Peugeot to test-drive robotic cars

PARIS — French automaker PSA said Wednesday it was teaming up with nuTonomy to integrate the US start-up’s software into one of its vehicles for on-road testing of fully autonomous cars in Singapore.

nuTonomy will install its software, along with sensors and computing platforms, into customized Peugeot 3008 vehicles, with the vehicles expected to hit the streets in September.

A company spun off from MIT, a leading US research university, nuTonomy has been behind a public trial of driverless taxis that got underway in Singapore last year, although engineers rode along to take over in case of a problem.

“We’re confident that working with Groupe PSA will bring us closer to our goal of deploying a safe, eff icient, fully autonomous mobility-on-demand transportation service for urban driving environments,” nuTonomy’s Chief Executive Karl Iagnemma said in a statement.

The two companies said the integration of driverless technology into production model vehicles was an important part of their partnership as it will be critical for their introduction on a wider scale.

The crossover Peugeot 3008 SUV is a much larger vehicle than the nuTonomy vehicles currently in use in Singapore.

“This collaboration is a significant step towards fully autonomous vehicles, which will enable us to offer different mobility solutions to our customers,” said Anne Laliron, head of the automaker’s experimental unit.

The companies said they will consider expanding on- road testing to other major cities around the world following the initial phase of this partnership. —