Peloton Technology was an American

automated Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, namely by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machines ...

and

connected Connected may refer to: Film and television * ''Connected'' (2008 film), a Hong Kong remake of the American movie ''Cellular'' * '' Connected: An Autoblogography About Love, Death & Technology'', a 2011 documentary film * ''Connected'' (2015 TV ...

vehicle technology company established in 2011 and headquartered in

Mountain View, California Mountain View is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States. Named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains, it has a population of 82,376. Mountain View was integral to the early history and growth of Silicon Valley, and is the ...

. It primarily developed a vehicle " platooning" system to enable pairs of trucks to operate at close following distances with a stated goal of improving safety and

fuel efficiency Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, wh ...

. Peloton Technology was the first company to test a non-research commercial truck platooning system on public roads in the United States. In 2016 it publicly stated it would be the first company to offer a commercial platooning system for use by truck fleets in 2017. By mid-2018 that deadline had slipped to "by the end of 2018." In Summer of 2021, Peloton ceased operations and began liquidation proceedings.

Platooning system

Peloton Technology uses 5.9 GHz

DSRC Dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) are one-way or two-way short-range to medium-range wireless communication channels specifically designed for automotive use and a corresponding set of protocols and standards. History In October 1999, ...

to establish Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) communications between pairs of trucks. Combined with commercially available radar-based forward

collision avoidance system A collision avoidance system (CAS), also known as a pre-crash system, forward collision warning system, or collision mitigation system, is an advanced driver-assistance system designed to prevent or reduce the severity of a collision. In its ...

s on each truck, this allows two trucks to operate with a shorter minimum safe following distance. The result is that trucks are able to

platoon A platoon is a military unit typically composed of two or more squads, sections, or patrols. Platoon organization varies depending on the country and the branch, but a platoon can be composed of 50 people, although specific platoons may range ...

, improving aerodynamics to reduce fuel consumption. This implementation of these technologies together for the purpose of maintaining a constant gap between vehicles is sometimes referred to as

Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control The Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control (CACC) is an extension to the adaptive cruise control (ACC) concept using Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication. CACC realises longitudinal automated vehicle control. In addition to the feedback loop used ...

. Peloton's system includes connection of each individual truck to a cloud-based monitoring and management system, which they refer to as the Network Operations Center (NOC). The NOC is designed to monitor individual truck safety and

geofence A geofence is a virtual perimeter for a real-world geographic area. A geofence could be dynamically generated (as in a radius around a point location) or match a predefined set of boundaries (such as school zones or neighborhood boundaries). Th ...

the use of the platooning system by approving the linking of pairs of trucks in specific order only on suitable roads under appropriate weather, vehicle and traffic conditions. Peloton's version of truck platooning operates at SAE Automation Level 1, where drivers in both vehicles continue to steer while the following driver's acceleration and braking is automated to immediately mimic the actions of the leading truck.

Testing

Peloton's platooning system has reportedly been tested over approximately 15,000 miles in several states, including Nevada, Texas, Utah, Michigan, and California. Unique from government and university-funded research projects, Peloton's system is the only commercial platooning system to have been tested on public roads with the intention of deploying to fleets. CEO Josh Switkes has stated that the platooning system will be commercially available in 2017. A 2013 test of Peloton's system held on I-80 in Utah and validated by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency following the industry standard SAE J1321 Type II fuel consumption test procedure found fuel savings of 10% in the following truck and 4.5% in the lead truck at 64 miles per hour with a 36-foot following distance. In 2014, the

U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the US specializes in the research and development of renewable energy, Efficient energy use, energy efficiency, energy systems integration, and sustainable transportation. NREL is a federally ...

conducted testing of Peloton's platooning system following the SAE J1321 Type II fuel consumption test procedure at the Continental Tire Uvalde Proving Grounds in Uvalde, TX using various truck weights and following distances. The tests found combined savings of 6.4% at 55 mph with a 30-foot gap using 65,000 lb GVW tractor trailers. Combined savings of better than 5% were found to persist at a gap of 75 feet.

Funding

In April 2015, Peloton closed a $16 million Series A round led by Denso International America and

Intel Capital Intel Capital is a division of Intel Corporation, set up to manage corporate venture capital, global investment, mergers and acquisitions. Intel Capital makes equity investments in a range of technology startups and companies offering hardware, s ...

, which also included

Magna International Magna International Inc. is a Canadian parts manufacturer for automakers. It is one of the largest companies in Canada and was recognized on the 2020 ''Forbes'' Global 2000. The company is the largest automobile parts manufacturer in North Ameri ...

, Castrol innoVentures,

Volvo Group Venture Capital The Volvo Group ( sv, Volvokoncernen; legally Aktiebolaget Volvo, shortened to AB Volvo, stylized as VOLVO) is a Swedish multinational manufacturing corporation headquartered in Gothenburg. While its core activity is the production, distributi ...

UPS UPS or ups may refer to: Companies and organizations * United Parcel Service, an American shipping company ** The UPS Store, UPS subsidiary ** UPS Airlines, UPS subsidiary * Underground Press Syndicate, later ''Alternative Press Syndicate'' or ...

Strategic Enterprise Fund, Sand Hill Angels, Band of Angels, and Birchmere Ventures. Peloton has since announced additional funding by Nokia Growth Partners and Lockheed Martin.

Board of directors

Peloton's Board of Directors included former Corporate Vice President of Research & Development for General Motors Larry Burns; former U.S. Secretary of Transportation

Rodney E. Slater Rodney Earl Slater (born February 23, 1955) is an American politician of the Democratic Party who served as the United States Secretary of Transportation under President Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2001. Prior to being appointed to the Clinton Ca ...

; Former Trimble CTO Ralph Eschenbach of Sand Hill Angels; Mark Lydon of Intel Capital, and Ken Arnold of Band of Angels.

Government research and technology deployment projects

Peloton is engaged in several state and federally funded research projects related to truck platooning. The company is a partner in a

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

-funded “Partial Automation for Truck Platooning” project led by

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

that includes the

American Transportation Research Institute The American Trucking Associations (ATA), founded in 1933, is the largest national trade association for the trucking industry. ATA represents more than 37,000 members covering every type of motor carrier in the United States through a federation o ...

, Meritor WABCO, and Peterbilt Trucks. Peloton also contributes to a second FHWA-funded platooning research project led by UC Berkeley PATH and including

Volvo Trucks Volvo Trucks ( sv, Volvo Lastvagnar) is a truck manufacturing division of Volvo based in Gothenburg, Sweden. Volvo Trucks was a separate company within Volvo. The Volvo Group was reorganised on 1 January 2012 and as a part of the process, Vol ...

. Peloton is a partner in the

US Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the President of the United States and ...

-funded Smart City Challenge project awarded to

Columbus, OH Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and ...

in July 2016. The

California Energy Commission The California Energy Commission, formally the Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, is the primary energy policy and planning agency for California. Created in 1974 and headquartered in Sacramento, the Commission'core respon ...

granted the San Diego Port Tenants Association a $5.9 million grant in July 2016 to fund 10 zero-emissions freight vehicles, which includes Peloton Technology as a technology subcontractor. Peloton is also involved with NEXTCAR (Next-Generation Energy Technologies for Connected and Automated On-Road Vehicles), a Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E)-sponsored project that aims to develop technologies that will utilize emerging connectivity infrastructure. A Purdue University-led team of NEXTCAR researchers are focusing on technologies that benefit line-haul Class 8 trucks with an emphasis on platooning vehicles.

References