physique self-driving trucks astatine scale. Starting successful 2027 oregon earlier, Aurora expects customers to bargain those trucks straight from manufacturers truthful it tin displacement to a driver-as-a-service model.