Michelin Group announced it will partner with Swedish-based self-driving startup company Einride this week at the Movin’On Summit for sustainable mobility in Montreal.
Michelin said it will first test Einride’s autonomous, cab-less freight-hauling electric truck, called the T-pod, at its gated tire production facilities in Clermont-Ferrand, France in 2020 before testing the technology on public roads.
Enride said that road freight transportation accounts for between 5- 7 percent of all global CO2 emissions.
“By rethinking road freight from scratch, Enride has delivered a solution that has the potential to revolutionize it by being both cost-competitive and sustainable,” said Niklas Reinedhal, chief operations officer of Enride.
Einride successfully deployed the T-pod, at DB Schenker’s facility in Jönköping, Sweden, in April. The zero-emissions vehicle will transport cargo between the German logistics company’s warehouse and a terminal at its facility, as part of daily commercial operations.
The T-pod is a SAE Level 4 autonomous truck that can be controlled remotely. The cargo capacity of the T-pod is 15 standard pallets and can handle up to 26 tons of cargo. The electric truck has a battery capacity of 200 kWh and can haul freight for 124 miles on a full charge.
The autonomous vehicle uses a combination of camera, radar and lidar technology.
Since its launch in 2016, Einride has signed commercial contracts with five Fortune 500 companies.
Einride also has developed a driverless electric vehicle, called the T-log, for the forestry segment.
