Denso invests in Peloton to boost truck technology

 

Denso’s investment in Peloton is expected to drive the later to bring more technological solutions connected to safety and fuel savings in trucking industry worldwide.

Denso International America, the North American arm of Japan-headquartered automotive technology major Denso, is investing in Peloton Technology, the United States-based developer of platooning systems for the global truck industry.

Peloton Technology is a developer of vehicle systems that deliver fuel savings, analytics and advanced safety to trucking fleets. The US-based truck technology developer has raised $ 16 million in Series A funding. The automotive technology provider Denso and Intel Capital Co led the investment round, which will support Peloton to accelerate the development and deployment of its platooning technology.

The platooning technology targets to enhance fuel efficiency and increase safety levels in the global trucking industry. The funding deal was finanlised last month.

Platooning system uses vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) wireless communication and radar for two trucks to travel together one after another. This system provides direct communication link between two commuting trucks and allows them to travel at closer distance, which also improves aerodynamics while reducing the usage of fuel. The direct communication system improves braking and acceleration time, resulting in increased safety and reduction in fuel costs.

Tony Cannestra, Director of Corporate Ventures for Denso International America, said “ The company is excited to build a relationship with Peloton. As a leading player in V2V technologies, he said the company is eager to work with Peloton to implement the deployment of a V2V system.

Denso has been conducting researches while developing V2X technology systems to allow vehicles to communicate with other vehicles and traffic signals. The implementation of platooning technology is expected to help large fleet vehicles to bring down fuel consumption by 4.5 percent to 10 percent.

Japan-based Denso is a top leader in automotive advanced technology, components and systems The company owns around 200 subsidiaries and employs more than 1.4 lakh people across 38 countries worldwide. Its global sales stood at $ 35.9 billion for the financial year ending March 31, 2015 while it spent 9.2 percent of its total sales on research and development.