Perrone Robotics and Tropos Technologies Announce Partnership to Develop Fully Autonomous Electric Compact Utility Vehicles
August 17th, 2021
CROZET, Va., Aug. 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Perrone Robotics, Inc., a leading provider of fully autonomous vehicle technology and turnkey vehicle solutions for the mobility of people and things, and Tropos Motors, a Silicon Valley based cleantech compact electric vehicle manufacturer and supplier, today announced a partnership to produce a series of fully autonomous, electric low speed vehicles (e-LSVs) and trucks.
The new vehicle platform will combine Perrone's TONY® (short for "To Navigate You") autonomous vehicle (AV) retrofit kit that embeds into any vehicle type for any job, with Tropos Motors' (Tropos) innovative full line of all-electric, street-legal vehicles, including the Tropos Motors ABLE™ full line of durable, versatile and available eCUVs™ (electric Commercial Utility Vehicles). The result is a market-driven compact utility AV solution that works across a wide range of industries including – cargo, delivery, agricultural, industrial, municipal and campus transportation applications. Future platforms in development will include a series of emergency and first-responder solutions that will be available later this year.
Lowering the Barriers to Entry to Fully Autonomous and Electric Fleets
The innovations in EV technology have fundamentally disrupted the transportation and transit space. Perrone's reliable, performance-driven TONY AV retrofit kit will pair with the Tropos EV platform to offer mobility solutions including last-mile delivery of products and food, various trades and utility uses, as well as off-highway and on-campus usage.
Tropos vehicles can operate in extremely tight quarters with a short wheelbase and turning radius for indoors, outdoors and off-road. This operability opens up new channels to deploy and extend across various applications. Perrone's autonomy provides a scalable solution built around a patented full-stack platform and a safety certifiable framework. The result is an AV retrofit kit that integrates seamlessly into any vehicle for any job application for use in the autonomous transit of people and goods in geo-fenced and localized operations. Customers are able to accelerate the global deployment of autonomous vehicle fleet solutions across their gas-powered, diesel and electric passenger and cargo shuttles.
The partnership will include the delivery of Perrone's reliable core TONY autonomous vehicle driverless system, the licensing of software, and the provision of related services.
"The demand for reliable and proven AV solutions in today's mobility market continues to expand. By partnering with Tropos, we're able to jointly offer customers a solution for transit of goods across a wide variety of applications that is tested, scalable and sustainable," said Paul Perrone, CEO of Perrone Robotics. "Integrating the Tropos novel payload adaptable vehicle platform with Perrone's fully autonomous technology delivers a new kind of option for customers who need cost-effective and scalable solutions across their cargo and delivery model. The collaboration results in an accelerated production pathway to meet the increasing demand for Electric Low Speed Vehicle (e-LSV) applications across industries."
"Our best-in-class electric vehicles coupled with Perrone's turnkey, drop-in AV solution helps our customers transition to more cost-effective and environmentally friendly fleets simply and quickly. Autonomous eLSVs are becoming increasingly important to the market given the zero emissions and reduced total cost of ownership when compared to traditional fleet vehicles," said John Bautista, founder and CEO of Tropos Technologies.
The partnership announcement comes weeks after Perrone completed a series of complex operational design domain demonstrations (ODD) for autonomous vehicles on public roads. Perrone will announce another municipality customer contract for several autonomous and electric vehicles in the coming months.
Visit the Perrone Robotics team at AUVSI Xponential 2021 in Atlanta — August 16 through 19. Perrone will be at booth #3127 and will showcase its TONY Retrofit kit.
About Perrone Robotics, Inc.
Perrone is a leading provider of fully autonomous vehicle systems. The company delivers mobility excellence via TONY® (short for "TO Navigate You"), a vehicle independent retrofit kit for use in the autonomous transit of people and goods in geo-fenced and localized operations. TONY embeds inside any vehicle type for any job applications to provide a complete "artificial driver" solution that brings full autonomy in a safety certifiable framework. Proven, piloted and in commercial production, Perrone autonomous systems help commercial, municipal, and governmental customers increase transportation efficiencies, enhance safety, and accelerate zero-emission electric vehicle deployment. The company also offers a portfolio of existing turnkey autonomous shuttles and vehicles pre-integrated with the TONY retrofit kit. Learn more at https://www.perronerobotics.com or follow us @perronerobotics.
About Tropos Technologies, Inc. and Tropos Motors
Tropos Technologies, Inc. is a Silicon Valley-based startup that manufacturers and distributes all-electric, street-legal vehicles, specializing in utility e-LSVs – electric low-speed vehicles – and trucks under the Tropos Motors brand. These vehicles are designed for corporate, fleet, first-responder, agriculture, last-mile delivery, and construction applications. Tropos employs the latest EV technology, experienced engineering, and modern design aesthetics. The Tropos Motors ABLE™ is a full line of durable, versatile, and available eCUVs (electric Compact Utility Vehicles). The Tropos Motors product line is capable of handling large payloads and towing capacities and can operate in extremely tight quarters with a short wheelbase and turning radius. Tropos Motors eCUVs can be operated indoors, outdoors, and off-road. Available in countless configurations, their trucks are ready to work as hard as you do, no matter the job. For more information, please visit http://tropostech.com.
