Karma Automotive presents the Level 4 E-Flex Van. It is an example of the one of the vehicle models that is possible it based on the US company's electric E-Flex Platform.
The E-Flex Platform is a vehicle platform on which Karma previously built the Revero GT, a sporty electric saloon with a range extender. However, the platform is suitable for a wide range of models, from commercial vehicles to passenger cars and supercars, the company announced at the launch.
Level 4 E-Flex Van
The company now shows that this is actually the case with the Level 4 E-Flex Van. This delivery van is - as the name suggests - not only electric, but also suitable for SAE level 4 autonomous driving. Level 4 vehicles are capable of intervening in emergency situations or technical problems. The vehicle therefore does not require human intervention in most cases, although humans can always intervene manually.
To make this possible, Karma has partnered with NVIDIA and WeRide. NVIDIA provides the NVIDIA DRIVE AGX Pegasus platform for autonomous vehicles. This platform can do 320 trillion processing operations per second for deep learning. The platform is based on a scalable architecture with two NVIDIA Xavier processors and two Tensor Core GPUs.
Deep learning
Multiple deep neural networks run on this platform, operating simultaneously. Such an artificial neural network consists of multiple processors, also called neurons. These form several separate layers to which the output value of a computation is passed each time. The more layers artificial neural network contains, the 'deeper' this network becomes. The use of the networks is therefore also called deep learning.
Based on hardware from NVIDIA and using LiDAR and radar sensors, cameras, satellite and inertial navigation, WeRide provides 360-degree visibility and real-time localisation to the E-Flex Van's software platform. WeRide is a Smart Mobility company providing level 4 self-driving technology. The Chinese company previously attracted Alliance Ventures, the investment arm of alliance Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi, as an investor.
Karma announces it will show more models based on the E-Flex Platform in the coming months.
Author: Wouter Hoeffnagel
