ZF debuts driver-assistance tech on Nikola hydrogen fuel cell electric truck

ZF will equip its OnGuardMAX and OnSideALERT driver-assistance technologies on Nikola’s hydrogen fuel cell electric truck, which is in production and being delivered to customers in North America.

Nikola’s advanced-technology hydrogen fuel cell electric truck features a claimed range of up to 500 miles, and is expected to be among the longest ranges of all commercially available Class 8 zero tailpipe emission trucks.

Its versatile applications range from drayage and intermodal to metro-regional truckload, and less-than-truckload to certain specialised hauling use cases.

OnGuardMAX is ZF’s “most advanced” automatic emergency braking (AEB) system with autonomous functionality for commercial vehicles. ZF says it is designed to assist drivers in recognising and responding to possible dangerous traffic situations.

Its sophisticated data integration combined with a high-tech camera and radar suite help the system autonomously detect, classify and react to moving and stationary objects such as: pedestrians, vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles.

The system warns the driver of obstructions in the vehicle’s immediate path and, if necessary, can automatically slow the vehicle down or bring it to a full stop. This advanced object detection and autonomous braking capability further enables the new ZF system to help avoid or mitigate accidents involving pedestrians.

Meanwhile, ZF says its OnSideALERT is a radar-based blind spot detection (BSD) system that continuously identifies a wide variety of stationary and moving objects in a vehicle’s blind spot. This technology helps prevent or mitigate side collisions.