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22 Jul 2025
Expanded partnership focused on autonomous trucking should see Aeva make 200,000 units per year.
Silicon Valley lidar company Aeva, which specializes in the more advanced frequency modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) form of the technology, says it is planning to scale its production output to 200,000 units annually.
The expansion is being supported with new one-off funding from development partner Daimler Truck, whose “Cascadia” autonomous-ready trucks are now said to be operating on public roads in Texas.
Unlike conventional time-of-flight lidar systems, the FMCW variant is able to determine both the velocity and position of objects around a vehicle, something that Aeva refers to as “4D” lidar.
Although more complex to develop and manufacture than standard lidar units, and reliant on narrow-linewidth frequency-chirped laser emitters, the approach is also compatible with miniaturization to the chip scale.
“In response to the growing demand for Aeva’s 4D lidar, Aeva plans to increase its production capacity to up to 200,000 lidar units annually, with the goal of supporting multiple customers including Daimler Truck for production of advanced sensing in autonomous vehicle applications,” announced the Mountain View firm.
“This expanded partnership builds on the selection of Aeva as the production lidar supplier for Torc Robotics, an independent subsidiary of Daimler Truck, and its Level 4 [as defined by SAE International] autonomous Freightliner Cascadia trucks.”
Autonomous freight
Aeva co-founder and CEO Soroush Salehian added: “We are proud to deepen our relationship with Daimler Truck North America and support their leadership in bringing safe autonomous trucks to market.
“This investment enables us to accelerate delivering high-performance sensing capabilities critical for autonomous freight at commercial scale, as we increase the production capacity of our 4D lidar in North America.”
Joanna Buttler, Daimler Truck North America’s (DTNA’s) general manager of product strategy and market development, commented: “Our collaboration with Aeva continues to strengthen as we move closer to series production, and we are happy to expand our partnership and continue supporting Aeva as they ramp up toward their start of production.
“The performance, reliability, and scalability of Aeva’s 4D lidar technology will make it a key component of our strategy to deploy safe, reliable, and efficient autonomous trucks.”
Back in April, DTNA announced that it had started delivering its latest flagship on-highway trucks to Torc Robotics’ autonomous testing fleet.
“In addition to existing test routes in New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona, these trucks will also be tested in autonomous mode on a new lane in Texas between Laredo and Dallas mainly on I-35,” stated the firm, following Torc’s completion of driverless test runs on a multi-lane test track in Texas last year.
Nuclear option
The future plan is to enter the US market with SAE Level 4 autonomous trucks by 2027. “In this application, the autonomous driving system takes over the entire dynamic driving task between two freight hubs,” explained DTNA.
Aeva, which first revealed its Daimler Truck collaboration in January 2024, has also signed a deal with Sandia National Laboratories that will see its FMCW lidar technology tested out at a nuclear reactor site in the US.
The company said it was selected for its ability to detect hard-to-see waterborne objects, such as partially submerged or low-contrast intrusions, at distances up to 35 meters.
Sandia’s JR Russell said: “Aeva’s 4D lidar gives us a new tool to detect potential threats in challenging environments where traditional sensors often fall short. Its ability to operate reliably in darkness, glare, and complex weather conditions makes it well-suited for our mission.”
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