Pssst! Wanna See A Driverless Electric Truck?
Support CleanTechnica's work through a Substack subscription, on Patreon, or on Stripe. Help us produce all of the high-quality, original content we publish week after week despite the challenges of content-scraping AI, antisocial media, inflation, and other hurdles.
The Intertubes are positively burning up with news of Tesla’s latest venture. The company has begun the installing Megachargers for its new Semi electric truck at existing Pilot travel centers, and rumors are flying around that the truck will soon go driverless. That will be something to see. In the meantime, the somewhat lesser known truck electrification stakeholder Einride already has a driverless freight hauler up its sleeve for the US market…
A Driverless Electric Truck Is Already On The Road
Make that two driverless electric trucks. On October 6, the Swedish technology startup Einride Engineering announced that two of its cabless, autonomous Level 4 electric trucks are on the road in Marysville, Ohio, tasked with daily freight hauls between warehouses under the umbrella of the US startup EASE Logistics.
Two is just for starters. The two trucks have been up and running since last month, accumulating real-world data on mileage, loads, and uptime with the goal of expanding the fleet and sending the trucks on a wider range of routes.
The project is another step along the way in EASE’s technology-forward business model. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, the firm launched in 2014 with the aim of taking the freight hauling business up to the next level of technology, and they came to play. Among other honors, in 2023 Fortune magazine tapped EASE for the #1 slot among transportation firms in its annual “America’s Most Innovative Companies” list.
What Is This Einride Of Which You Speak?
Einride’s media footprint is miniscule compared to Tesla. However, the company’s suite of electric truck systems has been surfacing on the CleanTechnica radar for the past several years. Autonomy aside, in 2022 the company fielded an order of 300 heavy duty Class 8 electric trucks from the leading global shipping firm Maersk, which aims to electrify its freight operations around the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles in California (see lots more Einride background here).
On the autonomous side, in 2021 Einride deployed one of its “Einride Pod” autonomous electric trucks at the headquarters of GE in Louisville, Kentucky. The following year, GE ordered an initial fleet of Einride trucks aimed at electrifying its supply chain along routes in Kentucky, Georgia, and Tennessee. “The electric Einride trucks have a range of 200 miles per charge and will cover an estimated 125,000 miles annually,” GE noted.
More recently, in 2024 Einride announced the official opening of a truck charging station in Lynwood, California in partnership with the leading US firm Voltera. “Strategically located near the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the Lynwood Smartcharger Station will serve Einride customers to fast track the region to electric freight with 65 chargers having the ability to charge 200 vehicles a day,” Einride explained.
It Takes A Village
Einride’s autonomous truck deployment in Ohio just one piece of a larger electrification puzzle under a two-state, multi-year collaboration called the Truck Automation Corridor, linking the agency DriveOhio with the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Ohio DOT.
The Automation Corridor goes for 166 miles between the heavily traveled Interstate 70 freight route, from Columbus, Ohio to Indianapolis, Indiana.
“The project centers on major state routes in Ohio and Indiana, where varying levels of truck automation are being deployed and studied. The project’s stated goals are to improve safety, reduce fuel consumption and emissions, increase efficiency, and build fleets’ comfort and experience with automation,” CleanTechnica reported in May.
“Various levels” also includes autonomous truck platooning, so keep an eye open for signs of that if you’re traveling on I-70.
Among other activities, earlier this year DriveOhio deployed three trucks equipped with automation technology along the Automation Corridor, in partnership with the firm Nussbaum Transportation.
“Until now, most of the automated freight testing has occurred in regions with milder, more predictable climates. Looking to the future, ODOT, INDOT, and Nussbaum will evaluate the technology’s performance in a real-world Midwest environment that includes rain, snow, and everything in between,” DriveOhio noted.
“Operating in these conditions is a critical step toward ensuring vehicle automation delivers consistent safety and reliability benefits wherever it’s deployed,” the agency emphasized.
As DriveOhio indicates, what happens in the Automation Corridor will not stay in the Automation corridor. The project launched in 2021 and is scheduled to conclude in January, with data made available to stakeholders shortly thereafter.
More Electric Trucks, Less Diesel
Between his red diesel order and his Russian diesel fiasco, U.S. President Donald Trump is desperate to tamp down the cost of diesel fuel. It’s not working, of course. Diesel fuel is a global commodity. Trump upset the apple cart when he ordered bombs to drop on Iran in February, and his kissy-wissy relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin has only added to the hurt on global fuel supply chains.
The ultimate solution is localization, namely, electrification and the deployment of local energy resources. With that in mind, let’s take a quick look at the big news from Tesla. The iconic industry leader has begun installing its Megacharger heavy duty electric truck charging stations at existing Pilot travel centers. The arrangement marks the latest step in Pilot’s electrification journey, and along with that, yet another indication that electric vehicles are a permanent fixture in the mainstream American mobility profile.
If you’re wondering where all the electricity will come from, that’s a good question. An existing grid connection is one option, but not the only one. On-site power systems and BESS (battery energy storage systems) can fill in the blanks where the existing grid is inadequate. Depending on the location, that could include on-site or nearby solar panels and/or wind turbines. On-site gas generators are another option, though not an optimal one.
I have a query in to Pilot for additional details on the electrical systems supporting the Megacharger installations. In the meantime, that on-site solar angle could include solar panels mounted on the trucks themselves. While such an array would be too small to offset the power needed for propulsion, it could help trim down the electricity used at charging stations.
Truck roof solar panels can help decarbonize diesel trucks, too, as a closer look at Nussbaum reveals. Back in 2022, with diesel prices spiking on the heels of the COVID-19 crisis, Nussbaum made the case for rooftop solar panels on diesel trucks, spotlighting Road Warrior Pro solar panels from Merlin Solar Technologies.
Diesel trucks use batteries to run their auxiliary systems, and those batteries are recharged idling if not traveling. “In the past, our truck batteries lasted a maximum of 10 hours and even less for drivers who use a CPAP machine or other ‘extra” amenities (TV, gaming),” Nussbaum explains, with past meaning before rooftop solar panels.
“After 10 hours max, the truck would need to idle for two hours or travel down the road for four hours to recharge the batteries fully. And if a driver is waiting at a shipper or held up for some other reason, their only option for more battery life would be to idle,” the company adds.
In contrast, the Merlin panels can add 10 hours to battery life, enabling drivers to take a break without idling. “And if needed, they could power their base amenities (air conditioner, lights, fridge) for up to 20 hours,” Nussbaum adds again for good measure.
Keep an eye out for more solar panels on the road, whether on diesel or electric trucks. In February, Merlin Solar joined the New Jersey Motor Truck Association, with an eye on tailoring its solar products to meet real-world trucking operations.
Photo: In yet another sign that electric vehicles are here to stay, autonomous electric trucks are already operating along roads in Ohio and elsewhere around the US (screenshot courtesy of EASE Logistics).
Sign up for CleanTechnica's Weekly Substack for Zach and Scott's in-depth analyses and high level summaries, sign up for our daily newsletter, and follow us on Google News!
Have a tip for CleanTechnica? Want to advertise? Want to suggest a guest for our CleanTech Talk podcast? Contact us here.
Sign up for our daily newsletter for 10–15 new cleantech stories a day. Or sign up for our weekly one on top stories of the week if daily is too frequent.
CleanTechnica uses affiliate links. See our policy here.
CleanTechnica's Comment Policy
