Walking into the Westwell Technology exhibition hall located in Shanghai’s Changning “Silicon Alley,” the same model of cab-less unmanned heavy truck featured in the movie *The Wandering Earth 2* is displayed in the center of the hall. Hardcore equipment integrating artificial intelligence and new energy technologies, such as intelligent tractor heads and fully automated logistics robots, outlines a new vision for smart logistics.
“We are seizing the new opportunity of ‘AI+’ and deeply integrating it with new energy technologies, allowing green intelligent heavy trucks to enter key global logistics hubs,” Tan Limin, founder and chairman of Westwell Technology, told Xinhua News Agency during a research visit.
In January this year, eight departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued the “Implementation Opinions on the ‘AI + Manufacturing’ Special Action,” proposing to accelerate the integration and application of artificial intelligence technology in the manufacturing industry, create new productive forces, and empower new industrialization in an all-round, deep-seated, and high-level manner.
The release of this implementation opinion has made Tan Limin more determined to pursue the development path of empowering traditional logistics with artificial intelligence. He told reporters that when Westwell Technology was founded in Shanghai in 2015, it set its innovation direction on smart logistics.
More than a decade ago, most unmanned heavy trucks used in global ports were retrofitted from old vehicles, retaining the cab and reserving a safety officer. Westwell Technology proposed the bold idea of eliminating the cab and the safety officer.
Without mature wire-controlled chassis, the team started from scratch to develop their own; without testing grounds, they set up test sites in garages and cinder lots… In 2018, Westwell Technology’s self-developed cab-less pure electric unmanned heavy truck, the Q-Truck, was born in Shanghai.
In 2020, the Q-Truck achieved regular operation without a safety officer and in mixed human-machine traffic at Thailand’s Laem Chabang Port, with the efficiency of a single truck equivalent to four times that of one worker.
For customers undergoing automation transformation of container logistics nodes, in 2023 Westwell Technology customized the E-Truck for them—an intelligent connected new energy heavy truck that retains a cab but can also be upgraded to autonomous driving at any time, reserving more upgrade potential for the future.
“Compared to traditional fuel heavy trucks, the E-Truck has zero emissions, less noise, and stable operation. Each truck can reduce carbon emissions by up to 50 tons per year, making terminal operations greener and smarter,” said Wael Mahmoud, director of the Engineering Department at the Red Sea Container Terminal in Egypt’s Sokhna Port. Since the port opened earlier this year, 40 intelligent heavy trucks from Shanghai-based Westwell Technology have become an important part of daily terminal operations.
In addition to seaports, in recent years Westwell Technology has actively expanded into multiple scenarios such as factory logistics, warehouse logistics, and airports: in automobile factories, the company builds zero-carbon smart logistics ports for mega-factories; at freight hubs, automatic palletizing systems handle nearly 100 tons of goods in 7 hours; and it has successively won bids for unmanned tractor projects at Fuzhou Changle International Airport and Xiamen Xiang’an International Airport.
Currently, Westwell Technology has entered 30 countries and regions globally, serving over 200 large group clients, with overseas revenue accounting for nearly half. Entering the first year of the “15th Five-Year Plan,” Westwell Technology is continuously expanding its global market. (Reporters: Han Jianuo, Zhou Rui)
