AV truck to start deliveries in Sweden

A cab-less, driverless electric truck drove down a public road on May 15 in what is hailed as a global first.

Start-up Einride and logistics business DB Schenker says Einride’s T-pod autonomous vehicle’s (AV) drive on a public road is a world first and it will transport goods between a warehouse and terminal at the DB Schenker’s Jonkoping facility.

The inauguration ceremony was hosted by Einride founder and chief executive officer Robert Falck, DB Schenker chief executive officer Jochen Thewes and DB Schenker Cluster Sweden, Denmark, Iceland chief executive officer Mats Grundius.

“This day represents a major milestone in Einride’s history, and for our movement to create a safe, efficient and sustainable transport solution, based on autonomous, electric vehicles, that has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions from road freight transport by up to 90%,” Falck says.

Thewes says AV trucks will become increasingly important for the logistics sector and Einride expects to have about 200 operating by the end of 2020.

The T-pod has an 85km/h governed top speed but the Swedish Transport Agency in approving Einride’s application to expand its AV pilot to a public road limits the speed to 5km/h.

The permit expires on December 31, 2020.

The T-pod has a claimed 200km range from a 200kWh battery.

The 26-tonne capacity Level 4 autonomy Einride T-pod has been ordered by several other companies and Reuters reports it could reduce road freight operating costs by about 60% compared with a human driven diesel.

It can be controlled by a remote operator, in this case able to control and supervise up to 10 vehicles at once.

Einride will apply for more public route permits and could expand into the US, Reuters says.

Last year, Einride unveiled the AV T-Log, a driverless logging truck.