TuSimple Holdings, Inc. is an American autonomous trucking company, based in San Diego, California, with offices in Arizona, Texas, and China. It was founded in 2015 by Xiaodi Hou and Mo Chen.
History
TuSimple was founded in September 2015 by Mo Chen and Dr Xiaodi Hou, who graduated from the California Institute of Technology. The company initially operated in two facilities: one in Beijing, China and one in San Diego, California.
Partnerships
In August 2019, UPS announced its purchase of a minority share in TuSimple and that it has been performing tests on a 100 mile stretch of highway in Arizona.
In early 2020, TuSimple announced a partnership with automotive supplier ZF to assist in the mass production and commercialization of autonomous vehicles. As part of the deal, ZF aided in the development of sensors for autonomous vehicles systems. TuSimple's Chief Product Officer Chuck Price stated that the partnership is “an important milestone to bringing their autonomous vehicles to market”.
In July 2020, TuSimple and the freight truck manufacturer Navistar International Corp. formed a partnership, intending to integrate autonomous systems into their freighters. Sale of these fully self-driving trucks was targeted for 2025, but the partnership was mutually dissolved in December 2022.
In September 2020, TuSimple announced that it reached an agreement with Traton Group, a commercial truck manufacturer based in Germany, to jointly develop trucks with autonomous technology. Traton Group aimed to begin testing heavy duty autonomous vehicles in Germany and Sweden, but they did not provide a timeline for this goal.
Also in September, the company announced the launch of the autonomous freight network (AFN), with partners UPS, carrier U.S. Xpress, Penske Truck Leasing and McLane, the grocery and food service supply chain of Berkshire Hathaway.
In January 2022 at the Consumer Electronic Show,the company announced it was partnering with American chipmaker Nvidia to add Nvidia's Drive Orin system on a chip to its self-driving technology.
Research
In late 2019, a study was conducted by the University of California San Diego on the fuel consumption of TuSimple autonomous vehicles. According to the study, TuSimple trucks showed a reduction in fuel consumption of 10% to 20%, with larger reductions occurring in areas with higher amounts of traffic.
Road testing
In December 2021, TuSimple announced that it had completed the world's first robotic semi test on a public road, an 80 mile run from Tucson to Phoenix.
In early 2022, the company announced that it had completed 550 miles of autonomous operation without humans in the vehicle on a route between Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona. This milestone distinguishes the company from its competitors, which require the presence of human safety drivers to take over when necessary. The company stated that it is the first company to "operate fully driverless heavy-duty trucks."
On May 26, 2022, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launched an investigation of an April 6, 2022 accident in which one of the company's autonomous trucks crashed into a concrete barrier while on Interstate 10 near Tucson. Company officials blamed the accident on "human error," but former employees and experts in the field of autonomous vehicles suggest that there were issues with the company's technology. The investigation was closed in March of 2023 and did not result in penalties. The company issued a statement that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration declined to open a separate probe.
The company also announced that it planned to expand autonomous freight services to Texas by the end of 2023.
In March 2023, it was reported that the company had completed 10 million combined testing, research, and freight delivery miles. In June 2023, TuSimple announced that it had completed a series of fully autonomous semi-truck runs on public roads in China. Also in June, the company announced it had completed self-driving truck tests in Japan, on Tōmei Expressway.
Financial health
Initial financial backers included Volkswagen, United Parcel Service, and U.S. Xpress Enterprises. In April 2021, the company raised over US$1 billion in an initial public offering, leading to a valuation of almost $8.5 billion. The company was reportedly the first autonomous trucking company to go public on the NASDAQ composite index.
In the first half of 2022, TuSimple reported $220.5 million in losses and $4.9 million in revenue.