Swedish manufacturer Einride has just presented a full-scale prototype of the autonomous electric truck it wants to see on the Scandinavian nation’s streets in the coming years.
Dubbed the T-pod, the eyebrow-raising vehicle is being sold as more than a self-driving truck and instead an entirely new form of transportation. Without any space inside for a driver to sit, the T-pod is able to maximize carrying capacity and according to Einride, can hold 15 pallets of goods, despite only being 7 meters (23 feet) in length.
Einride has adopted a unique approach when designing the T-pod and equipped it with a unique autonomous driving system. This setup means that on highways, the truck can drive itself without any human intervention while on narrower and more technical city roads, it becomes a big remote-controlled vehicle with a driver operating it from an offsite location.
Einride intends on having a fleet of 200 T-pods driving around Sweden by 2020 and will kick off the project with a route between Gothenburg and Helsingborg.
Speaking to Venture Beat, Einride chief executive Robert Falck said “We’re now at a crucial time for not only the Einride business, but for the future of transport. Through technology, we have been able to create a system for the future, but it involves bravery and dedication from people the world over, to accept that change is also their responsibility and put the T-pod system into practice.”
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Einride | Introducing the T-Pod from O on Vimeo.