Einride AB is a Swedish transport company based in

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...

, specializing in

electric Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described by ...

and

self-driving vehicles Vehicular automation involves the use of mechatronics, artificial intelligence, and multi-agent systems to assist the operator of a vehicle (car, aircraft, watercraft, or otherwise).Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Lanzon, A.,Group Coordinated Control o ...

known as Einride pods (formerly T-pods). The pods are electric trucks remotely controlled by drivers, and are notable for their lack of a driver’s cab.

History

The company was founded in 2016 by Robert Falck, Filip Lilja and Linnéa Kornehed. The company manufactures electric and self-driving vehicles. The company name is a reference to the Nordic god of thunder and lightning,

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

, and means "the lone rider". In the Spring of 2017, the company introduced their transport vehicle, the Einride Pod, an

electric truck An electric truck is an electric vehicle Electric-vehicle battery, powered by batteries designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Electric trucks have serviced niche applications like milk flo ...

which does not contain a cabin. The first full-scale prototype of what was then called the T-Pod was revealed on July 4, 2017 at

Almedalen Week The Almedalen Week (''Almedalsveckan'', also known as Politician's Week in Almedalen, ''Politikerveckan i Almedalen'') is an annual event taking place in week 26 in and around Almedalen, a park in the city of Visby on the Swedish island Gotland. ...

Visby, Sweden Visby () is an urban areas in Sweden, urban area in Sweden and the seat of Gotland Municipality in Gotland County on the island of Gotland with 24,330 inhabitants . Visby is also the episcopal see for the Diocese of Visby. The Hanseatic League, ...

. Einride has announced their partnerships with

Lidl Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG (; ) is a German international discount retailer chain that operates over 11,000 stores across Europe and the United States. Headquartered in Neckarsulm, Baden-Württemberg, the company belongs to the Schwarz Group, whi ...

in 2017 and

DB Schenker DB Schenker is a division of German rail operator Deutsche Bahn that focuses on logistics. The company was acquired by Deutsche Bahn as Schenker-Stinnes in 2002. It comprises divisions for air, land, sea freight, and Contract Logistics. Histo ...

in 2018. On July 12, 2018 as part of Future Lab at the

Goodwood Festival of Speed The Goodwood Festival of Speed is an annual motorsports festival featuring modern and historic motor racing vehicles taking part in a hillclimbing, hill climb and other events, held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England, in l ...

, Einride launched the Einride timber Pod, an autonomous and all-electric logging truck. On November 5, 2018, Einride launched the first commercial installation of the Einride Pod at a

facility in Jönköping, Sweden. In May 2019, an Einride Pod started daily deliveries on a public road there; it is permitted to go at up to 5 km per hour. On October 10, 2019 Einride raised $25 million in a Series A investment round led by private-equity firm EQT’s venture capital fund EQT Ventures and NordicNinja VC. In June 2020, Einride introduced the freight mobility platform, a software suite that analyzes transport networks for electric or autonomous vehicle potential and provides recommendations for implementation. In October 2020, Einride raised $10 million in additional funding led by existing investors led by Norrsken VC along with EQT Ventures fund, Nordic Ninja VC and Ericsson Ventures.

2020s

In March 2022, Einride investor

Maersk (), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line a ...

ordered 300

Class 8 trucks Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

through Einride, built by BYD in California. In June, 2022, the company received approval to operate its vehicles on US roads.

Technology

Einride uses

self-driving A self-driving car, also known as an autonomous car, driver-less car, or robotic car (robo-car), is a car that is capable of traveling without human input.Xie, S.; Hu, J.; Bhowmick, P.; Ding, Z.; Arvin, F.,Distributed Motion Planning for S ...

technology as well as

remote operation Teleoperation (or remote operation) indicates operation of a system or machine at a distance. It is similar in meaning to the phrase "remote control" but is usually encountered in research, academia and technology. It is most commonly associat ...

for the Einride Pod which allows drivers to monitor multiple vehicles and remotely control the vehicle in difficult traffic situations. The Einride Pod can travel 200 km (124 miles) on a fully charged battery.

References

{{Autonomous cars and enabling technologies

External links

Einride official website
Self-driving car companies Car manufacturers of Sweden Battery electric vehicle manufacturers Electric vehicle manufacturers of Sweden Companies based in Stockholm 2016 establishments in Sweden Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2016