Stellantis unveils the BOW, an electric and autonomous “box on wheels” for urban delivery

Stellantis attended IAA Transportation Hannover, one of the world’s most important trade shows for commercial vehicles, with its Stellantis Pro One division. Its 1,000 square meter booth displayed a total of thirteen vehicles, among which the fully autonomous BOW prototype designed for urban delivery stands out.

The BOW, whose name is an acronym for Box on Wheels, is a fully electric concept vehicle designed from scratch as an autonomous unit. Stellantis does not consider it a ready-to-use vehicle but rather a platform capable of integrating autonomous logistics, electrification, connectivity, and services into a single integrated system.

This model was developed in collaboration with UQI Robotics, an expert in artificial intelligence, robotics, and autonomous driving technology. In addition to displaying a BOW unit at the exhibition booth, Stellantis also has a dynamic demonstration area outside the pavilions. There, it shows how the vehicle can handle various logistics tasks.

The press release states that this type of robotic van is designed for delivering goods in restricted-access and low-emission areas, as well as in controlled environments such as factories, hospitals, and airports, where deploying autonomous vehicles is easier.

The BOW was conceived from scratch as an autonomous vehicle

Emanuele Cappellano, operations director at Stellantis Pro One, says, "As one of the world’s leading providers of professional mobility solutions, Stellantis Pro One goes beyond the vehicle by combining technology, connectivity, and services to offer smarter, more efficient, and sustainable logistics solutions. Today, in Hannover, this vision comes to life through our comprehensive ecosystem: from a wide range of vehicles and customer-driven innovations to [...] the introduction of the 'BOW' concept, demonstrating how Stellantis Pro One is shaping the future of professional mobility."

For now, Stellantis has not confirmed whether there are plans to put the BOW into production. No details have been provided either regarding its technical specifications: power, battery capacity, estimated range, charging times... What is certain is that the elimination of a cockpit will allow for maximum space utilization, with all space dedicated to the cargo area.

Conceptually, the BOW resembles the Tesla Robovan, although the latter is designed for passenger transport and has a design that is more difficult to adapt into a production model. More and more manufacturers are investing in developing electric and autonomous commercial vehicles for urban use, as this is one of the areas where both technologies fit best.

Source | Stellantis