The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted some aspects of the artificial intelligence and robotics industries, but it has also accelerated the shift to more efficient, contactless means of transportation and logistics. Einride, a Swedish technology company that develops and provides freight transport solutions based on electric and autonomous vehicles, says it has maintained a strong stream of new partnerships, including onboarding two major partners, and launching the latest version of its freight mobility platform.
“There is both a lot of excitement and a lot of uncertainty about autonomous trucking, but the fact remains: this is one of the largest business opportunities in the history of mankind,” said Robert Falck, CEO of Einride. “We have a unique opportunity to make transport both exponentially safer and more sustainable. It’s something the vast majority of us want, but many are unsure of how to get there and resort to half-measures. We expect to see the autonomous transport industry expand exponentially in the coming years, especially in the wake of a global pandemic.”
In October, it also announced $10 million in new funding from existing investors led by the impact fund Norrsken VC and joined by the EQT Ventures fund, NordicNinja VC, Ericsson Ventures, and others. The new round of funds will be used to fast track the official launch of Einride’s Pods and meet demand from existing clients. Norrsken VC founder and Klarna Cofounder Niklas Adalberth will be joining Einride’s advisory board.
“Eliminating CO2 emissions causing rapid climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity,” said Adalberth. “As one of the largest emitters, what the road transport industry does in the coming years will have an enormous impact on reaching sustainability goals.”
Einride says it is the first among its competitors to have a solution in production and generate revenue. The company also claims to be the first freight transport startup to operate a truly driverless heavy transport vehicle on a public road. In addition, it says it is the only company to operate these vehicles daily at customer sites.
Those vehicles are now being updated. In October, Einride launched the next-generation Pod, which features an updated design, new functionality, and revealed pricing for the now commercially available solution on a global scale.
In 2019, the company says it became the first in the world to drive a fully autonomous and electric heavy transport vehicle on a public road. It has been testing and operating Pods at select customer sites in Sweden. Now, global customers can reserve the autonomous electric transport (AET) Pod coordinated by an intelligent freight mobility platform.
The new vehicle features a refined design to make it more aerodynamic and functional but also prepare it for wide-scale production and commercialization. The launch was kicked off with a video filmed by Swedish artist Alexander Wessely and featuring the symphony “Einride” by Jacob Mühlrad played on a player piano. Check out the video at https://youtu.be/yOAdeCg7zgo.
Most self-driving vehicles are designated by SAE J3016 levels of autonomy, ranging from purely assistive (Level 0) to fully autonomous (Level 5), with some level of human operation as a baseline. However, Einride said it had to develop a proprietary methodology for describing the use cases for its AET since it has no driver’s compartment.
“We created the AET classification system based on use cases for a driverless, electric freight vehicle,” said Pär Degerman, CTO of Einride. “With this approach, we are able to develop and scale our capabilities in the most common and appropriate use cases for freight, with the ultimate goal of automating as much of the transport network as possible.”
The AET classification system ranges from Levels 1 to 5, with 1 to 4 available for pre-order based on business needs.
AET 1 (Fenced) is ideal for closed facilities with predetermined routes that are best suited for fully autonomous operation. AET 2 (Nearby) includes closed-facility operation but adds the capability to traverse public roads over short distances between destinations. AET 3 (Rural) takes the Pod’s functionality to the next level, allowing operation on backroads and less busy main roads between facilities, at a maximum operating speed of 45 km/h (28 mph). AET 4 (Highway) includes fully autonomous operation on freeways and other major roads at up to 85 km/h (53 mph).
Designers refined the Pod’s iconic shape with rounded edges and other features for a more aerodynamic shape and improved performance, but without taking away from cargo capacity. High-performance lighting in front makes it both road legal. The rear lights have been extended the entire height of the cargo bay for maximum visibility for other road users.
“The design of the new Pod reflects our changing identity as a company,” said Linnéa Kornehed, CMO and Cofounder of Einride. “With our recent brand identity project, a central focus was on the symbiotic relationship between software and hardware in freight mobility. It’s a symbol of our accomplishments in pioneering the category of AET, but also emphasizes our commitment to developing software solutions that make the transition to sustainable freight seamless.”
With the release of the new Pod, multiple current Einride customers have committed as launch partners. They include Lidl Sweden, one of Einride’s original partners has signed on for multiple Pods, and Swedish plant-based milk and dairy product producer Oatly has also agreed to add autonomous operation on top of existing electric truck operations. In addition to current suppliers, Bridgestone and Swedish battery manufacturer Northvolt have become launch partners.
Customers can get access to AET 1 and 2 versions of the Pod currently and can reserve AET 3 and 4 for deliveries in 2022-2023. Both ordering and reservation can be done directly through Einride’s website for an initial cost of $1500 and an additional $8500 to be invoiced following the reservation. In addition to the $10,000 order/reservation fee, customers will be responsible for an operational fee of about $18,000 to $22,500 per month for AET 1 to AET 4. The monthly fee includes access to the freight mobility platform that coordinates and operates the Pods, overseen by Einride-certified remote operators.
Einride will host a technological showcase on October 15th to demonstrate the Pod’s capabilities.
