Belarusian BKM Holding designing electric truck with driverless functionality

GRODNO, 4 November (BelTA) – The Belarusian manufacturer of electric buses, trolleybuses, and trams BKM Holding will present an electric truck with driverless functionality by the end of 2021, BelTA learned from Oleg Bytsko, Director General of OAO BKM Holding (formerly known as Belkommunmash), on the sidelines of the regional forum #GBCregions (government, business, citizens, regions) in Grodno on 4 November.

Digital solutions in various spheres, including mass transit and environmentally friendly transport, were the main theme of the forum.

Oleg Bytsko said: “We are also moving in this direction, participate in the digitization of the economy. Our products – passenger transportation vehicles – are close to people. And we offer comfortable conditions for passengers by digitizing the transport vehicles.” In his words, BKM Holding has started actively exploring new spheres. In particular, the company now makes electric buses that sell well in Belarus and abroad.

According to the source, BKM Holding intends to make an electric truck prototype this year. The truck will be primarily intended for moving cargoes inside one city. It will also be ready for the installation of a tier one driverless control system, which is mandatory for such vehicles in the European Union. The driverless control system can be upgraded later on. Oleg Bytsko pointed out that it is easier to install driverless control systems in electric vehicles than conventional ones. It is worth noting that BKM Holding designs and makes electric equipment for transport in-house. This is why BKM Holding's competencies allow introducing the innovations without extra costs. The electric truck will be presented by the end of 2021.

BKM Holding also intends to make intercity electric buses. It is necessary to create a chain of EV charging stations to allow electric buses to charge all over the country before such buses become available on the market. A pilot project is supposed to be implemented in 2022 to create a complex charging station where electric buses, commercial transport vehicles, and all kinds of private electric cars will be able to charge.

Grodno became another site of the regional forum #GBCregions (government, business, citizens, regions) on 4 November. The purpose of the forum is to create a dialogue platform for discussing matters concerning information protection, including personal data, the development of the digital government in the Republic of Belarus, the implementation of smart city components at the regional level, ways to raise IT skills of the society and realize IT projects of government agencies and organizations.

The Grodno forum focuses on digital solutions in healthcare and education as well as personal data protection. Apart from that, matters concerning the observance of laws and regulations on electronic document management inside the country and in the course of transboundary trade are discussed as well as the use of digital signatures.

Close attention is paid to promoting modern technologies in Belarus in the sphere of digital transformation: cloud technology, IT infrastructure, high-speed data transfer technologies (4G and 5G), Internet of Things and smart solutions.

Taking part in the large-scale event are heads of government agencies and organizations, oblast and district administrations, representatives of IT companies, banks, the private sector, and educational institutions. The forum has been organized by the National Traffic Exchange Center (NTEC), the National Center for Electronic Services (NCES), and the telecommunication infrastructure company Belarusian Cloud Technologies (beCloud trademark) with assistance of the Operations and Analysis Center under the President of the Republic of Belarus and the Grodno Oblast Executive Committee.