Autonomous trucks may ditch drivers

Swedish autonomous transport start-up Einride predicts self-driving trucks will remove drivers from heavy haulage in the future.

Long rumoured to be one of the biggest changes to automating global transport, the self-driving truck prototype pictured is an all-electric ‘T-pod’ truck which is devoid of steering mechanisms, pedals, windscreen and virtually the entire passenger/driver cab space in traditional rigs.

The T-pod measures at seven metres long courtesy of the saved space by removing the cabin, and is touted as being able to lug itself at up to 18 tonnes loaded, comparable to a European Class 8 truck. For illustrative purposes, this would equate roughly to a Common 2 Axle rigid truck in Australia, which allows a maximum of 12.5m in length for less combined vehicle mass at just 15t. The Scandinavian start-up says up to 15 pallets can be loaded with the added space.

A T-pod autonomous truck, according to the company’s website, will cover 200km on a single charge of its 200kWh battery capacity. Einride says it will provide a 200-strong entourage of T-pods with cahrging stations along its birthing test route between Helsingborg, and the capital of Gothenberg, 200-plus kilometres south.

Eiride promises an electric charging infrastructure network and completely human-free operation carried out by remote computer control. The firm’s full-scale prototype truck has been testing in 2017, with public unveiling amidst the week-long Swedish political event Almedalen, on the island of Gotland.

In the US, 2.5 million truck jobs are in question with the disruption of autonomous trucking, a recent study finding the technology could reduce demand for drivers as much as 50 to 70 per cent in the US and Europe by 2030 – making 4.4 million out of 6.4 million drivers in both continents redundant.

Uber, Waymo and Tesla are all developing autonomous trucking capabilities while Nikola launched it’s One hydrogen fuel cell truck last 2016, however with a prominent cabin that dominates its aesthetic design.