Planzer and LOXO unveil a ground-breaking achievement: the first autonomous driving commercial vehicle begins navigating the streets of the Swiss capital, Bern, with the aim of achieving full L4 driving autonomy. The co-pilot project ‘Planzer – Dynamic Micro-Hub w LOXO’ brings city logistics to a new level.
Everywhere, cities and metropolitan areas are urgently seeking sustainable transport solutions as the consequences of climate change and emissions become increasingly evident, and ever more congested streets severely impact supply chains. Level 4 highly automated driving (without the need for a driver in the vehicle) represents a viable solution to this problem across Europe. New regulation governing automated driving (AFV) in Switzerland is expected to take effect in spring 2025. This presents significant opportunities for freight mobility and last-mile parcel deliveries.
Efficient delivery to the front door
In order to use this potential to create value and meet the increasing demands on urban supply chains, the innovation pioneers Planzer and LOXO have launched the ‘Planzer – Dynamic Micro-Hub w LOXO’ project. The dynamic micro-hub is one of the most advanced applications of autonomous technologies in parcel delivery. To this end, LOXO Digital Driver navigation software was integrated into a VW ID. Buzz commercial vehicle, which was retrofitted by LOXO, and has space for two swap boxes.
The LOXO Digital Driver is a Software as a service (SaaS) solution, which can be embedded into almost any drive-by-wire vehicle to provide it with SAE Level 4 (L4) driving autonomy on public roads. It was created to revolutionise the commercial vehicle sector, mainly the logistics industry.
Pilot phase in the city of Bern
During the two-year pilot phase in the city of Bern, LOXO Digital Driver will navigate a commercial vehicle, several times a day, from the Planzer railway centre to various strategic logistic points in Bern’s city centre. There, the parcels will be reloaded onto small electric vehicles and delivered to the end customers by the staff of ‘Planzer Paket.’ Following the successful completion of the pilot phase, Planzer and LOXO will undertake further in-house development, with eight swap boxes, for rollout in other Swiss cities.
Committed to the city as a living space
With the ‘‘Planzer – Dynamic Micro-Hub w LOXO,’ the innovation partners will address the increasing requirements of urban supply chains and ensure the scalability of their disruptive solution. The pilot project sends a starting signal for data- and dynamic-driven urban city logistics. With largely emission-free delivery, it contributes to greater levels of sustainability for the city as a living space.
Nils Planzer, CEO and Chairman of Planzer, commented: “The uniqueness of this project lies in the fact that it will have a direct impact on society. We didn’t just want to integrate automated technology into existing systems, we wanted to develop a completely new concept and a new business model.”
Helping to shape the sustainability transformation
The ‘Planzer – Dynamic Micro-Hub w LOXO’ is a successful example of how ecological and economic goals can go hand in hand. As a future operator of self-driving vehicles in Switzerland, Planzer is determined to help shape the upcoming sustainability transformation of local delivery. As part of its ‘City Logistics 2028 – Dynamics on the Last Mile’ strategy, the family-owned company is pursuing several projects in the field of highly automated driving. The pilot project with LOXO in Bern represents a far-sighted extension of Planzer’s current city logistics concept. In addition to reducing emissions, it optimises the efficiency of distribution through improved routes with more manoeuvrable vehicles.
Make intelligent automation scalable
LOXO Digital Driver embarks on a new journey: achieving all the approval phases for full L4 autonomy, while operating a commercial vehicle within an urban environment. The Swiss approval of this level of autonomy will take place in several phases.
Amin Amini, LOXO’s CEO commented: “This collaboration represents a significant step for the autonomous driving industry and the European continent. For the very first time, a commercial vehicle, piloted by the LOXO Digital Driver software, navigates the streets of a European capital with the aim of obtaining full L4 autonomy. This achievement follows another remarkable project last year, where a LOXO commercial vehicle, equipped with LOXO Digital Driver, autonomously navigated a European public road at L4. Our partnership with Planzer holds great promise—it’s an opportunity to showcase our industry-leading SaaS solution, which can be seamlessly integrated into virtually any drive-by-wire commercial vehicle. We believe this collaboration will not only expand Planzer’s business, but also validate the future of autonomous driving in Europe.”