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Electric and autonomous trucking company Einride is expanding into the United Kingdom, which represents the latest in its expansion into the European market.
Ainrid said it was working to target the 1.6 billion tonnes of goods transported by road freight in the UK each year. The first UK deployment is partnering with PepsiCo’s snack-food subsidiary Walkers to use EnRide trucks and platforms to deliver goods between the cities of Leicester and Coventry, which it says will help reduce fuel-powered transport by 250,000 miles each. year.
PepsiCo’s first rollout will be more of a “wash it and see it” before committing to any street expansion for a three-year pilot.
Archana Jagannathan, head of UK sustainability at PepsiCo, said in a statement: “With this first deployment, we are looking forward to further understanding the role that electric cars can play in our transport business.
PepsiCo is a major coup as a launch partner, although Inride has other big business deals in Germany, including Electrolux and GE Utilities, the latter of which is serving as a pilot for Inride’s fully autonomous pods (more below).
In time, Ainrid said it plans to establish a “freight mobility grid” covering some of the most heavily trafficked freight routes, starting in the Midlands and extending through major conurbations including Sheffield, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and London.
Einride’s proposed transport network grid. Image credits: end of drive
Pods
In the year Founded in 2016 from Sweden, Einrid has garnered attention in the European mobility space for its cable-free self-driving truck that can be remotely controlled by human operators when needed.
Einride in action. Image Credits: Final drive
Although these “pods” are being tested on the market in Sweden and the US, regulatory hurdles have forced Einride to expand its scope to include human-driven electric cars as part of a transition period. And logistics customers manage and optimize fleets. That’s what PepsiCo is using as part of its Einride partnership with two connected electric cars that will be deployed in the Midlands from July.
“As Einride expands its presence and customer list in the UK, it looks forward to finding new local partners ready to implement Einride’s autonomous technology projects – both from a customer and legal perspective,” a spokesperson told TechCrush. “Einride plans to explore autonomous operations in a phased manner, focusing on customer sites in fenced areas or low-complexity public roads – for example between a manufacturing site and a warehouse or distribution center.
Ainride PepsiCo (Walkers) truck. Image Credits: Final drive
EinRide already expanded to the US in 2021, but in recent months has entered Germany and the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg) region, with plans to target Norway this year. The latest expansion comes as part of a major UK government initiative designed to decarbonise the country’s freight transport by road, rail and sea, which recently launched a new £7 million fund for small enterprises working on domestic cargo cleaning.
Although Einride is not one of the beneficiaries of this freight innovation fund (FIF), the company raised $500 million from a handful of investors, and $300 million in debt financing from Barclays Europe, which Einrid has been using to bolster its vehicle fleet as it expands its footprint across Europe and North America.
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