Autonomous Truck Firm Plus to Go Public Via Churchill SPAC
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Self-driving truck developer Plus is set to go public after with Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company Churchill Capital Corp IX.
Merging with an affiliate of the same investment group that took electric automaker Lucid Motors public is Plus’ second attempt to go public. Santa Clara, Calif.-based Plus in 2021 announced plans to list via a merger with Hennessy Capital Investment Corp. V in a deal that valued the company at $3.3 billion. But that combination was dissolved in November 2021.
Teaming up with the SPAC controlled by former investment banker Michael Klein will put a valuation of $1.2 billion on Plus. The combined entity will be known as PlusAI.
The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both Plus and Churchill IX and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, Plus and Churchill IX said when announcing the deal June 5.
“This transaction provides us with the capital to reach commercial deployment,” Plus co-founder and CEO David Liu said during a June 5 investor conference call.
Plus expects factory-built autonomous trucks utilizing its SuperDrive technology to begin rolling off production lines in 2027, first in the U.S. and then in Europe.
The company operates offices in California, Texas and Germany to support commercialization and deployment.
“By integrating our software into factory-built trucks, we’re taking the most scalable path to commercialization,” Liu said.
“This is my fourth startup, and I’ve learned that scaling is not just about having the right technology; it’s about knowing how to build systems, partnerships and organizations that can grow efficiently and deliver real-world impact,” Liu added. “We’re here to create value for the entire trucking ecosystem.”
“We believe that Plus is not only positioned to scale, but positioned to grow rapidly,” said Klein.
Plus has partnered with Traton Group’s International, Scania and MAN truck brands, as well as Iveco and Hyundai Motor Co.
Hyundai and Plus showcased the integration of SuperDrive into the truck maker’s Xcient hydrogen fuel cell Class 8 truck at the recent 2025 Advanced Clean Transportation Expo in Anaheim, Calif., and also unveiled a shared vision for a hydrogen-powered freight network in the United States.
A day earlier on the opening day of ACT 2025, Plus revealed it had tested a driverless tractor-trailer on a closed course with no one aboard the vehicle, a major milestone for self-driving truck developers.
(Plus via YouTube)
Plus carried out a variety of driverless safety tests with SuperDrive installed on an International LT Series Class 8 tractor at the TRC Ohio proving grounds in East Liberty, Ohio, it said.
The partnership with International Motors (then known as Navistar) and its sister companies within the Traton Group was announced in March 2024.
Plus is currently conducting public road testing in Texas and Sweden that began in 2024, with additional customer fleet trials scheduled for fall 2025.
Before teaming up with Plus, International announced plans to develop autonomous trucks with erstwhile segment front-runner TuSimple. Those trucks were due to be on the road by 2024, but the alliance was dissolved by December 2022. TuSimple — which also went public via a SPAC merger — is one of a number of self-driving truck pioneers to fall by the wayside. Few demises, however, have been as contentious or as messy.
At the end of May, Sen. Josh Hawley asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to push the Department of Justice to investigate TuSimple for alleged violations of U.S. export controls, unauthorized transfers of sensitive technology to China and additional breaches of national security.
TuSimple and former CEO Xiaodi Hou also have spent the past few months accusing each other of all manner of malfeasance.
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Among the other autonomous trucking developers to depart the scene were Waymo, Locomation and Embark.
Embark was later bought by fellow self-driving truck developer Applied Intuition, which in March also teamed up with Traton.
Embark helped disseminate the hub-to-hub deployment model that has become the primary initial deployment technique for autonomous Class 8 trucks.
Plus, meanwhile, is not the only self-driving truck technology developer positioning itself for a public listing as the remaining players in the arena push toward commercialization.
Kodiak Robotics in April said it will merge with Ares Acquisition Corp. II in a deal set to close in the second half of 2025. The combined entity will be known as Kodiak AI.
