Electric vehicle pioneer aims to clean up with latest project

Black Country sports car manufacturer and electric vehicle pioneer, Westfield has announced details of another driverless vehicle project.

Fresh from concluding a £30m supply deal with South Korea for its first autonomous vehicle, the Kingswinford company has confirmed it is developing the UK’s first Autonomous Road Sweeper through its subsidiary Westfield Autonomous Vehicles.

The project is a joint venture with Johnston Sweepers and Fusion Processing.

The three organisations aim to automate the repetitive sweeping process in precincts and pedestrian areas, as well as removing foreign objects in safety-critical environments such as airside at airports and in live roadworks projects, thereby reducing the risk of punctures and associated delays.

Julian Turner, CEO, Westfield said: “A fully autonomous road sweeper could revolutionise town centre sweeping, improving the environment for residents and businesses, and this is an exciting opportunity to develop the technology for use at airports and on roadwork sites. We are delighted to work with these two organisations at the forefront of advancing these pioneering applications.”

He said the project aimed to produce a cleaner technology to reduce the harmful environmental impacts of road sweeping and improve safety.

Westfield Autonomous Vehicles’ driverless PODs have driven more than 3.6m passengers in excess of 5.6m km.