nuTonomy, Groupe PSA tie up to trial driverless Peugeot cars in Singapore

DRIVERLESS-CAR technology startup nuTonomy has inked a partnership deal with French carmaker Groupe PSA to include its Peugeot cars in a driverless car trial in Singapore.

By September, two Peugeot 3008 autonomous cars will be on the road in one-north, said nuTonomy in response to queries from The Business Times, with about a dozen planned to be in operation by the beginning of 2018. nuTonomy is currently conducting public trials in one-north with its own fleet.

Through the collaboration with PSA, nuTonomy will first install its software, along with sensors and computing platforms, into Peugeot 3008 vehicles that have been customised by PSA's innovation teams, the two companies said in a release on Wednesday.

This collaboration will help PSA in becoming a mobility provider for customers worldwide, as detailed in the company's strategic plan "Push to Pass" issued in April 2016, said the release.

For nuTonomy, the 3008 is a "nice complement" to the vehicles already in its fleet, it told BT. "Its slightly larger format is still very city-friendly and allows us to address additional use cases. It also enables us to learn more about how to integrate nuTonomy's software with different vehicle platforms for on-road testing."