With a picture of its driverless sci-fi-like electric truck or T-Pod, ‘shot or conveniently Photoshoped (?)’, in front of the iconic Antwerp Port Authority building, the Swedish Einride has announced its official launch in the Benelux.

Einride will deliver six fully electric trucks to Belgian beer brewer Ab InBev, which pledges to replace all its diesel trucks with electric ones. But don’t be fooled: they won’t drive autonomously between Louvain and the depot in Vilvoorde.

External suppliers

Einride works with external suppliers like Volvo or Scania for ‘regular’ human-driven electric trucks that can be integrated into the Einride transport system, called Saga. That, too, will be implemented in Belgium.

In June of this year, Einride placed an order with Scania for 110 electric trucks to be equipped with Einride’s software and deployed in Europe. Specs of the e-trucks Ab InBev will get in early 2023 weren’t unveiled, but in case it are Scanias, they probably would have an output of 230 kW, with battery capacities of 165 or 300 kWh for ranges of up to 250 km.

Six connected trucks

For Ab InBev, the first phase will kick off the full deployment of Einride’s ecosystem, which includes its freight mobility platform, six connected electric Einride Trucks, and the development, installation, and building of the charging infrastructure.

One of the latest developments of the Swedish tech company includes the Einride Stations, where a fleet of electric trucks (autonomous or not) can be charged simultaneously. Einride is not a developer but likes to advertise itself as a transport service company that provides a complete system to transport or logistics companies.

Saving 600 tons of CO2

The Belgian beer giant is working worldwide to convert its transport fleet to zero-emission and already has 12 e-trucks commissioned in Belgium. It sent out its first fully electric truck, a Volvo FE Electric, already in 2020 to deliver to pubs and restaurants in its hometown Louvain.

Now the brewer wants to completely ‘electrify’ the daily transport between the Louvain brewery and its Vilvoorde depot with the six Einride trucks, saving 500 to 600 tons of CO2 yearly. The brewer earlier introduced also a ‘beer train‘ and a ‘beer boat‘ to transport its beer in a more environmentally friendly way than with diesel trucks.

No more diesel trucks

“We only invest in non-diesel transport and are going for zero in our emissions,” says Philippe Seminck, Logistics Director Benelux and France at AB InBev.

“As we are starting the broad deployment of electric vehicles for city deliveries next year, the partnership with Einride for heavy-duty electric transportation on the middle mile is the next step in our green logistics strategy. If the environment we operate in becomes greener, the ingredients for our beer will benefit.”

No autonomous trucks yet

So far, no word of ‘driverless trucks’ for Ab InBev in Belgium. It would require a special governmental permit to set up tests like this. After setting up pilots with autonomous pods in its homeland Sweden and Germany, Einride was the first to have an SAE Level 4 autonomous truck allowed on US roads in Los Angeles.

And in November, it set a new milestone by being the first driverless truck to go cross-border between Sweden and Norway in the so-called MODI project, co-funded by the EU.

MODI is a European-funded four-year program, starting in November 2022, to connect the harbors of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Hamburg in Germany, Göteborg in Sweden, and Moss in Norway with Level 4 autonomous driving trucks.

It brings together 29 partners in the transport sector, including truck manufacturers Volvo Trucks and DAF. Swedish Einride will manage the project along the E6 highway between Gothenburg (Sweden) and Oslo (Norway).