Chinese state-owned construction and heavy machinery manufacturer XCMG has unveiled a fully autonomous, cab-less, and electric truck tractor designed specifically for industrial park logistics.

We don’t know a lot about the new XCMG SDA411, but the company showed off its prototype on its LinkedIn account earlier this month, promising that it could not only move goods efficiently around industrial parks but do so “with fewer manual interventions and lower emissions.”

Looking a little like a hyper-stylised aircraft pushback tractor, the SDA411 is a cabin-less platform purpose-built for unmanned logistics and operated by an L4 autonomous driving system.

Boasting a 360° perception system which enables autonomous navigation, obstacle avoidance, task execution, and parking, the SDA411 supports continuous mixed-traffic operations in demanding environments.

The tractor is also fully electric, one of many electric commercial vehicles XCMG is currently selling, including a whole fleet of which are being delivered to Australian mining giant Fortescue.

XCMG is quick to explain that the SDA411 is for “unmanned industrial park logistics” and the post’s accompanying video shows what appears to be a very staged autonomous drive around a virtually empty logistics park.

However, while it is unclear exactly how precise the autonomous driving system is and how it will perform in real-world environments, the whole package appears to be an interesting option – though with the risk of costing existing jobs

Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012.

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