The American lorry maker Nikola Corporation has announced a new partnership that means its vehicles will have a host of safety features, effectively turning the driver into a “pilot”.

The company is working with safety technology provider Plus to deliver enhanced driver assistance features which it says is a differentiator of its premium driver experience.

Michael Lohscheller, President and CEO, Nikola Corporation explained: “We are one of the first OEMs to offer 100% electric steering paired with the ZF EBS braking system. This base technology in all our vehicles, combined with Nikola’s own internally developed vehicle controls, over-the-air updates and vehicle security can enable the integration of these advanced sensors and the realisation of the PlusDrive safety system from Plus.”

The company says this “far beyond” basic driver assistance capabilities such as lane keeping and automatic emergency brakes, handling everything from staying centred in the lane, lane changes and merges, to stop-and-go traffic, and nudging.

New driving features are continuously added over-the-air without any additional truck downtime.

(Picture – Nikola)