- Swedish startup Einride is at the forefront of autonomous truck development, with its first vehicle, the ‘T-pod’, already in trials on public roads.
- Introducing Einride’s latest model, the ‘T-log’, which is more durable and capable of operating in a more demanding environment – the forest.
- TheT-log could be introduced on public roads as soon as 2020.
Einride is a Swedish startup making semi-autonomous electric trucks. The startup, founded in 2016, unveiled its first and fully functional model the “T-pod” in February last year – a vehicle that has been likened to a “container on wheels”.
This first version is already used in trials with Lidl, the German food chain, and Schenker, the German logistics company.
Einride has now unveiled its latest model – the “T-log”. Like the name suggests, the autonomous e-truck is designed to transport logs.
The T-log is to be 50% more powerful than the T-pod and designed to navigate not only on highways but also through much more demanding forest roads.
“With the T-log, we’ve created a vehicle that can withstand the rigours of a demanding environment. It is uncharted territory for us, but also an enormous market for battery-powered AVs,” says Einride’s CEO Robert Falck. “In Sweden, the forestry industry accounts for 20% of industrial transport by truck.”
The e-truck has no driver’s cabin. It is semi-autonomous, able to navigate mostly on its own but relying on a remote operator for the most complex situations. That way, one operator is sufficient to control many trucks.
“The driver’s cab is what makes trucks expensive to produce, and having a driver in the cabin is what makes them expensive to operate,” says Falck.
With intelligent routing software, providing it with real-time traffic data, the T-log can adjust its route to preemptively avoid congestion many miles down the road. A fleet of T-logs will be coordinated by an intelligent routing system, optimizing delivery time, battery life and energy consumption, making the transport as efficient as possible.
As a whole, Einride’s transport solution aims to be both more logistically efficient, cheaper, and environmentally friendly than conventional trucking.
“Technology has progressed to make it happen,” Falck states, “and because it can be done, it must be done.”
Several international companies from all over the world have already shown interest, according to Einride. The T-log could be introduced on public roads as soon as 2020.
Related articles
